X-Men: Days of Future Past Movie Review (Mild spoilers)

Better late than never.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is directed by Bryan Singer, the director returning to the helm of the X-Men franchise after previously directing the first two instalments; X-Men and X2. The film sees the mutants we know and love living in an apocalyptic wasteland on the run from machines known as Sentinels. These beings are incredibly powerful and can adapt to any mutant power in order to defeat them, plus have the ability to target mutants and humans with the gene for mutation. In order to avert this future, the X-Men send Wolverine back in time to round up Charles Xavier, Magneto and others in order to stop Mystique from assassinating Bolivar Trask, this being the event which sees the Sentinel's creation.

I must say that the summer blockbusters of 2014 have been majorly impressive and enjoyable and this film is no exception. Bryan Singer's return proved to be a successful one for his directing career and the franchise itself as events within the film see a creation of an all new timeline, one which can be filled up with new X-Men movies. Singer not only removed some of the mistakes of X3: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins:Wolverine, but he also rendered the events of X Men 1,2 and The Wolverine as no longer canon.

I really have a fondness for the X-Men franchise because they strike an excellent balance between the ultra serious and realistic storytelling of The Dark Knight trilogy and the super-fun popcorn entertainment we get from the Avengers. The film finds this balance through genuine humour which works, especially in the first act of the film. At that stage of the film I was laughing consistently.

However the film is driven forward by its riveting story of time travel and alternate realities. For Bryan Singer and screenwriter Simon Kinberg to create a time travel tale, one from a beloved comic storyline of the same name, and create it so I never found myself confused or contradicted is a fantastic achievement. The time travel script was written with care, and translates clearly onto the big screen.

What really makes the movie though is the emotional weight we feel towards characters we are familiar with. Each character has different layers and depth to them. For example, Charles Xavier at this point is a broken man who has lost all hope, different to the wise old man we know. Wolverine has to use his brain as opposed to going berserk like he normally does and Mystique is emotionally conflicted in every sense. What I also loved was the parallel between past Magneto (Fassbender) and future Magneto (Mckellen) and seeing just how much that character has developed.

The performances are great across the board, my two favourites being McAvoy and Fassbender, who's chemistry which made First Class such a hit is still there.

While some may complain about the lack of action, I won't because the story was compelling and the characters were so interesting. My one exception would be main villain Bolivar Trask. While Peter Dinklage does well acting wise, I didn't understand his motivation for creating these Sentinels. A more compelling villain would have put this film on another level. Also, a few inconsistencies still exist within the X-Men timeline, but those events never actually happened according to the new timeline so I can't really complain.

Also, I can't not mention Quicksilver. While the production photos made him look terrible, he is actually a really cool character. And he's fast, really fast. That scene in the Pentagon where we see Quicksilver run at super speed and take out all of those guys in that kitchen is one of my favourite scenes in a Marvel movie.

Despite a weakness with the villain, I loved Days of Future Past and I think it exceeds the most through its story and through its characters. It's ballsy and changes the timeline of X-Men films allowing room for many more instalments. And with Bryan Singer returning for X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016, I can't wait to see where this franchise goes.


Rating - A


1 sentence summary - Everything great about the X-Men franchise bundled into one fantastic movie!


Thanks for reading,
Matt

Prisoners Movie Review

The Fall Movie season is well under way at the minute and its clear that, if all movies are like this one, we are going to be blessed with some excellent content for the rest of the year. Here is my review of the critically acclaimed drama Prisoners..

Prisoners assembles a great cast of many Hollywood A-list actors and is a drama/mystery thriller. 2 families are sharing Thanksgiving together at one of their houses when dark events begin to happen. When nobody is looking, the young daughters from each family are mysteriously taken from their family. A suspect is found but there is no incriminating evidence against him. The story then proceeds with the main theme being, "how far will you go in order to find your lost daughter". Prisoners is a top-notch movie for so many different reasons.

