X-Men: Days of Future Past Review
May. 30th, 2014 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaI've taken a couple days to think about this movie and I think I hit upon what I was disappointed by. The afternoon before going to see DoFP I decided to watch First Class again so it'd be fresh in my mind. The issues I had with it stuck out a bit stronger but despite them it was still a movie I really enjoyed. It was fun. We ended it with the cast divided into two team and I was really excited to see where things would go with them in the next movie.
This movie starts with that great dark sentinel future with the original trilogy cast and it was excellent and exciting. I was so there - and then we went to the past and discovered that eleven years post-Cuba both teams have been almost completely destroyed. It pretty much knocked the excited glee out of my sails and it probably affected how I viewed the rest of the movie.
On one side you have Charles fallen into despair, powerless and drunk with only Hank still with him. Hank is back to hiding. Alex is in Vietnam. Sean has apparently been captured, experimented on and killed. ): There are no new 'x-men'.
On the other side you have only Mystique working to help mutants. Erik is being held in a special prison by the government, and has been for the last 10 or so years. Angel, Emma, Azazel and Riptide have all suffered Sean’s fate of capture, torture and murder. And apparently they all died within the year or less between Cuba and JFK's assassination since Erik knew about their deaths after being freed.
It's weird but the end of First Class was strangely hopeful to me - the start of both sides but still in the beginning and thus with the possibility of a better future. There was so much potential in both and how they would interact in the future. Instead we get death and destruction and both teams gone before the movie even starts. That is what I found so very disappointing that it coloured how I saw the entire film.
All that said now that I've worked through my disgruntlement I find that there was a lot I liked about this movie and I think the next time I watch it I'm going to enjoy it a lot more.
Liked
• I really like how things were set up at the end with Raven and Magneto at opposite sides this time. Or rather Magneto and Charles at opposite ends as always but with Raven firmly in the middle (and not Magneto's right hand.)
Magneto - now well-known for his violence and 'mutants first' ideals, having gotten his message to rise up against humanity out, a wanted man. Perhaps the start of a new Brotherhood?
Raven - a crusader for mutants, possibly the most well known mutant in the world, who saved the president (and a bunch of other) and positioned very firmly as against Magneto (first seen being attacked by him, then saving humans from him). And yet probably not quite in line with her brothers peaceful ideals either.
Charles, meanwhile - unseen (no camera time for him), in the background, once again believing in hope and peaceful co-existence and presumably once again opening his school and actively working for that.
It's all really interesting. Now that I've figured out what disappointed me so much and worked through it I find myself super excited about the possibilities this new configuration can bring in future movies. I'm actually really engaged again because of it.
• I loved the sentinel future and everything about it. The fight scenes were great. I loved the look of it. It was wonderful to see all the old faces. Storm looked the best she ever has. I loved that moment during the final battle when Magneto lifts the jet and she knows exactly what his plan is and hits it with lightning. Kitty was great - I loved how competent she came off as, I loved that even while seriously injured and bleeding out she kept Wolverine in the past, and I liked that little glimpse of her as a teacher in the new future. I liked how Iceman was using his powers.
- I loved Kitty's team and how perfectly they worked together. They were clearly a well oiled machine and I loved that. Teamwork for the win. I liked the new characters - they all looked great, what we saw of them was intriguing and made me want to know more but I just wish that we had gotten to know them better. Any depth at all would have been nice. I don't think any of them got more than a line or two and all it would have taken is a short scene of them hanging out before the sentinel attack and actually talking/interacting with each other.
- I loved what we saw of Blink. I want more of her right now. I love her portal-creating ability and how she uses it. She was brilliant at using them to their fullest potential. I'm pleased the actress has a multi-movie deal with FOX.
• I loved seeing future Xavier and Magneto again. I've missed them. They really are the best. Seeing them walking out of that plane together made me ridiculously happy. I loved them acting as a team. I really loved their final moments and them finally completely making up. And then they died, lol. Because that is so them. But the hand holding!
• The glimpse at the end of the new, happy future was also great. I was so happy to see Rogue (a cameo I was really not expecting!), Jean and Scott.
• The plane scenes between Charles and Erik was excellent and everything I could have wanted. I especially loved Erik actually apologising (!) to Charles and his attempts to get him to play chess. I was really not expecting a conciliatory!Erik.
• I liked what this movie did with Raven. I loved her working to save mutants alone. I liked her determination to get revenge and justice against Trask. I loved her pretending to be Nixon at first to protect the humans from Erik and then her deciding not to kill Trask. I loved that in the end the decision came down to her choice.
