Profound Thought of the Day

"You don't protest against something in literature by assigning that something to a villain. Also, you don't create a villain just by assigning an unsavory trait to them. That creates stereotypes, and no one pays attention to a stereotype nowadays. What you need to do is take that protest-worthy concept and show its consequences in all their ugliness. That way, I think, people will sit up and start to pay attention."

~Me

X-Men: Days of Future Past

*Warning: Unmarked spoilers may follow. Viewer discretion is advised.*

So, a while back we went to see X-Men: Days of Future Past. And by 'we', I mean me, and my sister, and my mom. And it was... interesting. I liked it, but it wasn't my favorite. Thinking back on it, there were ways it could have better. And yet I liked it. It had some genuinely good parts, and some parts that made me bounce up and down in my seat going "That was so cool!"

But, as stated, it also had some not-so-good parts. So today I'm doing a dual post. It's both a review and a how-it-should-have-gone speculation-type thing. We'll see how it ends up. Anyway, here goes.

***

Bouncing-up-and-down-in-your-seat-going-"That was so cool!" Moments:

• Blink. Everything with Blink. 
• Quicksilver. Everything with Quicksilver. 
• Most of the fight scenes in general, really. As stated, Blink and Quicksilver were very fun, but I'd say this movie had some of the most visually appealing fight scenes since The Avengers. 
• The breaking-Magneto-out-of-prison scene. The whole scene. It was quite possibly my favorite part of the entire movie. 
• Magneto simultaneously
  - holding up a reel of film
  - holding up a makeshift lens to project the film with, and
  - sewing up a wound in the back of his head
  all with his powers, and all without breaking a sweat. Seriously. It's awesome. 
• Magneto lifting a baseball stadium off the ground and flying with it all the way to the White House. 
• Most, if not all, of Mystique's fight scenes. 

Good/Favorite Moments:

• A bit of dialogue in the middle of the film between Mystique and an unsuspecting nurse. The two of them are watching a news broadcast about a "mutant attack" on a summit in Paris, while the nurse bandages up a wound (which Mystique sustained at said "attack"). The nurse makes a few pitying comments about the "blue woman" seen in the report, not knowing that she is tending and speaking to that same woman. And for a minute, when she replies, we see Mystique as she is when she's not being a villain. It's... nice. 
• Wolverine helping past-Charles Xavier find it in himself to overcome the pain of being a telepath. Well, overcome might not be the right word... ah, I won't spoil it here by trying to explain it. If you see or have seen the movie, though, you'll get what I'm saying. 
• Charles trying, repeatedly, to get through to Mystique and set her on a different path than the villainous one she's following. You can see that he still cares about her, a lot, but their relationship has/had its flaws and they have to work through that, too. Although, really, I don't think that relationship got nearly enough screen time. 
• The end, where Wolverine wakes up and the dismal future has been erased. Xavier's school is back to normal, and let me tell you, it's one of those "so-heartwarming-it's-almost-ridiculous" scenes. Rogue, Iceman (who previous died on-screen), Kitty Pryde, and Beast show up. Even Jean Grey and Cyclops, who died earlier on in the series, make appearances. Overall it's quite the happy ending. 

"Meh" Moments:

• Listening to Professor X talk for minutes on end at the beginning of the film. I like Professor X as much as the next person, but I did not sit down in that theater to listen to him talk. And talk. And talk. Even though it was stuff I needed know, it still didn't sit well. 
• Wolverine in the mansion trying to talk past-Charles into helping him. I mean, that scene had its funny bits (Wolverine vs. Beast, anybody?) but overall it was kind of... eh. 
• All the death scenes. All of them. (Though I'm not sure which category this should go in, so... it'll go in both. See the "bad/least favorite" section.)
• Everything from "Magneto-on-the-Sentinel-train" on. I'll explain why in a moment. 
• Surprisingly, the post-credits scene was this. I actually had to do research to figure out who the guy at the very end was. So instead of being wowed and excited, the way I was with the post-credits scene in the recent Captain America, I was sitting there thinking "Who is this guy, and what does he have to do with anything?"

Bad/Least Favorite Moments:

• As stated above, the death scenes. They were... graphic. I mean, there wasn't a lot of blood or guts flying around, but there was a lot of dying. Mutants are stabbed, incinerated, stabbed, torn in half, stabbed, exploded, stabbed and thrown off a cliff, frozen, and non-lethally stabbed... in no particular order. PG-13 movie violence doesn't generally bother me, but this movie gets a special mention for the sheer amount of death scenes it had. Surprisingly, though, none of these scenes were the worst part of the movie for me. That "honor" goes to...
• ...a short moment at the beginning where a horde of corpses spills out of a tunnel. Call it trivial, but that moment was the single most unnerving part of the movie for me. No lie. 
• The climax wasn't particularly astounding for me, either (other than that bit where Magneto lifts the stadium). But that's an entirely different matter. In fact, it brings me to...

How X-Men: Days of Future Past Could Have Been Better

As Marvel movies go, Days of Future Past was pretty good. But it wasn't amazing, and it definitely didn't outdo Captain America: The Winter Soldier (which I have also reviewed here). And one of my major bones to pick was how the climax of the movie ended up playing out. 

For one thing, I was confused about exactly what Magneto was doing for a while after he went rogue. Him lifting up the stadium was one of my favorite visuals, but I had no idea why he was doing it. I was thinking "Huh? What? Why is he doing that? Is he still with the team?" pretty much right up until he decided he wanted to kill the president. 

And that's another thing. 

The entire point of Wolverine going back in time was to prevent mutants being validated as a threat. Mutants aren't validated as a threat, there in no Sentinal program, and everyone lives happily ever after. Then the climax happened. Frankly, I do not see how Magneto dropping a stadium ON THE WHITE HOUSE and then giving his mutant-supremacy spiel ON LIVE TELEVISION failed to validate mutants as a threat. If I were one of those administrators who just got threatened by a crazy shapeshifter and metalbender, I'd be darn ready to have a look at those Sentinels, and I'm not kidding when I say that. I mean, sure, Charles prevented Mystique from killing Trask. But I wouldn't have been surprised if Magneto's actions had invalidated that entirely. 

Finally, I'd like point out an interesting idea. 

This trailer for the movie seems to imply that Wolverine and Charles would be teaming up with Magneto and Mystique. In the movie, Mystique is actually the primary antagonist. (And yet another movie falls prey to Misleading Trailer Syndrome.) But I ask you: what if Mystique had joined the team?

That might've brought Trask to the forefront as a major villain. As it was, he was a bit lackluster. I mean, sure, he did terrible stuff and no one really blamed Mystique for wanting to kill him... but Mystique was the one who had to be stopped in the end. Not him. 

Now, if Mystique had teamed up with Wolverine and Co., Trask would've been the main villain. He might've gotten more character development. Mystique's skill set would've been added to the group, and there would have been even more tension--because now it's not only Charles and Erik who need to work together, but also Raven, and none of these three particularly like each other after everything that's happened.

It's an interesting idea, I think.

Conclusion:

As I already said, Days of Future Past was okay, but not the best Marvel movie ever. It had highs, lows, and "meh" moments. If you're a hardcore X-Men fan, you won't mind paying to see it in the theater; if you're not, go see Maleficent and then watch this one when it hits Redbox or Netflix. 

Overall, this movie garnered exactly three stars:

***

This has been yet another review with me, AJ. Stay tuned to read about whatever I write about next. Or leave. I mean, you could leave, but I'd rather you didn't. So... please don't?

Anyway, thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a comment with any questions, critiques, or thoughts! Bye!