X-Men: Days Of Future Past (3D) (2014, Dir. Bryan Singer, USA/UK) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) ***

 X-Men: Days Of Future Past (3D) (2014, Dir. Bryan Singer, USA/UK) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) ***

Starring: Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence

Machines known as Sentinels stalk the land, looking to kill off those rare humans with a mutant gene. With the Sentinels now reaching Moscow, a band of mutants, the X-Men (as well as their nemesis Magneto (Michael Fassbender, Sir Ian McKellen) are holding off their advance. With the help of a mutant named Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), Wolverine (Jackman) psychically goes back in time to the 1970's so that an earlier generation of the mutants can stop the Sentinels before it's too late.

X-Men: Days Of Future Past is a curious concoction. Technically a follow-up, to the 2011 prequel, X-Men: First Class and at the same time tying that up with the other numerous films from film end of the X-Men franchise, especially the initial three films made between 2000 and 2006 and bringing back into the fold director Bryan Singer, director of the first two X-Men films. The 2000 film, X-Men was very significant in that it was basically the spark that ignited the still burning interest in superhero movies. A film subgenre that could've been easily, and unfairly, written off as dumb cookie-cutter generic rubbish this crop of superhero movies have  often shown startling ambition and depth, perhaps best demonstrated by Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy (2005 - 2012). X-Men: Days Of Future Past is definitely ambitious, for which it should be commended. It is not flawless.

Whilst First Class was a superhero movie that took place within the period of the Cuban Missile Crisis, much of Days Of Future Past takes place amidst the final days of an alternate Vietnam War (ending two years, and one president, earlier in this universe than it did in reality) but unlike First Class, we get less of an origins story and more of a time-travelling tale. Time-travel in fiction is often interesting but is also a trouble area in that it's difficult to make it unique in how it's demonstrated. In this case, using a form of psychic projection, it's handled pretty well and also allows the audience to experience two different stories, set across two time periods, in conjunction with one another.

There's a lack of balance in how this is executed. Our initial storyline, set in the future, allows for a reintroduction of the old X-Men cast and plays as an ensemble, whereas the flash-backs are experienced largely through  Hugh Jackman playing Wolverine. This is really Wolverine's film. He is literally inactive for most of the plot in the future but a fully active participant in the past, which plays also as a group in that we have other major characters (James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique) but it is largely through Wolverine's perspective. The way it's handled in terms of the 70's is fairly effective. We do get insights into the characters of Charles and Mystique and it builds in character development. 

The ball seems to have been dropped for Magneto, however. One of the best things about First Class was how it portrayed a nuanced relationship between Magneto and Xavier, largely though Magneto's complex character. Here, there's less of a case for this. Locked up underneath the Pentagon for supposedly assassinating President Kennedy with his magnetic powers, you don't get a sense of a changed man from the end of the last film nor does he seem any more embittered despite the circumstances. In fact, part of me feels that Ian McKellen's shorter performance as Magneto's older self is stronger in terms of characterisation.

As for the future-set sequences, these provide us with appearances of some of the figures from the older X-Men films. Of course, there's Sir Ian McKellen as Magneto, Patrick Stewart as Xavier and Halle Berry as Storm to name the most prominent whilst also introducing the likes of Ellen Page's Kitty Pryde, Bingbing Fan as Blink and  Booboo Stewart as Warpath but aside from action sequences there's not much else for for them to do. From the start they're fighting and continue fighting until the final minutes of the film. Perhaps a longer run-time (even if the film is well in excess of two hours) or  stricter editing and control of the story could've created more opportunity explore these characters (yes, Storm has already been in previous films, but Halle Berry gets little more than a single line of dialogue in the whole film) (due to pregnancy, much of Berry's planned screen time was cut from the film - Ed) and give them a more interesting dynamic.

In terms of technique, this is an impressive film. The 3D isn't an essential part of the experience, but there's a stereoscopic depth lacking in most 3D films and there are some very interesting and visually unusual sequences (in particular, Mystique being revealed on the streets of Washington D.C, all played out in the style of grainy Super-8 footage). I feel as if Days Of Future Past should've had more and would've been a better film to deal in either two separate films or as one sprawling three-hour-plus epic. In squeezing this film into a box, some of the character seems to have leaked out. I'll probably revisit this film someday and my views may soften, but as for right now, Days Of Future Past is impressive but it's no masterpiece.