X-Men: Days of Future Past - Discussion Thread - SPOILERS

[Claudia]

Watched it yesterday and liked it quite much.

What I enjoyed:

* the characterization: I love McAvoy and Fassbender just as much as Stewart and McKellen portraying the friendship/hatred between Charles and Erik. They are both such strong characters with Erik's motivations/past clearly demonstrated in First Class whereas Charles is more the idealist who up until end of First Class hadn't really recognized what loss, being different and being targeted because of that difference could mean. I enjoy having 2 equal characters in a movie - not just a (more or less) good guy against the rest of the world -, because every movie needs drama in my opinion. As brilliant as all 4 actors are, McAvoy outdid himself here.
* Mystique's role: I liked the outcome, but, quite frankly, while her body and flexibility and fighting capabilities are great (as are those of the stunt double), there was a bit too much of it. Granted, Jennifer Lawrence gets more time on screen now, but couldn't it have been more character-driven, rather than seeing her wrap her feet around and choking yet another incompetent enemy? Less of that and more of actual interaction with Charles and/or Erik would have been appreciated.
* I don't like Wolverine, never have, never will - but he was bearable. And his scenes with young Charles were great.
* Quicksilver - awesome prison break, actually except for the Charles-Erik-confrontations my favourite scene.
* I certainly didn't get all of the in-jokes due to the fact that I lack the background knowledge of the comics but what I did get was funny. *g*
* Peter Dinklage - just love him to bits. I think he could just sit around reciting the telephone book and I'd listen. (Actually, how about a double-conference with Benedict Cumberbatch doing that recital?) BTW, as I'm a great fan of Bujold's "Vorkosigan" series of books: I could really see him as Miles...
* the glimpse into the future: Plenty of stories left to tell how that quite positive future is going to come to pass. And also plenty of stories left to tell about Mystique and Magneto which were missing at that shot in Charles' school. What will they do now? And why did Mystique who had no connection to Logan save him from the river? Why didn't Charles? As (young) Charles and Erik are my favourite characters I'll certainly watch anything that's featuring them.
* Star Trek - how precious was that little nod?

What I didn't enjoy:

* the score - a bit underwhelming, especially losing the main themes of First Class.
* the battle scenes looked quite computer game-ish at times.
* moving the stadium... felt like a cheap stunt... if it had been full with viewers at the time, that would have been different...

Not having any background in the comics or having missed the explanations:

* Why exactly is Magneto able to fly?
* Why was Charles so overwhelmed by his telepathy? I mean back in First Class I got the impression that he has to at least concentrate a little on an individual to get concrete thoughts, otherwise he just got background sound. Only when he was connected to Cerebro his abilities were enhanced.
* Speaking of Charles: Why is it mentioned so often that he's a such a strong mutant? I mean, of course, telepathy is a strong mutation to have, but Jean was much stronger, Emma Frost shared the telepathy, and she could shield from an intrusion into her thoughts as well physically transforming into that diamond-form. So is it his "leadership"-capabilities that make him so infamous?

 

[tomalak301]

I liked the movie but for some reason I didn't love it. I've been trying to come up with why, but I think it might have come to the realization that this should have been the third movie in the X-Men first class trilogy. Basically, I think I wanted to see another movie with just the first class cast that brought us to the events of this movie.

As for this movie, there was a lot of emotional and touching moments and if First Class was about Magneto, this one was about Xavier. It was a Dark movie with the theme of Hope and I really appreciated that. Also, I'm very glad they reconned X 3 because what that movie did to Scott and Jean pissed me off.

I really should see Wolverine and Origins sometime soon. Those are the only two I have not seen.

 

[CaptainCanada]

* Why exactly is Magneto able to fly?
* Why was Charles so overwhelmed by his telepathy? I mean back in First Class I got the impression that he has to at least concentrate a little on an individual to get concrete thoughts, otherwise he just got background sound. Only when he was connected to Cerebro his abilities were enhanced.
* Speaking of Charles: Why is it mentioned so often that he's a such a strong mutant? I mean, of course, telepathy is a strong mutation to have, but Jean was much stronger, Emma Frost shared the telepathy, and she could shield from an intrusion into her thoughts as well physically transforming into that diamond-form. So is it his "leadership"-capabilities that make him so infamous?

(1) He levitates himself by manipulating the magnetic field somehow ("magnetism" is basically magic).
(2) Per here, with no practice controlling them he just hears everything. He has to relearn filtering things out, etc., and becoming selective in terms of what he hears.
(3) Jean Grey was only a stronger telepath than Professor X with the Phoenix mutation. He's the #1 telepath on the planet, otherwise; but yes, his leadership/vision is also important.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

How did Mystique know where to find Logan? How did she know he was at the bottom of the river? And will she be working for you know who in the next movie? I also wonder if they'll bring back Ben Foster to play Angel/Archangel, if they even bring that character back. And if they don't maybe Logan will be Death, although that would totally go against the ending of what the timeline got changed to. All in all, I had a blast watching this movie. This, X2 and XFC are definitely my top 3.

