Soul at the Center of Labyrinthine Days of Future Past

In the Marvel Comics Universe, the X-Men books were always the ones with a social conscience, focusing
on issues of alienation and bigotry in whatever forms they may have taken
during different phases of the series’ existence.  So it goes with the movies, as the Spider-Man films are more romp than
circumstance, the Avengers universe
movies deliver superhero spectacle and the X-Men flicks tackle the weighty topics, shouldering them with intelligence as well as
wit.  The latest episode in the series, Days of Future Past finds original
director Bryan Singer back at the helm with a story that, while reiterating
many of the themes that have become hallmarks of the series, does so with a
force and poignancy that’s been missing from previous episodes.  Though it suffers a bit from being a too clever
for its own good, especially during its prolonged climax, there’s no question
this is an exceptional entry, rivaling X-Men
2 in terms of quality and resonance.

After a needlessly confusing opening, Singer gets down to
brass tacks and plunges us into a complex time-travel story that will tax the
most literal minded of moviegoers and confound those who opt to go out for
popcorn at the wrong time.  The time is
the not-so-distant future where everything has been laid to waste.  The governments of the world have dedicated
themselves to wiping not just mutants off the map, but any humans who have DNA
that may produce one.  Adaptive war
machines called Sentinels, invented by Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), are
used to hunt them down and what makes them so effective is that they’ve been
modeled after the shape-shifter Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence). These killer
robots are first set loose in 1973 and Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and his
rival Magneto (Ian McKellen) have determined that if Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page)
can send one of their members back in time to prevent this from happening,
their dismal present – our future – can be averted.  Reasoning that only the most durable among
them could survive such a trip, Logan (Hugh Jackman) is charged with saving the
day.

Of course, once our hero is sent back, things become even
more tangled and complicated, which provides the film with its most
entertaining and intriguing moments.  The
younger version of Professor X (James McAvoy) is a disillusioned sot who Logan
must rally if he’s to do any good, while Magneto (Michael Fassbender) is far
more impulsive and dangerous, making it even more difficult to recruit him for
the cause. 

While the film‘s intent is a serious one – to remind us once
more to cherish individuality, to encourage us to look past our worse selves and
strive to be better – Singer doesn’t forget that this is also a movie of big
moments.  He delivers with one big set
piece after another in which all of the heroes are allowed to stretch their
abilities.  Scenes depicting Magneto
lifting the shell of Washington D.C.’s old RFK stadium and transporting it
above the city or the Sentinels assaulting the heroes stronghold in China
demonstrate that Singer is effectively using every modern effects tool at his
disposal to create a grand spectacle.  However
the highlight of the movie – and perhaps what will be the greatest action
sequence of the year – involves the new recruit Quicksilver (Evan Peters), a
blindingly fast speedster, breaking Magneto out of his Pentagon prison
cell.  Slowing all the action to a crawl,
we’re able to see him move about at a heightened rate, altering the paths of
bullets as well as changing the direction of their pursuers so that they end up
harming themselves.  Not only is it one
of the funniest moments of the movie year but one of the most inventive.

Singer has the ability to render these and other moments
inventively and with humor, giving his entries in the series a sense of
assuredness that others lack.  With the
exception of Christopher Nolan’s Dark
Knight movies, the X-Men films
are consistently the smartest of the superhero entertainments, delivering not
just grand spectacle, but lofty ideas as well. 
There’s meat to these comic book capers and in setting and maintaining a
high standard, Singer should be commended for continuing to push himself as
well as challenging his audience.

This article appears in May 15-21, 2014.