Movie Review #87: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

X-Men Days of Future Past is the seventh installment in the superhero franchise and has undoubtably the most stacked cast of celebrities and mutants alike!
Returning to the screen are fan favorites like Wolverine, Professor Xavier, Magneto, Mystique, Storm, Beast, Rogue, Iceman, Kitty Pride, Colossus, Havoc and even Toad!
Joining them for the first time on screen are Quicksilver, Bishop, Blink, Sunspot and Warpath.

But for some reason, Nightcrawler is nowhere to be seen. Seriously? The coolest X-Men that completely stole X2 gets shafted and they bring back Rogue of all characters?! Well at least they brought back Toad. That's a pretty cool addition.

X-Men Days of Future Past takes place in the year 2023 and the world has been overrun by these robots called Sentinels, (which are basically Terminators). Humanity has become a race of expendable cattle and the only mutants still alive have joined together and have survived off the grid. And the only way to end this war is to send Wolverine back 50 years in time to 1973 to stop the Sentinels, thereby saving both human and mutant kind.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but X-Men: Days of Future Past is my most anticipated film of 2014. I love the X-Men movies. Hey, I can even watch The Last Stand and Origins Wolverine and not hate myself for doing so! But we can all agree that when Singer left, the franchise took a nosedive into mediocrity and less awesomeness. That is of course until 2011 when Matthew Vaughn gave us X-Men First Class: The prequel to end all prequels that also doubled as an adrenaline shot of greatness into a suffering franchise. It reignited everyones excitement for X-Men. And last years' The Wolverine furthered that.

Now we have Days of Future Past. Which on paper alone sounds like it could possibly be The Avengers of X-Men movies just from the people involved by combining both the original cast and that of the prequel and having Bryan Singer returning to the franchise as director for the first time in 11 years! What's not to get pumped for?

But as enticing as that sounds, it could very well disappoint to no end. Rumors about an astronomically large budget ranging from next to $250,000,000 have put some on edge. I even heard a story that this is the most expensive film 20th Century Fox has produced not directed by James Cameron. Ever since X2, Singer hasn't quite been the same. Last years' Jack The Giant Slayer tanked at the box office and Valkyrie got "meh" reviews. Heck, he couldn't even make a Superman film that could rebuild the franchise! And not to mention the controversial headlines about him making the news... That being said, expectations and tensions are high. But the time has come and it's finally here. And how is it?

Looks like there is still life in this franchise and Bryan Singer's career after all! Not only does this mark a franchise high, but this might just be my new favorite superhero movie of all time! Even more than The Avengers! Which, keep in mind, is the film that opened my eyes to movies and cinema that is basically the movie that made me start this blog! Yeah, it's that good.

And I'm not just being a fanboy freaking out over the action, special effects and seeing both casts on screen. It's actually a miraculously well crafted action film that is funny when it wants to be funny and very dramatic when it has to be. It's not just a great comic book movie, a great superhero movie or even a great Marvel movie! It's just a great film!

Where do I begin talking about this? How about the beginning? Specifically the opening title sequence. It might seem like a strange thing to mention, but I was instantly reminded of X2. You had the classic John Ottman theme playing, an animated title scrawl of DNA animation and it even ended with Cerebro being unlocked like with the first three films. Those are very small details that wouldn't have made a difference if they were left out, but the fact that they included them just really made me say, "Way to go Singer!"

Time travel is always a tricky topic. Aside from being a classic staple in sci-fi literature and films, it often times comes off as either overly complicated, convoluted or riddled with plot-holes. That is not the case here because Simon Kinberg has written an airtight script that somehow, miraculously leaves no storyline left unfinished and even corrects all of the issues fans have been complaining about for years with X-Men: The Last Stand and Origins Wolverine! Some might find that to be disrespectful for completely negating the existence and timeline of practically every X-Men movie except for First Class, but I think it's a really gutsy move that pays off in the end.

Let's talk character because this film has them all! We get to see a very different side of Wolverine in this film. Instead of him being angry using violence to solve his problems, he solves them by talking and negotiations. It's really nice seeing an emotional side to Wolverine that there is a soft side to such a tough, gruff dude.

James Mcavoy and Michael Fassbender are flawless as Young Xavier and Erik. I loved seeing how both are so similar to each-other and yet so different. They're both on the same side, but Xavier takes the longer more peaceful approach, with Erik does whatever it takes to win the fight. Their back and forth is terrific and it doesn't hurt that they're both amazing actors. I might like their portrayals even better than Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian Mckellin's!

I was a bit on the fence about Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique. I wasn't over the moon about her in First Class but she was dynamite here! They gave her a great motivation and character arc that really expanded on her personality. While Wolverine might have gotten top billing, it really is Lawrence's show and she was dynamic. It also doesn't hurt that she's both a talented actress and very good looking!

The new X-Men like Bishop and Blink don't really get much screen-time, dialogue or development, but they were welcome additions that I was happy to see. Especially Quicksilver. I owe this guy a huge apology because when I saw his costume I thought he looked like a second rate steampunk cosplay wannabe. And.... yeah the costume still looks cheesy but every frame this guy is on screen he steals it!
There's a particular scene that shows off his powers in the funniest and most visually astounding way. All set to the most fitting Jim Croce song. Take a guess which one. It's pretty obvious.

