Film number seven of 2014. I've said it before that I used to be a huge fan of the X-Men comics in the 80s, I've seen all the films and will continue to do so. There are in fact, people out there who are way more involved with the timeline for the X-Men franchise and are better at explaining it. Here's an interesting link and there's a ton more Zergnet. What I will do here is discuss the film and how it pertains to the X-Universe.
As stated prior, the Days of Future Past plot line was a 2 issue story arc that took place right after the Dark Phoenix Saga.
Kitty Pryde is sent back in time to change history so that mutant kind won't be wiped out by the sentinels. In that arc, Kitty is trying to stop the murder of Senator Robert Kelly. When Kelly is killed, the sentinel initiative gets pushed through Congress, then mutants and superhumans will be hunted down. For the sake of the film, Wolverine gets sent back, he's currently the most popular character and there's also a time difference that would make it impossible for Kitty to go back. Wolverine's healing power makes it more feasible. Beside, do we really need to see a film where Kitty Pryde do all the heavy lifting? No we don't. Also, instead of staunch anti-mutant Senator Kelly, we get sentinel creator Bolivar Trask is the target of the assassination that sets forth the chain of events that will lead to the destruction of not just mutants but mankind.
Most of the cast from all of the X-Men films are back as well. They include:
- Hugh Jackman as Wolverine
- Patrick Stewart as Professor X
- Ian McKellen as Magneto
- Halle Berry as Storm
- Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde
- James McAvoy as Prof X from X-Men First Class
- Michael Fassbender as Magneto from X-Men First Class
- Nicholas Holt as Hank McCoy/Beast from X-Men First Class
- Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique from X-Men First Class
Non X-Men First Class alum like Colossus, Iceman and Rogue show up as well. New mutants like Blink, Sunspot (different version than the comic) and Cable (who's power I still don't understand) are also in the film. The character of William Stryker also makes another appearance. Havok from First Class is back as well but he like a few others has a minor role that offers almost no significance other than a friendly face. Before I move on, I want to say that the performance Peter Dinklage gives as Bolivar Trask was nothing short of brilliant.
The film opens up in the year 2023, sentinels have pushed mutants and mankind alike to the edge of extinction. The X-Men battle with sentinels and usually get defeated but Kitty is able to send Bishop back in time a few days to warn them of the impending attack, allowing them to seek refuge somewhere else to avoid destruction. The opening scene takes place in Moscow but Kitty sends Bishop back just in time and we next see everyone gathered in China. It's here where we learn that in 1973 Mystique kills Trask, starting a chain of events that see the creation of the sentinels and they're evolution to unstoppable killing machines. Xavier, Magneto, Kitty and Wolverine hatch a plan to send Wolverine back as his healing power will allow him the survive a trip that far back. His goal is to link up with the 1973 version of Prof X and stop Mystique from murdering Trask because after the murder, Mystique is captured and it's her DNA that will eventually lead to the sentinels being able to counter the X-Men's powers. Magneto, Prof X and Iceman stay with Kitty as she sends Logan back. Keeping a lookout for the sentinels outside the temple are Colossus, Cable, Storm, Sunspot, Blink and Warpath (eventually when they're overrun Magneto and Iceman become the last line of defense).
Logan makes it to 1973 successfully and he makes short time to Xavier's rundown mansion (be advised: it's the 70's so all the character in this plot line are wearing bitching 70s threads with the wide ties, short skirts and hairdos, much like the cast sported groovy 60s clothes in X-Men First Class). Hank McCoy is living at the mansion with Xavier and Charles hasn't been the same since we last saw him in X-Men First Class. Thanks to Hank's concoction, he is able to walk but the serum stunts his telepathic abilities (that's why he's walking around in the trailer). Reluctantly, Xavier decides to help Logan and they need to bust Magneto out of prison. To help with that they recruit Peter Maximoff aka Quicksilver, the Marvel Universe's answer to The Flash.
