Eleanor Roosevelt High School's Student-Run Newspaper

The Raider Review

Eleanor Roosevelt High School's Student-Run Newspaper

The Raider Review

Eleanor Roosevelt High School's Student-Run Newspaper

The Raider Review

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Like Wolverine’s Powers, X-men franchise regenerated and revitalized by Days of Future Past

May 23, 2014 marked the release date of the newest installment in the X-men franchise, directed by Bryan Singer. Probably one of the most anticipated movies of 2014, X-men: Days of future past made around $111 million on opening weekend.

Earning a 92% on rotten tomatoes and several other positive reviews, I wondered: did the movie really live up to the hype?

The plot of X-men DOFP consists of a very grim, post-apocalyptic world where mutants and humans alike are on the verge of extinction. The remaining X-men struggle to survive against sentinels, who have adapted to be able to kill off remaining mutants.

In the words of Ian McKellen, who plays future Magneto, Wolverine must be sent back in time to “end this war before it ever begins.” When Wolverine is sent back to the ‘70s, he finds the younger Professor X, played by James McAvoy, at a very low point in his life.

With the help of young Magneto Erik Lehnsherr, played by Michael Fassbender, and Hank McCoy, played by Nicholas Hoult, the X-men attempt to prevent the horrible genocide of the world’s population from ever happening. The overall theme of this movie is hope, as Charles Xavier states, “Are we destined to destroy ourselves? Or can we change our fate? Is the future truly set?”

The movie itself flows very smoothly, due to the return of director Bryan Singer. It has the right mix of comedy, seriousness, and even a few very touching moments. Unlike other science fiction action movies, X-men DOFP has a good amount of character buildup, in a successful attempt to make viewers feel for the characters. The performances are outstanding as well, in particular the performances from Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr, and James McAvoy as Charles Xavier.

The biggest surprise in this movie is probably the introduction of Quicksilver, played by Evan Peters, into Bryan Singer’s X-men universe. Due to leaks of pictures of his costume on the internet, fans wasted no time to doubt his portrayal of the superhero. However, Peters owns the character of Quicksilver and steals every scene he is in, even though the number of those scenes is not many. This is mostly due to the brilliant script, complemented by Peters acting skills, which make him a very humorous and likeable character.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable movie and the best installment in the X-men franchise so far. Any continuity problems with the story line in past X-men movies need not to be worried about anymore, as this movie fixes them all. Be sure to stick around after the end of the movie: there is a post-credits scene that teases the upcoming X-men: Apocalypse. The ending of the movie will leave viewers everywhere feeling satisfied, and left me feeling disappointed knowing that films such as X-men: The last stand and X-men Origins: Wolverine could have been fantastic if Bryan singer had directed them.

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Like Wolverine’s Powers, X-men franchise regenerated and revitalized by Days of Future Past