Members of the original cast like Storm, Iceman and Rogue are completely underutilized and reduced to nothing more than fan pleasing cameos. Heck, Havok and Toad are practically shafted after their one scene, which was a pretty cool scene if I might add. I was really excited to see those two especially. I just wanted a little something more from them. But if that's the only issue I had, that's really good by my standards!

Days of Future Past is essentially Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg's apology letter to everyone . Singer for leaving The Last Stand in the hands of Brett Ratner when he went off to direct Superman Returns, and Kinberg for writing the script to the Last Stand. But it's all right because they are now forgiven in my eyes!

Final Report: It's not every day that the movie you've been waiting all year to see delivers beyond your wildest dreams. But X-Men Days of Future Past did just that. It's action packed, perfectly paced, clever, smart, witty, emotional, dramatic It's not just what a great summertime blockbuster should be, it's just a great movie in general! And possibly my favorite Marvel movie to date!

Movie Review #86: Godzilla (2014)

With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound

He pulls the spitting high tension wires down

Helpless people on a subway train

Scream bug-eyed as he looks in on them

He picks up a bus and he throws it back down

As he wades through the building toward the center of town

Oh no, they say he's got to go. Go go Godzilla!

Godzilla: The King of Monsters! Without a doubt, the most legendary and the coolest of all movie monsters in the history of film! This icon of classic cinema is celebrating his 60th anniversary this year. Godzilla has appeared in so many sequels I don't even know how or where to start counting! But no matter how corny or cheesy the sequels were, no one could forgive Roland Emmerich for his 1998 radioactive turd of a remake. To call the film bad is an understatement. To call it a disappointment is not even close to accurate. It's nearly unwatchable! Leave it to American cinema to desecrate what filmmakers overseas got right from the start. But with the right cast, solid writing and the perfectly cast director, America just might be able to make a pretty darn great Godzilla film.

Like with each season of 24, Godzilla films don't really depend too heavily on the plot because it will most likely stays the same. Godzilla is on the loose and either the humans have to kill him before he wipes them out or some other huge monster wipes them both out. And luckily in this film, it's the latter! That's all you really have to say. Forget complexity, let's get down to the monster smack-down we've been waiting for!

Problem is is that it takes its sweet time getting to the juicy action and that's the biggest problem many people will have with this film. If it's Pacific Rim 2 you're looking for, then you're going to be seriously let down (save the last 25 minutes though). The film doesn't have epic battle after epic battle strung together like with Pacific Rim. The first two thirds of the film is all very tense buildup with some terrifically exciting action sequences peppered throughout the many dialogue and dramatic scenes.

For me though, I kind of loved the sweet, sweet anticipation they built up. It made the climactic finale even more rewarding. And some of the dramatic moments had a definite dramatic weight and emotion that actually kind of got to me. Particularly an early scene between Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche. Expertly handled, somber and bittersweet.

All of the acting was well handled. You could tell that all of the actors took this film seriously and it shows. Ken Watanabe can do no wrong in my eyes. Elizabeth Olsen was really good also. Aaron Taylor Johnson was fine, but to me he felt like Sam Neil in Jurassic Park. You know what I mean? He might have the title of "main character" but no one who walked out of Jurassic Park walked out talking about Sam Neil. They were either talking about the dinosaurs or Jeff Goldblum. With Godzilla, you're going to walk out talking about Godzilla and Godzilla's awesome fire-breath. Speaking of Godzilla, let's talk about the star of the show (even though he's only in it for like 35 minutes).

Godzilla looked unbelievable. I adore his design. Instead of making him look like a chicken-walking iguana with a fat head, they returned to the original design and improved upon it. The detail put into him is astounding. He looks absolutely massive! The King of Monsters isn't fully seen until perhaps halfway through, but when we finally hear his mighty roar I was instantly brought back to the first time I heard the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. It was just... wow.

And they brought back his fire-breathing! During the final battle, (which is worth the price of admission alone), I was just waiting on the edge of my seat for him to let it loose. And when he does, oh boy is it a sight to behold! During the battles' climax, there is a scene that was so unbelievably satisfying and beyond words incredible that the members of the audience started clapping and cheering! I of course joined them because I too felt that way. I just had never been to a movie that made an audience break out into cheering before the end credits before! Something about that really made me smile when that happened.

I feel like this could be the Jurassic Park for a new generation of movie fanatics. That's a huge statement but I do believe that Godzilla could be the next "landmark/defining film" of the 2010 decade. Right alongside Inception and The Avengers.

Final Report: Godzilla is a lumbering, larger-than-life beast of a film that takes it's time to get rolling. But when it gets going, it's impossible to get it to stop! With some of the most spectacular special effects I've ever seen and a perfect balance of humanity and destruction, Godzilla is one summer blockbuster that must be witnessed on the biggest of screens. What else can I say other than, go go Godzilla!