'X-Men: Days Of Future Past' Review/Thoughts

The mutants are back on the silver screen today. So the Informers went to an early show to check out X-Men: Days Of Future Past. Expect very mild spoilers.

What We Liked:

• Great infusion of new and old casts
• The film promotes the X-Men message
• The struggle of Mystique
• Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique character evolution since First Class
• Quicksilver's incredibly fun sequence
• Young Prof. X's character arc, Great acting from James McAvoy
• The always imposing Michael Fassbender's Magneto
• 70's Wolverine's Bone Claws
• Fun Rewrites of US History
• Inventive uses for mutant's abilities
• Excellent fight sequences in future + past
• The entire Paris Summit Sequence
• The 70's style vs. the bleak future
• Time Travel Humor
• The always evolving relationship of Prof. X and Magneto
• References to past X-films
• Design of the Sentinels in past + future
• Bobby Drake finally Ice sliding!
• Time Travel is not overly confusing

What We Didn't Like:

• Bolivar Trask's motivations were a little weak
• Continues the superhero movie trend of a need for "super blood" 
• Scenes with unneeded mutants like Havoc, Toad, and etc.
• No Doop

Review: X-Men: Days Of Future Past combines the best components of X-Men: First Class and Bryan Singer's X-Men trilogy to create the best X-Men movie to date. The film utilizes all of it's stellar cast to tell a story of Wolverine, the always fantastic Hugh Jackman, being sent back to the 70's to stop a bleak future from ever happening. Now while Wolverine often has gotten the most attention of any X-Man in all the films, Days of Future Past is able to more neatly balance it's other characters so it does not feel like a movie called "Wolverine and some other guys". Particularly we get a great character arc from younger Prof. X (James McAvoy) who has hit rock bottom after losing his legs and Raven/Mystique. Charles's relationship with Magneto (Michael Fassbender) is as interesting as ever as the two must unite to stop Mystique from committing an act that creates the dystopian future. While on the topic of Lawrence's Mystique, her character has evolved a lot since we last saw her. Lawrence is impressive in every sequence she is in as her actions drive much of the film's plot. Overall the newest X-Men installment is extremely satisfying on all levels. For it's incredible action, balance of humor + action + gravitas, and top notch performances the Informers give X-Men: Days of Future Past a 9.5 out of 10. The best superhero movie of the year so far and a must-see for all X-Men fans. Can't for X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016.

Check out our podcast that will be posted this weekend to hear more about the movie. Until then make sure to follow us on Twitter @Caped_Informers and or follow me @cstrand73 to stay up to date on all things comics. Thanks for reading! What did you think of the movie? Sound off in the comments.

Weekly Poll Analysis: Face of the X-Men Edition (5/22/14)

For this week's poll I asked "After Hugh Jackman's Wolverine Leaves in 2017, Who should be the face of the X-Men Franchise?" The winner by a large margin was everyone's favorite X-villain Magneto. He took in 36% of the votes.

The results went as follows:

Magneto (Fassbender): 36%

Prof. X (McAvoy): 18%

Cyclops (New Actor): 15%

Mystique (Lawrence): 10%

Gambit (Tatum): 8%

Nightcrawler (New Actor): 5%

Deadpool (New Actor): 5%

Beast (Hoult): 3%

Analysis: Since I posted this poll, Hugh Jackman has stated that he would like to continue playing Wolverine past 2017. This is great news, but at the same time make my poll a little invalid.  So I will just interpret our results as possibilities to fill Jackman's shoes eventually once he hangs up his claws.

Magneto: No surprise here. I expected Magneto or Prof. X to win this poll. Fassbender is a hot actor in Hollywood and Magneto is defintly a popular enough character to anchor the franchise. The question remains though "How long will Fassbender play Magneto?" Jackman has played Wolverine for the last 15 years. I do not see a scenario with FOX retaining Michael's services for that long. His massive junk is in high demand. Although he does seem to enjoy playing the character. I believe that Michael will be around for one more X-Men film after X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016. Hopefully we get a few more bar murders from him before he leaves.

Cyclops: I recently re-watched X-Men and X2. Cyclops is barely in either of those films. That poor bastard James Marsden (Enchanted) never caught a break. He was only around to be part of a love triangle between himself, Wolvie, and Jean. It is about time Prof. X's favorite student got his due. FOX should cast a young up-n-comer to play Scott. If Fassbender or McAvoy were to leave, this new Cyclops could be the future focus of the franchise.

