by Brett Parker
The X-Men universe is so vast with colorful personalities and wildly imaginative storylines that the film incarnations of this world have wheeled out decidedly varying tones. Some of the (better) installments adhere to the solemnity of that world’s existential traumas while others were more willing to extract the pop grandeur from these superheroes’ comic book absurdity. X-Men: Days of Future Past finds a satisfying balancing act between these two inherent yet contradictive aspects of the mythology: it’s dug firmly into comic book flights of fancy, yet its sense of ideological dread looms over every moment of this film. The mutants on display may pummel each other with superpowers and bounce around like cartoon gods, but their plights and conflicts are undoubtedly of the highest dramatic order.
The film opens in a dystopian future where giant robots known as Sentinels hold a terrifying sway over the world in which they capture and kill both mutants and humans who have the potential to develop mutant genes. Most of the X-Men we’ve come to know have been slaughtered by these Sentinels and only a small band of mutants are left standing in the world. In China, lone survivor Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is able to meet up with fellow mutants Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellan), and Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) in hiding. Kitty reveals how she has the power to send a mutant’s present subconscious back in time to their older body with their knowledge of the future intact. Realizing that the Sentinel nightmare came about after shape-shifting assassin Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) murdered the inventor of the Sentinels, Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), Professor X concludes that someone must travel back in time and prevent Mystique from every carrying out that murder. Realizing his indestructible nature makes him the only one who can withstand the force of time-travel, Wolverine volunteers to be the one who goes back.
As he wakes up in the 1973 version of his body, Wolverine realizes he has no time to waste and must track down both the younger Professor X (James McAvoy) and younger Magneto (Michael Fassbender). This proves to be endlessly complicated, for Professor X is a disillusioned soul whose telepathic powers seem to be fading as the result of an anti-paralysis drug. Meanwhile, Magneto has been captured by the U.S. Government after being blamed for the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Even in spite of the fact that the two men couldn’t hate each other more at this point in their lives, Wolverine tries effortlessly to unite the two of them to help him prevent a grim future, all while trying to track Mystique as she carries out vengeful missions of mutant freedom across the globe.
This is the first X-Men movie Bryan Singer has helmed since 2003’s X2: X-Men United, and not only has his confidence sharpened by observing other X-Men movies not getting things quite right, but making Superman Returns and Valkyrie in the meantime surely taught him more about blending spectacle and drama. This is perhaps the X-Men movie with the most effective imagery, doing its comic book roots proud without sacrificing its dignity. My favorite scene involves the super-speedy mutant Quicksilver (a livewire Evan Peters) who damn near slows time down as he races to save his fellow mutants from being shot at by security guards (time is so slow to Quicksilver that he has time to listen to “Time in a Bottle” on his headphones during his attack, bringing floating beauty to a scene of violent urgency). Thanks to loopholes in telepathy and time-travel, there’s a wonderful scene where both the young and old Professor X’s get to confront each other face-to-face, not only fulfilling a great fanboy fantasy but bringing verve to a classical sci-fi device. The film’s most hard-hitting scene shows images of Sentinels ferociously tearing apart mutants edited over Magneto’s climactic speech about why mutants are not to be messed with. The skillful editing by John Ottman exquisitely counterbalances the sinister nature of Magneto’s words by showing the fearsome desperation they were born out of.
The X-Men movies have dished out such a wide variety of characters that X-Men: Days of Future Past appears to have picked the most appealing ones and used them effectively. At this point in the game, Hugh Jackman could dish out Wolverine’s awesomeness in his sleep, although the 70’s time period here greatly compliments the young Clint Eastwood myth within the character that’s been great fun to spot before. Jennifer Lawrence brings a down-to-earth American girl vibe to mystique, helping to make the character more sympathetic than ever before. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are fantastic in the ways they call upon old-school British-flavored thespian class to flesh out their characters. Their wonderful dedication and conviction is based around their duck-to-water understanding that superheroes speaking hyperbole in capes and masks is a modern day update on Shakespeare's kings and warriors. Fassbender especially has a monologue on an airplane filled with such raging command that his Old Vic grandeur literally shakes the plane. The fact that the duo convinces you Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton would’ve fit in perfectly with this world gives the film an extra kick of excitement.
What’s so enduring about the entire X-Men mythology is how the relentless prejudices the mutants face could be a stand-in for any oppressed minority throughout history. Ian McKellen was drawn to the material for its allusions to gay rights while the Jewish Bryan Singer certainly is attuned to the Holocaust allegories present (after all, he did make Apt Pupil and Valkyrie). While the future imagery of Sentinels exterminating undesirables certainly evokes Nazism, the mechanical and pitiless methodology of their attacks uncomfortably suggests drone warfare. The chilling revelation here hints that all forms of violent regulation eventually lurches towards the same nightmarish outcome. What’s complex about the film’s resolution is how both the virtuous mutants and the villainous ones need both of their ying-yang ideologies meshed together in order to combat a hellish society. Ponder how the ending couldn’t have been brought about without both sincere empathy and wicked duplicity.
By melding the X-Men’s past with their future, Bryan Singer and his confederates have finally been able to make an X-Men movie that takes all the bits you’ve loved from every installment (even the weaker ones) and combine them into a satisfying whole. It’s a delicate balance that I think can be improved upon towards more powerhouse installments (and judging by the epic after-credits sequence, we’re in for yet another monumental adventure with our favorite mutants). If future X-Men movies keep building on its powerful elements with cinematic wonder, then we can finally start to visualize sequels that match the scope and awe of the beloved comics.
No comments:
Post a Comment