Predicted Rating: 4 Stars
Directed by: Brian Singer. Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Peter Dinklage, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Ellen Paige, Nicholas Hoult
Taking place in the not-to-distance future, DOFP sees the Earth lay in apocalyptic ruin after highly technologically advanced robots called Sentinels have devastated society. Originally designed to kill just mutants, the Sentinels are now targeting anyone who carries the mutant gene. On the brink of extinction, the mutants find out that the Sentinels were commercialized after their creator, Bolivar Trask (Dinklage), was assassinated by Mystique (Lawrence). Wolverine (Jackman) is sent back in time to stop Mystique and save the future of humanity.
Time travel movies are always difficult to make for two reasons; people often get really confused of what is going on and massive nerd fan boys critique everything to try and point out mistakes to make themselves feel better. Brian Singer tries to get around this by essentially saying any major change in past events completely changes the future except for the person who was sent back in time. He also gets around the problem about having two people in the past by sending back a person's conscience rather than their physical form. When you delve deep down into this movie it can be extremely confusing but if you ignore any inevitable technical inaccuracies generally associated with time travel movies, this is ultimately a very entertaining flick. In larger scheme of things however, I only assume this movie exists because Singer was so disappointed with Brett Ratner's The Last Stand that he wants to do the Phoenix Saga over again in his way.
Aside from the time travel, I can see how this film can be extremely confusing for people unfamiliar with the X-Men franchise. There are many reference to previous films and the comics that receive no explanation. Whilst it was very satisfying for me to splurge any information I know on the franchise, it must have been very frustrating for other people. There are many references to the relationship between Wolverine and William Striker. In this film, Striker literally has no lines and just sort of gets dodgy looks from Wolverine so if you were unaware that is was Striker who gave Wolverine his adamantium skeleton, you will be left wondering what the hell is the point of this guy. Even I was left questioning at the end whether now Wolverine has the adamantium. There are also multiple references to First Class that receive no clarification. Finally there is a fleeting joke about Quicksilver being Magneto's son. After this I though, great, they are going to expand on this storyline further. Nope. It is left at a joke, and it is not even very clear anyway.
Overall: Very entertaining for fans of the series but could be confusing for those who are not. I have also discovered the best job in the world, the person who applied J-Law's Mystique make-up. 4 Stars
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