X-Men: Days of the Future Past (2014) - Bryan Singer

Beginning in the not so distant future, X-Men: Days of the Future Past opens in a desolate, apocalyptic future where mutants and humans alike are near extermination.  Sentinels, extremely powerful robots who were created by humans out of fear of mutants now hunt everyone.  In an effort to stop this systematic extinction of humanity, Xavier and Magneto, among the other remaining survivors, concoct a plan that entails sending Wolverine back in time to the 1970s in an effort to stop the creation of the Sentinels before it begins.  Seeking the help of the younger Xavier, Wolverine discovers a broken version of his greatest mentor, who desperately needs to rediscover hope.  Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days of the Future Past is not a perfect film by any means, but when it comes to comic book films, it's a fast-paced, intelligent film that honor's the emotional weight of its characters.  Those looking for a carbon copy retelling of the comic book's story will be extremely disappointed but Singer captures the family dynamics and emotional core of the X-men universe, making it arguably the best X-men movie to-date.  One of the most impressive aspects of the film is how concise and easy to digest it all is, especially considering its time-travel, future/past timeline.  Days of Future Past could have easily become an incoherent, overly-convoluted mess but Singer keeps things humming along smoothly, perfectly understanding what's important and what's not.  Perhaps even more importantly, Days of the Future Past doesn't feel the need to reintroduce characters to the audience, giving it the ability to jump right into the emotional and moral complexities that make X-men one of the best comic book stories.   The trend starting with First Class, Days of Future Past is about the struggle between Magneto and Xavier over  how things should be handled, with every mutant needing to make their own decision of rather to be a hopeful pacifist or aggressive elitist.  While the film does have a few nonsensical moments, X-Men Days of the Future Past features well-crafted action sequences, sly humor, and a central understanding of the characters and world, making it an impressive spectacle.

---