• I liked the Wolverine/Charles scenes very much. They were so great and I loved how well HJ portrayed Logan's respect for and belief in Charles and the friendship he felt towards him.
• I was overall pleased with Logan. I was really worried going in that he would end up taking over the movie, as he has a habit of, but I think he was used well and not too much. I was also not happy about Wolverine being sent back instead of Kitty like in the comics (or I thought Rogue, POV character of the X1, could have been really interesting possibility) but the reasons for it in-movie made sense.
• The Older!Charles and Younger!Charles exchange was excellent.
• I actually liked Erik trying to kill Raven because that's exactly the sort of thing I can buy him doing. He cares for her but if it's needed, in his mind, to save mutantkind he'll do it. I loved that when Raven confronts him she also understands why he did it. Because she knows him.
• I loved that Hank has stayed with Charles this entire time. His serum made it possible for him to leave at any time but instead he chose to stay and be there for Charles and I love that.
• I disliked what we saw of Quicksilver in stills and the trailers and I was all ready to hate him but I ended up really enjoying him. He was a lot fun and I really loved just how much glee he took in everything. The Magneto jail-break was great and probably the funniest scenes in the movie.
• Charles telling suddenly past!Logan, who's freaking out, that he's having a bad acid trip was also really funny. Much better cover story attempt then during the jail-break.
• I liked the little that we saw of Havok but I was a little surprised that he didn't go see Charles/Hank after he got back from Vietnam. Even just to let them know about seeing Raven.
Disliked
• I hated, so much freaking hate, that half the cast of the first movie is dead from the beginning of this one, and permanently at that. Angel, Emma, Azazel, Banshee and Riptide - all apparently captured by Trask, experimented on and killed. It pisses me off.
• I was really hoping for more of a Xavier/Magneto team-up in the past then we got. Older Magneto said that it would take both of them working together to save the day and that's what I was expecting.
• In line with the above point when Erik took over the sentinels I was hoping that he had a plan - like, have the sentinels turn against the humans and then save them with his mutant powers. Alas no. Just more of the same mutant supremacy and 'lets start a war!' that he's always about. There was some character growth (the apology) but it's like learning about the future had no affect on him. After hearing about it how can he still be so determined to stay on the same path? I mean... it does basically confirm his worst fears except that's ignoring that humans were being rounded up as well and that it began with humans and mutants fighting each other. His actions are directly contributing to that sort of future. I'm just frustrated with the direction the movie took him.
Which brings me to the fact that Erik spent the last nine years in solitary confinement in a small underground room, which is pretty horrifying, and yet the movie doesn't explore the ramifications of that. He seemed pretty much the same after he was freed to how I remember him in the first movie but that experience should have had a serious impact on him and the movie should have been more overt with it. It makes sense to me that it could have caused him to become even more certain that he was right and solidified that in him so much that he takes any new information as confirmation. If they'd just explored it a little bit his actions could have made more (tragic) sense.
• I found Erik’s captivity unbelievable for multiple reasons – why would they keep someone so dangerous alive, so they just happened to have that cell in the middle of the pentagon, and it was built with no metal in its construction (no), and there was no metal close enough for Erik to reach when previously we've seen him move a satellite dish and incoming missiles from quite far away [certainly further then the distance between the cell and the rest of the building]... none of it makes any sense.
• This film did even worse as far as screen time for female characters than the first. Raven was great in both but other than her we really only get short bits with Kitty, Storm and Blink.
• I found Cyclops grabbing Logan's hand and stopping him from touching Jean really irritating. If she didn't want Logan to touch her than she was perfectly capable of stopping him herself.
• Erik's non-reaction when the debris fell on Charles during that final confrontation was a bit weird. Did he just not realise that Charles was there?
• Why wouldn't they take Peter with them? His ability is really useful and could have helped them.
• Why change Pietro's name to Peter? That was pointless.
Others
• Why wouldn't Xavier have Logan sent back to 1962 instead of 1973? That had Charles, Erik and Raven all on the same team and even sort of working with the American government, and it was possibly even before Trask had even begun his sentinels. I understand the Doylist reasons for it but the Watsonian ones not so much.
• How the hell did the government capture Magneto anyway? How did they keep him contained while building his prison? I also find myself wondering how they managed to capture and kill Emma and Azazel because they are really not easy targets and especially not considering they were working together with other powerful mutants.
• Why did the government keep Erik alive instead of just killing him?