The story itself is well paced and well balanced. Never is it obvious what is going to happen, it was a movie where I found myself in shock at some of the twists and turns the plot takes. It is certainly unpredictable. Also, it is very intense indeed. This movie screams intensity. When a movie like this is touching on such a delicate matter, then all of the movies elements have to add up well to create this effect. Thankfully, it does.

This movie has a certain edge to it no matter what is happening on screen, which is testament to the excellent direction the director took with this film. Some of the choices made were brilliant. Particular scenes were cut short in a way which didn't feel like an abrupt pause but rather a cliff-hanger, engaging you to make you want to know what will happen next. The tension in this movie escalates and escalates within every single scene. I was constantly flipping back and forth on many issues in this movie; "will he really do that?", "did he really abduct the children?". Throughout this whole movie, questions!

The musical score for this movie is exactly what it needs to be; chilling, haunting and memorable. It is perfect in that sense!

The movie also has great uses of imagery and lighting to escalate the tension as well as portray some of the conflict within certain characters. Behind the camera, it is nothing revolutionary yet still comes across as very clever indeed. The cinematography is impressive as much as it is varied, with specific camera angles and swooping shots used cleverly as a means to tell the story and build up the intensity..

Special effects aren't used at all, making the movie feel as gritty and realistic as it sets out to be. The use of setting, like Mud and Place Beyond the Pines, is impressive also. Nearly 100% of the time, the setting is either pouring with rain or pitch black. The rain gives you that dismal, depressing feeling and the dark that sense of fear and mystery!

This movie has great technical stuff going for it plus has a certain sense of unpredictability to its story. However, the highlight of this movie, as it should be for any, was the characters and the performances.

Hugh Jackman in this movie is just phenomenal. Truly epic, Oscar worthy for sure. You can tell he's really going for it in this movie, using a mixed bag of emotion to deliver an outstanding performance. He is awesome when he is getting angry in this movie. Believe me, he gets mad! It is very entertaining to watch for sure, but I much preferred it when he was breaking down into tears as opposed to smacking things in rage! That is just a personal preference of mine and would have liked to have seen more of that if I'm honest. Too many rage scenes.. But, if I were put into the situation Hugh Jackman's character was in, I would react in the exact same way!

The plot of the movie itself is interesting yet seems to lose a little bit of its momentum towards the middle act of the movie. Nothing much seems to happen in comparison to the beginning and ending of the movie and it just seemed to slow it down a little bit for me.

However, going back to some positives, the emotional connection you get to the characters is done very well. The dialogue is carefully and cleverly written and makes you feel like the people you are watching are real people going through a real traumatic experience. Characters interact with each other in a realistic way as well which also adds to the realistic, dark and gritty tone the movie is trying to set up..

Speaking of other characters, the rest of the cast all did sufficient jobs but didn't top Hugh Jackman in my opinion! Jake Gyllenhaal played the detective leading the investigation to find the missing daughters in this movie and he did a great job. He was the guy I was rooting for during this movie while Jackman's character was off doing his evil activities the circumstance had forced him into. His performance isn't perfect however, I probably had expectations that were too high. That being said, more emotional gravity wouldn't have hindered his cause..

Paul Dano played the main suspect in this movie and he did well in the role as he forced you into thinking different things about him. One minute you think he's a creepy murderer, the next an innocent and troubled soul.

Terrence Howard is probably the next best thing in this movie in terms of acting performances. The rest do a sound job at what they are given..

So, Prisoners is a well made movie centred around some terrific acting performances, clever technical aspects and a vibe of mystery and tension, which leaves you engrossed in all that is happening on screen but at the same time you are flipping your opinions in your head back and forth and back and forth. Its intense and creepy as hell also, it has that haunting effect on you when you think about it. Its a great movie, and really deserves the following rating:


Rating - A

1 sentence summary - An all-round terrific movie, one that escalates tension and makes you change your thoughts on the characters constantly throughout!


We actually have such a good line up of films from now until New Years Eve. I hope to review as many of them as I can and I look forward to, hopefully, dishing out some very high ratings!

Thanks for reading,
Matt