Movie Discussion: X-Men: Days of Future Past

Scott Hardie | May 24, 2014
This was great entertainment, full of fan service and jokes and big action scenes, and deserves to be a big hit. It's as much of a crossover film for the X-Men as The Avengers is for the other Marvel characters. I think a healthy respect for elements from all of the previous films, even the little-loved The Last Stand, makes all the difference. The characters behave exactly like they should.

Hugh Jackman looks more Clint Eastwoodian with every picture.

One of the great things about the enormity of the X-Men roster in the comics is the vast number of characters that can be tossed into the film for a neat scene or two. Quicksilver's slow-motion romp around the kitchen is of course the best scene in this movie (much as Nightcrawler's teleportation battle in the Oval Office was in X2), but I'm equally impressed by what the movie accomplishes with Blink's power. I'm glad to see that she'll be back in the next title.

Mystique's constant nudity has always bothered me as a feminist, and it's as bad here as ever. I find it difficult to take the character seriously when the films have so little respect for her as a woman. Alas, she remains one of the most popular characters (and Jennifer Lawrence is white-hot thanks to The Hunger Games), so Mystique is going to keep re-appearing in full naked form and maybe even getting her own starring movie. This series is obsessed with Mystique, Wolverine, Xavier, and Magneto, giving them more and more of the screen time in every sequel, even with so many other great characters to feature.

I expected cameos from Halle Berry and Anna Paquin and the other major stars of the earlier films, but seeing Kelsey Grammer was a delightful surprise. I was always tickled by the fact that they cast a middle-aged sitcom icon as a furry muscular superhero, and so it's neat to be reminded of him, and to see that this film isn't retconning The Last Stand. According to IMBD, Grammer was supposed to have a much bigger role here (perhaps working with the team in China?), but it had to be cut due to scheduling conflicts. This is probably just as well: While certain flashy characters like Quicksilver and Blink transfer well to the movie screen, Beast is much better served by the comic book format, where his loquacity and moody genius come across better. There's only so much that they can do with him in a movie fight scene.

What's your favorite link to the past in this film? And what would you have liked to see more of?