• Wait - so presumably Striker has a change of heart by the end of the movie which probably means no Weapon X... does that mean future Wolverine doesn't have an adamantium skeleton? Huh. That's kind of weird.
• It would have been cool if Darwin had been one of the mutants in the future.
This movie starts with that great dark sentinel future with the original trilogy cast and it was excellent and exciting. I was so there - and then we went to the past and discovered that eleven years post-Cuba both teams have been almost completely destroyed. It pretty much knocked the excited glee out of my sails and it probably affected how I viewed the rest of the movie.
On one side you have Charles fallen into despair, powerless and drunk with only Hank still with him. Hank is back to hiding. Alex is in Vietnam. Sean has apparently been captured, experimented on and killed. ): There are no new 'x-men'.
On the other side you have only Mystique working to help mutants. Erik is being held in a special prison by the government, and has been for the last 10 or so years. Angel, Emma, Azazel and Riptide have all suffered Sean’s fate of capture, torture and murder. And apparently they all died within the year or less between Cuba and JFK's assassination since Erik knew about their deaths after being freed.
It's weird but the end of First Class was strangely hopeful to me - the start of both sides but still in the beginning and thus with the possibility of a better future. There was so much potential in both and how they would interact in the future. Instead we get death and destruction and both teams gone before the movie even starts. That is what I found so very disappointing that it coloured how I saw the entire film.
All that said now that I've worked through my disgruntlement I find that there was a lot I liked about this movie and I think the next time I watch it I'm going to enjoy it a lot more.
Liked
• I really like how things were set up at the end with Raven and Magneto at opposite sides this time. Or rather Magneto and Charles at opposite ends as always but with Raven firmly in the middle (and not Magneto's right hand.)
Magneto - now well-known for his violence and 'mutants first' ideals, having gotten his message to rise up against humanity out, a wanted man. Perhaps the start of a new Brotherhood?
Raven - a crusader for mutants, possibly the most well known mutant in the world, who saved the president (and a bunch of other) and positioned very firmly as against Magneto (first seen being attacked by him, then saving humans from him). And yet probably not quite in line with her brothers peaceful ideals either.
Charles, meanwhile - unseen (no camera time for him), in the background, once again believing in hope and peaceful co-existence and presumably once again opening his school and actively working for that.
It's all really interesting. Now that I've figured out what disappointed me so much and worked through it I find myself super excited about the possibilities this new configuration can bring in future movies. I'm actually really engaged again because of it.
• I loved the sentinel future and everything about it. The fight scenes were great. I loved the look of it. It was wonderful to see all the old faces. Storm looked the best she ever has. I loved that moment during the final battle when Magneto lifts the jet and she knows exactly what his plan is and hits it with lightning. Kitty was great - I loved how competent she came off as, I loved that even while seriously injured and bleeding out she kept Wolverine in the past, and I liked that little glimpse of her as a teacher in the new future. I liked how Iceman was using his powers.
- I loved Kitty's team and how perfectly they worked together. They were clearly a well oiled machine and I loved that. Teamwork for the win. I liked the new characters - they all looked great, what we saw of them was intriguing and made me want to know more but I just wish that we had gotten to know them better. Any depth at all would have been nice. I don't think any of them got more than a line or two and all it would have taken is a short scene of them hanging out before the sentinel attack and actually talking/interacting with each other.
- I loved what we saw of Blink. I want more of her right now. I love her portal-creating ability and how she uses it. She was brilliant at using them to their fullest potential. I'm pleased the actress has a multi-movie deal with FOX.
• I loved seeing future Xavier and Magneto again. I've missed them. They really are the best. Seeing them walking out of that plane together made me ridiculously happy. I loved them acting as a team. I really loved their final moments and them finally completely making up. And then they died, lol. Because that is so them. But the hand holding!
• The glimpse at the end of the new, happy future was also great. I was so happy to see Rogue (a cameo I was really not expecting!), Jean and Scott.
• The plane scenes between Charles and Erik was excellent and everything I could have wanted. I especially loved Erik actually apologising (!) to Charles and his attempts to get him to play chess. I was really not expecting a conciliatory!Erik.
• I liked what this movie did with Raven. I loved her working to save mutants alone. I liked her determination to get revenge and justice against Trask. I loved her pretending to be Nixon at first to protect the humans from Erik and then her deciding not to kill Trask. I loved that in the end the decision came down to her choice.
• I liked the Wolverine/Charles scenes very much. They were so great and I loved how well HJ portrayed Logan's respect for and belief in Charles and the friendship he felt towards him.