Once Magneto is out the alliance between him and Xavier is tentative at best as there is a lot of underlying bitterness between the two since Cuba. Each blame each other for abandoning the cause. Eventually they end up in France where the Vietnam Peace Accords are underway and Trask will be there. They manage to thwart Mystique's plot but the ensuing flight causes a panic as mutants are out in the public. Trask may have been saved but the commotion in Paris allows him the get the funding for the sentinels. Mystique escapes but she's shot and her blood/DNA is collected. So far nothing has changed. In 2023, the sentinels locate the mutants and begin to attack the temple, they all know that this is it.
Magneto has ended up getting metal into the sentinels during transport (they're made with a non metal polymer so Magneto cannot use his powers against them) and turns them on the crowd at their unveiling in Washington on the White House lawn. Logan, Hank and Xavier (having stopped taking the serum so his powers have returned) do battle with Magneto and Mystique but it doesn't go well. Eventually it's Mystique that decides not to kill Trask and thwarts Magneto. Xavier is able to convince Magneto to not kill anyone but allows him to escape. Wolverine gets himself launch into the Potomac by Magneto (Logan hasn't undergone his adamantium bath in 1973 but Magneto go the best of him anyway. Good scene).
Back in 2023, the sentinels have gruesomely dispatched the defenders and are about to close it out when the events of 1973 cause everything to fade to black. Logan awakens in the X mansion and all appears well. Sorry about the length there but I wanted to give an idea of what was going on without giving everything away.
I thought this film was very good This is the 7th film of franchise and there are continuity issues still looming but I'll discuss those in a bit. The performance will solid all the way around. I've mentioned Dinklage's performance earlier. The dynamic between McAvoy and Fassbender is excellent. Both embrace the characters (again) and play off each other nicely. Both blame the other for mutants being hunted and the deaths of the colleagues (characters from First Class were captured, tortured and experimented on by Trask) in very powerful scenes.
Wolverine is the cash cow of the franchise, that if any was a factor in having his character go back to 1973. However, his role at the end of the 1973 timeline is minimal which I found quite surprising and yet refreshing. This was about Magneto and Xavier and that's how it played out. Nice work. The introduction of Quicksilver was nice too. Logan mentions that he knows a guy who can help them get into the Pentagon where Magneto is imprisoned. Quicksilver in the comics was always a bit of a dick but in the film he's a just a goofball kid. The scenes where he uses his powers are nicely done in terms of humor and special effects. In the comics Quicksilver is the son of Magneto (his sister, the Scarlet Witch is Magneto's daughter) but there's only a wink wink reference to his paternity and if it is Magneto then it happened prior to the events of X-Men First Class so who cares. No need to muddy up the water any more.
Jennifer Lawrence was a hot commodity when production of this film began and I suspect that had a lot to do with her role expanding in this film. Rebecca Romijin was never as popular as JLaw is now so Mystique is close to Wolverine type popularity (though not enough to garner her own film). It makes sense and JLaw is very talented. I was lukewarm about the way she was introduced in First Class but it works in terms of the plot. The special effects are very good as well. I wasn't bothered by a lack of Rogue. Her character has been diminished since the first installment. No big loss.
Now the continuity. This film more or less hits the reset button on the franchise. There are some questions that may never get answered but they're probably minor. For instance, Emma Frost. You can see the sentinels manifest her mutation in the future but she was a woman in First Class and a teenager in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. To help illustrate the timeline issue I was able to find a graphic:
The very end is the key. It washes away a lot of the plot sins of the other films by Logan waking up in 2023 back at the X mansion and running into the likes of Rogue, Jean Grey and Cyclops. So it's possible that parts of the 1st three X-Men films may have never happened. I'm ok with some continuity issues. They way the films are made there are going to be some. You can argue that X-Men Origins: Wolverine didn't need to be made (it didn't) but Wolverine is the cash cow and we are going to see films involving him. The big continuity issue was Professor Xavier. He died in Last Stand. He did manage to come back in the end credit scene but it was in the body of another person. Yet in the end credit scene of The Wolverine, there he is. There was no attempt to explain that little bugaboo.
The next step will be to rank the franchise films but as of now, this film is near the top. Stay tuned. The end credit scene was at first confusing but I eventually figured it out with a little help. The next installment will be X-Men: Age of Apocalypse.
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