X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past
Starring Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence
Directed by Bryan Singer (X-Men)
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action and sci-fi violence and action, some suggestive material, nudity and language

    One of the most popular stories in the X-men comics is this tale of how Wolverine (Jackman) is sent into the past in order to stop Mystique (Lawrence) from committing an action that would devastate the world and potentially destroy all mutants in the future.  While in the past he must convince an apathetic Professor X (McAvoy) and a malicious Magneto (Fassbender) to help him stop her. 

    If you are tired of pointless and thoughtless super hero films that attempt to distract you into forgetting the need for a plot – then this is the right film for you.  Just like X-Men, X2 and X-Men: First Class, this is an extremely well-written and trippy script that will excite your intellect while keeping your adrenaline at maximum output. 

    When X-Men: First Class first hit theaters in 2011, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and James McAvoy were just becoming famous.  Now, however, the stars have become A-listers and with the combination of the old and new X-Men casts, the films is so full of amazing actors that it literally busts off of the screen.  And not one of them is just “phoning it in” here.  Each and every one of the actors and actresses owns their characters and puts everything they have into them.  This makes the movie that much more fun to watch. 

    When you combine the artistry of the actors with the brilliance of director Bryan Singer and a slick, extremely well-written screenplay and over the top production values, you end up with one amazing super-hero movie.  Speaking of production, something I have didn’t catch before but that truly impresses me is the talent of John Ottman who not only delivers a score that perfectly fits the film, but who also masterfully edits the film as well.  He did this before on all of Singers films since 1993’s Public Access but for some reason I didn’t catch on until now.  I can’t tell you how awe-struck I am with this dual threat behind-the-scenes filmmaker. 

    My one bit of concern is that I get asked a lot “is it safe to take my kids?”  The X-Men comics and movies are meant for late teens and this film is no exception.  There is bad language, nudity and a tremendous amount of violence and I would caution parents of young children who don’t want to expose their grade schoolers or even junior high aged kids to this kind of graphic material.  A