• I was overall pleased with Logan. I was really worried going in that he would end up taking over the movie, as he has a habit of, but I think he was used well and not too much. I was also not happy about Wolverine being sent back instead of Kitty like in the comics (or I thought Rogue, POV character of the X1, could have been really interesting possibility) but the reasons for it in-movie made sense.
• The Older!Charles and Younger!Charles exchange was excellent.
• I actually liked Erik trying to kill Raven because that's exactly the sort of thing I can buy him doing. He cares for her but if it's needed, in his mind, to save mutantkind he'll do it. I loved that when Raven confronts him she also understands why he did it. Because she knows him.
• I loved that Hank has stayed with Charles this entire time. His serum made it possible for him to leave at any time but instead he chose to stay and be there for Charles and I love that.
• I disliked what we saw of Quicksilver in stills and the trailers and I was all ready to hate him but I ended up really enjoying him. He was a lot fun and I really loved just how much glee he took in everything. The Magneto jail-break was great and probably the funniest scenes in the movie.
• Charles telling suddenly past!Logan, who's freaking out, that he's having a bad acid trip was also really funny. Much better cover story attempt then during the jail-break.
• I liked the little that we saw of Havok but I was a little surprised that he didn't go see Charles/Hank after he got back from Vietnam. Even just to let them know about seeing Raven.
Disliked
• I hated, so much freaking hate, that half the cast of the first movie is dead from the beginning of this one, and permanently at that. Angel, Emma, Azazel, Banshee and Riptide - all apparently captured by Trask, experimented on and killed. It pisses me off.
• I was really hoping for more of a Xavier/Magneto team-up in the past then we got. Older Magneto said that it would take both of them working together to save the day and that's what I was expecting.
• In line with the above point when Erik took over the sentinels I was hoping that he had a plan - like, have the sentinels turn against the humans and then save them with his mutant powers. Alas no. Just more of the same mutant supremacy and 'lets start a war!' that he's always about. There was some character growth (the apology) but it's like learning about the future had no affect on him. After hearing about it how can he still be so determined to stay on the same path? I mean... it does basically confirm his worst fears except that's ignoring that humans were being rounded up as well and that it began with humans and mutants fighting each other. His actions are directly contributing to that sort of future. I'm just frustrated with the direction the movie took him.
Which brings me to the fact that Erik spent the last nine years in solitary confinement in a small underground room, which is pretty horrifying, and yet the movie doesn't explore the ramifications of that. He seemed pretty much the same after he was freed to how I remember him in the first movie but that experience should have had a serious impact on him and the movie should have been more overt with it. It makes sense to me that it could have caused him to become even more certain that he was right and solidified that in him so much that he takes any new information as confirmation. If they'd just explored it a little bit his actions could have made more (tragic) sense.
• I found Erik’s captivity unbelievable for multiple reasons – why would they keep someone so dangerous alive, so they just happened to have that cell in the middle of the pentagon, and it was built with no metal in its construction (no), and there was no metal close enough for Erik to reach when previously we've seen him move a satellite dish and incoming missiles from quite far away [certainly further then the distance between the cell and the rest of the building]... none of it makes any sense.
• This film did even worse as far as screen time for female characters than the first. Raven was great in both but other than her we really only get short bits with Kitty, Storm and Blink.
• I found Cyclops grabbing Logan's hand and stopping him from touching Jean really irritating. If she didn't want Logan to touch her than she was perfectly capable of stopping him herself.
• Erik's non-reaction when the debris fell on Charles during that final confrontation was a bit weird. Did he just not realise that Charles was there?
• Why wouldn't they take Peter with them? His ability is really useful and could have helped them.
• Why change Pietro's name to Peter? That was pointless.
Others
• Why wouldn't Xavier have Logan sent back to 1962 instead of 1973? That had Charles, Erik and Raven all on the same team and even sort of working with the American government, and it was possibly even before Trask had even begun his sentinels. I understand the Doylist reasons for it but the Watsonian ones not so much.
• How the hell did the government capture Magneto anyway? How did they keep him contained while building his prison? I also find myself wondering how they managed to capture and kill Emma and Azazel because they are really not easy targets and especially not considering they were working together with other powerful mutants.
• Why did the government keep Erik alive instead of just killing him?
• Wait - so presumably Striker has a change of heart by the end of the movie which probably means no Weapon X... does that mean future Wolverine doesn't have an adamantium skeleton? Huh. That's kind of weird.
• It would have been cool if Darwin had been one of the mutants in the future.
