Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past

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

Director: Bryan Singer

Principal Cast Members: Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence

It's fair to say that for fans of the X-Men franchise this is what they were waiting for. In an Avengers style team up, Bryan Singer returns to the franchise to unite both the old and the new and it's fair to say it's pretty spectacular. Right from the snazzy opening credits it feels like the first true sequel to Singer's first two installments in the franchise. While it's great to see the old cast back, once the film gets going most of the action takes place mostly in the 70's, which could of been problematic had First Class not done such a good job of establishing the younger versions of the X-Men. I could talk for hours for how great it is too see the established casts return on top form but I feel you might get bored and could probably watch the film itself before I'm finished. The superb script means that while it could feel a stretch to incorporate all these characters the film seems to breeze by, giving us a bit of what we love and some new joys - Hugh Jackman and Nicholas Hoult's interactions threaten to steal the film and manage to give the film some much needed light relief. Even more remarkable is that they still manage to introduce a rather high number of impressive new characters, Peter Dinklage and Evan Peters make a great leap from television to movies to make sure that the 70's side of the story has developed, while even the brief glimpses we get in the future of Bishop and Blink suggest that we could be seeing some really cool mutants in future installments. Like a lot of the films out this month Singer uses special effects to great effects to give us some of the most impressive set pieces in the franchise to date. For any long term X-Men fan this is a must see and it goes without saying, stay to the end of the credits!!