Deadpool: He is perhaps not the character to anchor the franchise, but goodamnit does he deserve his own spin off film. An R-rated Deadpool film would redefine the genre of superhero films. R- rated action-comedies like 21 Jump St. make millions of dollars at the box office. Imagine what an R-rated action-comedy-superhero film led by the Merc with the Mouth could make? BILLIONS. Not really, but definitely a cool 500 mill.

Short and sweet this week due to Mr. Jackman's flip-flopping. Who do you think should be the anchor of the X-Franchise? Who should play Deadpool? Sound off in the comments.

Weekly Poll Analysis: X-Men Spinoff Edition (4/24/14)

This week on the poll, I asked "What X-Men Spinoff Do You Want?" The surprise winner of the poll was Mystique. She took in 41% of the votes cast.

The results went as follows:

Mystique: 41%

Gambit: 25%

Magneto: 25%

Beast: 8%

Cyclops: 0%

Analysis: Wow. What I really found surprising was that Scott Summers received no love whatsoever. Cyclops from the comics is perhaps the most popular mutant, but according to our poll that poor sun-glassed bastard will continue to be obscure within the X-Men movie universe. Brian Singer made the decision back in 2001 to focus in on Wolverine rather than Cyclops. And because of that Hugh Jackman has become a superstar for playing Wolvie, while most people cannot even recall who played Cyclops in the original trilogy. That actor's name is James Marsden. Have you heard that name lately? Probably not. He is not in much. I just like to wonder sometimes if Cyclops was given a more proper and prominent treatment in the original X-Men films, could his popularity have been rivaled that of Wolverine's within the general audience. I think it was possible.
          Now to talk about something not so depressing. Mystique won our poll, which means people on this site are reacting positively to the rumors of her potential spinoff. Last week, FOX producer Lauren Shuler Donner spoke about how the studio is mulling over spinoff films featuring X-Men. The character she mentioned in particular was Mystique. Now the internet had mixed reactions over the news. Some were delighted to see the shapeshifting mutant get a chance for her own story. Others were angered by the rumor. They claimed Mystique does not have the popularity to warrant a spinoff and that this film is only a possibility because the studio is looking to capitalize off their casting of mega-star Jennifer Lawrence in the role.
          While I do agree that Mystique's popularity alone should not earn her a film, I disagree that it is a bad idea entirely. Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique can find an audience in a movie landscape that has begun to embrace strong heroines in titular roles. Her Katniss Everdeen led Catching Fire to commercial and critical success. Earlier this year Shailene Woodley emerged as a fan favorite as Tris in Divergent. Audiences have clearly connected with these female heroes and you can bet your ass Lawrence's has the chops to carry her own X-Men film into the public's good graces.
          Lawrence's Mystique could be the first female lead character in the new wave of villain-centric comic book movies. Sony has started this new wave by setting up their Sinister Six and Venom films. Mystique could be FOX's first villain-centric spinoff. Then maybe a Magneto film or Sabretooth film could be made. Everyone loves a good villain. Hell, I hope that villains take over the comic book genre and 6 years from now I am sitting in the theater watching Joker vs. Lex rather than Batman vs. Superman. Well anyway, I believe if the story is right and Jen is ready to blue up, this spinoff could be a critical and commercial success. Check out Mystique and all the other X-Men in X-men:Days of Future Past in theaters May 23rd.

Thanks for reading and make sure to vote in our polls each week. Make your voice heard. What do you think of a potential Mystique spinoff? Sound off in the comments.

Awesome Final Trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past!

FOX has released it's final trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past and it is epic. There are incredible action scenes showcasing the Sentinels, but what really sold me is the amount of humor in this trailer. Compared to the first two, this trailer felt a lot less heavy handed. Wolverine really knows how to lighten the mood while he is on his quest to reassemble the X-Men in the past. Kinda reminds me of when Kermit reassembled the Muppets except this has prison escapes, robots, and skeletal claws. X-Men: Days of Future Past arrives in theaters May 23rd.

Is it me or did Quicksilver's scenes actually look kinda cool? I'm sorry Evan Peters I shouldn't have doubted you. I will watch the next season of American Horror Story, even though Coven sucked, as repayment for my sins.