X-Men: Days of Future Past

I could barely contain my excitement when I found out that the new X-Men movie would involve bringing back much of the original cast. However, I was a little disappointed with how little they were in the movie itself; the focus is still on the First Class cast. The film also holds true to the First Class continuity, with a few references to the other X-Men movies thrown in. I hesitate to say they continue from the first movies because of the terrible continuity errors, but I’ll touch on that later.
The film opens with a quick update on what’s been happening. Basically, the dystopian world is under the control of the Sentinels (super-powered robots with the ability to adapt to a mutant’s power) and are seeking out mutants and exterminating them. Enter Kitty Pryde, Iceman, Bishop, Sunspot, Blink, Warpath, and Colossus fighting off a hoard of Sentinels, and most of them are killed until it is revealed that that reality isn’t real. Kitty sent Bishop’s consciousness back in time to deliver the warning that Sentinels were coming, saving them all. Her group reconvenes with Storm, Wolverine, Professor Xavier, and Magneto where it is decided that Kitty will send Wolverine’s consciousness back to 1973 to stop Mystique from murdering Bolivar Trask, the designer of the Sentinels, as his death at the hands of the mutant shape-shifter will spark the implementation of the Sentinels. After some convincing, Wolverine gets the young Charles Xavier and Hank McCoy to join him in getting Magneto out of his prison under the Pentagon. Of course, breaking someone out of the Pentagon is a bit tricky, so the trio seeks the help of superhumanly-speedy Peter Maximoff, or as fans of the comics will know him as, Quicksilver. His scene is easily one of the highlights of the film, filled with moments of absolute hilarity. After getting Magneto in on their plan, they go to Washington D.C. to stop Mystique. As can be predicted and without giving too much away, things don’t go quite as planned and the X-Men’s usual antagonist comes forward to reek more havoc than his future-self ever did.
As is with the other X-Men movies, there are some pretty glaring continuity errors. Perhaps the most obvious is the fact that Professor Xavier is alive. In the end-credits scene for X-Men: The Last Stand, you see that Professor’s consciousness is somehow saved and put into someone else’s body. While that explains how he survives, it does nothing to explain how he has the same exact body. Phoenix vaporized Xavier’s body, so he was presumably put into his twin brother’s body, but that connection is never explained. Another error is Wolverine’s claws. In the “present” year 2023, they should be made of bone, seeing as Silver Samurai destroyed his signature adamantium ones in The Wolverine. It is hinted that Magneto had something to do with the repair, but it is never explicitly stated. Furthermore, at the end of the movie, Wolverine never retracts his claws so you never find out if, in this new timeline, Wolverine goes through the Weapon X program at all. The last obvious continuity error is Bolivar Trask. Granted it isn’t a big deal, in X-Men: The Last Stand Trask is played by African-American actor Bill Duke. In DOFP, he is played by Caucasian Peter Dinklage. Again, it isn’t a big deal, but some it’s a small detail that the OCD side of me is slightly bothered by. However, all of these continuity errors are rendered insignificant because of the new timeline that Wolverine has created.
Even with those errors, I loved the movie. Seeing X-Men alumni come back warmed my heart, even though I had to watch them die in the beginning. The action kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, and I was surprised how well it kept my attention. With the other X-Men movies, the lines between who the main antagonist is is always blurred, and this one is no different. The “bad guy” title is passed around throughout the entire movie, and that’s just one of the reasons why it’s such a nail-biter. Overall, I thought it was a fantastic movie! I look forward to seeing it again and picking up on even more Easter Eggs. My personal favorite Egg was Quicksilver wistfully mentioning to Magneto that his mother once knew someone who could control metal like him. For those of you who aren’t as well-versed in the Marvel Universe, Magneto is in fact Quicksilver’s father. Little tidbits like that are what make this movie so good. Director Bryan Singer knows his facts and he shows that he truly cares about the fans by scattering them throughout the film. To the more sensitive viewers, be warned: several scenes will probably get you to tear up for quite awhile. While there isn’t a mid-credits scene, don’t get up too soon! Stick around because there is an after-credits scene! Overall, I would give X-Men: Days of Future Past an 8.5/10.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Now that I have the censored parts out of the way, I can get into the really good stuff. Some of this may be a bit confusing if you haven’t seen the movie, so I suggest you do that before reading this. The end of the movie left me baffled with a million questions. First, where is Stryker? We see that Mystique is impersonating him, so what did she do to him? It’s unlikely that she killed him, so is he just unconscious somewhere? This brings up another question concerning Wolverine. Does he get involved with the Weapon X program? Does he get his adamantium skeleton? What does Mystique taking him do for their relationship? Like I mentioned before, he never retracts his claws in the last scene so you don’t know if he had the adamantium injections. It isn’t known if the Weapon X program even exists. And if the program doesn’t exist, does Deadpool? Jean Grey and Cyclops are also alive in the new timeline. As heart-warming as that is, it brings up an interesting question. Will Jean Grey embrace her inner Phoenix again? And will we get more of the Wolverine/Cyclops/Jean Grey love triangle in the next movie or has she made her final choice in Scott? One of my biggest questions is what has happened? Wolverine has no memories since 1973, so how has the world evolved?
Another big question on everyone’s mind is what’s up with that after-credits scene? The scene is a mutant in ancient Egypt building pyramids with telekinetic energy, and thousands are chanting “En Sabah Nur” at his feet. As the camera pans to view the mutant’s face, you see that he has blue skin and red eyes, and there are four horsemen in the distance behind him. That’s it. If you were as confused as I was, don’t worry. After a bit of research, I discovered that the words the people are chanting mean “The First One” meaning the first mutant, Apocalypse. Because he can alter his body at a molecular level he’s extremely powerful and nearly unbeatable. Being raised in the Sandstormers clan, he believes that only the fittest are worthy of survival and he himself is a tool of evolutionary progress. He takes it upon himself to rid the universe of the weak mutants and recruit the strong. He hibernates for extended periods of time to recuperate and get stronger, so this scene alludes to the fact that he was last active on Earth in the height of the Egyptian civilization. In the comics, he is awakened from a long hibernation when mutant Cable time travels. Given the time ripple that Wolverine just caused, it’s no surprise that the next movie is being named after him. The horsemen in the background are Famine, Pestilence, War, and Death. Apocalypse brainwashes people into doing his bidding, and they take on the role of one of the horsemen. In the comics, this includes Wolverine, so it wouldn’t be surprising if producers bring that aspect to the big screen.