By Randell Rydell Russell
Audiences have been waiting for a film like this for a long time. With the huge hunger for superhero movies and time travel being a great grab and twist in recent films (Looper, Terminator Salvation), this refreshing film brings together Hugh Jackman (the only actor to appear in all seven X-Men films and signed on for three more) and the cast of the original X-Men film trilogy, and the cast of the prequel film X-Men: First Class for an all-out battle for the existence of the human race.
In 2023, giant sentient robots known as Sentinels, are wiping out the mutant race and leaving the world in despair. The remaining X-Men including Wolverine (Jackman), Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), Storm (Halle Berry), and mutant time traveler Bishop (Omar Sy) figure a way to use Kitty’s power to send Wolverine back in time to the 70’s to stop the war from happening by bringing together Professor X and Magneto when they were younger who are feuding since their last battle in First Class.
Once in the past, Wolverine goes to Xavier’s mansion to find young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) a drunk mess and has lost hope in humanity. Also in the mansion he finds young Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) who Wolverine knows as Beast in the future and is a close friend. Wolverine and Beast try to persuade Charles who has no interest in helping until it is revealed that Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), a military scientist who will unleash his new experiment to the public which will set off the war.
The trio enlist the aid of Quicksilver (Evan Peters), a mutant with superfast speed to break young Magneto (Michael Fassbender) out of prison to help them on their journey. By a fluke, they also join forces with young Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), who has been investigating Trask and freeing mutants including Havok (Lucas Till), Mystique’s former comrade from First Class. Mutants have been taken hostage by Stryker (Josh Helman), a young military operative who in the future will give Wolverine his adamantium claws and endoskeleton.
With Professor X, Magneto, Kitty and the future X-Men protecting Wolverine’s comatose future self and fighting off the Sentinels in a last stand, Wolverine and the mutants in the past must make one last move to secure the future of their kind.
I was blown away by this film. It restored continuity errors that were presented in X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: First Class. It brought together almost all of the cast of main characters from the original trilogy and the prequel film. It blended time travel together perfectly, giving us something reminiscent of Back to the Future, The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 12 Monkeys and Looper. Bringing Bryan Singer back, the director of the first two X-Men films brings balance back to the franchise after director Brett Ratner almost ruined The Last Stand. He is careful to not ruin but also you can tell by the feel of the film he was having fun directing it. Last but not least, this movie is what summer blockbusters are all about. And for once, we get intelligence with astonishing special effects and great characters. This is one not to miss.
Director: Bryan Singer
Producers: Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg
Writers: Simon Kinberg (screenplay & story), Matthew Vaughn & Jane Goldman (story)
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox, Marvel Entertainment
Runtime: 131 Mins
Rating: PG-13
Cast
Hugh Jackman … Logan/Wolverine
James McAvoy … Young Charles Xavier
Patrick Stewart … Professor X/Older Charles Xavier
Michael Fassbender … Magneto/Young Erik Lehnsherr
Ian McKellen … Magneto/Older Erik Lehnsherr
Jennifer Lawrence … Raven Darkholme/Young Mystique
Ellen Page … Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat
Halle Berry … Ororo Munroe/Storm
Nicholas Hoult … Beast/Young Hank McCoy
Peter Dinklage … Bolivar Trask
Shawn Ashmore … Bobby Drake/Iceman
Omar Sy … Bishop
Evan Peters … Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver
Daniel Cudmore … Peter Rasputin/Colossus
Josh Helman … Young William Stryker
Lucas Till … Alex Summers/Havok
Fan Bingbing … Clarice Ferguson/Blink
Adam Canto … Roberto da Costa/Sunspot
Booboo Stewart … James Proudstar/Warpath
Evan Jonigkeit … Toad
Gregg Lowe … Ink
Mark Camacho … President Richard Nixon
Zehra Leverman … Ms. Maximoff
Cameos
James Marsden … Scott Summers/Cyclops
Famke Janssen … Jean Grey
Anna Paquin … Marie/Rogue
Kelsey Grammer … Beast/Older Hank McCoy
Morgan Lily … Younger Mystique
Jaa Smith Johnson … Spyke
Michael Lerner … Senator Brickman