 

[Gryffindorian]

And Jean was more telekinetic than telepathic.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

One thing I forgot to mention in my review:

I loved how Singer included 70's-esque video footage of the events occurring in the film and not just limited to fight scene between Erik, Raven and Hank. Raven's and Hank's blue appearances really stood out in that sequence, too.

Unless I missed it, I didn't like how there was no explanation about Kitty's new power of sending people into the past. I haven't read the comic, but I know she was the one who goes into the past. Is there some way the comic can explain this power?

In the comics, Kitty's mind was sent into her past self by Rachel Summers, who originates from the alternate future seen in DOFP. She is implied to be the daughter of Cyclops and Jean in that timeline, and her mother's death in an incident caused by Mastermind was the final nail in the coffin of mutant freedom. It turned out that the persona of Future Kitty wound up in the wrong timeline and that her actions failed to change her future, and by the time she returned to her physical body only she and Rachel were left. The other surviving X-Men had given their lives to protect them, and Shadowcat ultimately gave her life so that Rachel could be sent into the past and survive. The Phoenix Force helped, having met Rachel's astral form when she projected her mind backwards to discover why the attempt to change history failed.

Rachel's telepathic powers include a form of astral projection, and Shadowcat was chosen because her younger counterpart had not yet been properly trained in telepathic defenses at the crucial point in the past. Her future mind could be sent back into her physical body where the minds of the other survivors couldn't.

As far as the movie goes, I think it would have been cool to see this version. That's not to say the existing version is bad, by any means - I really enjoyed the movie. Whether Cyclops in the DOFP era is actually Rachel's father is unclear, since Ahab traveled to the past looking for her and briefly turned him into a Hound. Cyclops wasn't able to detect Rachel's signature, which Ahab considered to be unlikely (if not impossible) for a blood relative. There have been occasional hints that her real father might be the Wolverine of her timeline, which would explain why Rachel's Hound tracking was superior to other Hounds. Tullamoor Voge, another Hound-using villain, once commented that the offspring of Logan and Jean would have boundless potential for making Hounds, which would seem to support this theory.

...so, no, the comics don't help explain it?

Scrolling back up, I don't think there's a need for me to review it. EMH has kindly saved me the effort!

Glad to be of service.

Also I just read on IMDb that at some point Mystique mentions giving birth. I don't recall that part, anyone else catch that bit?

I don't recall that and I was looking for a Nightcrawler reference. You can't always trust what shows up in IMDb's trivia section.

Another allusion to the first movie that I noticed was when in the future we see the oppressed humans and marked mutants being herded along in a very similar way to how we saw Magneto's family and their fellow Jews being herded into the gas chambers.

I knew there was an important allusion that I forgot to mention in my review. Holocaust allusions are always best used sparingly but the parallels to X-Men, especially Singer's X-Men, are very strong. Heck, one of the few things Brett Ratner got right was Erik's line about tattoos.

Love how important this moment was to this film, and how important it was to the story and characters:

I always love it when in a small throwaway scene like this becomes important later on. Usually happens in television shows, but it happens now and then in film franchises, too.

One that my friend pointed out - They used Mystique's DNA for the template to make the adaptable Sentinels, but she can only take on the appearance not the actual powers? I'm guessing they somehow found a way to adapt it, but given Rogue's powers I think it would have been cool if they could have worked her in somehow, maybe Mystique's was the first step and Rogue's DNA eventually gave the Sentinels the ability to adapt (or even mention that he somehow got Darwin's DNA).

And speaking of Rogue, they had the perfect opportunity to show her with flight, super strength etc in the future.

I wonder if Rogue's cut scenes have some connection to the Sentinel development. Cut because it was too extraneous and Mystique's angle was deemed "good enough."

I have to turn in my Trekkie card in because I don't know with any certainity which Star Trek episode was playing in Hank's TV room. I'm guessing "The Ultimate Computer," but it's been a long time since I've watched The Original Series.

Shame on you. It's The Naked Now, where the Enterprise is thrown back in time 3 days by a warp engine implosion created by Spock and Scotty - one of the wonkiest time travel loops ever set up on Star Trek - and I think the film-makers wink to the audience not to try too hard to work out the time travel consequences of everything because you'll just give yourself a headache.

I know, I'm ashamed. I clearly need to go back and watch it again (in some cases, *shock*, for the first time). Great allusion on Bryan Singer's part. Clearly his Trekkie card is more valid than my own.

Great review. Agreed 100%, except about the Kelsey Grammar thing.

How can you hate on Kelsey Grammer?! He was one of the few good things about The Last Stand (along with Ellen Page and the aforementioned tattoo scene).

I have to turn in my Trekkie card in because I don't know with any certainity which Star Trek episode was playing in Hank's TV room. I'm guessing "The Ultimate Computer," but it's been a long time since I've watched The Original Series.

Shame on you. It's The Naked Now, where the Enterprise is thrown back in time 3 days by a warp engine implosion created by Spock and Scotty

Actually it was The Naked Time. The Naked Now was the TNG ep.

Ha. Now I don't feel so bad now.

 

[CaptainCanada]

And will she be working for you know who in the next movie?

I rather doubt it. She has no connection to Apocalypse except in the 1990s cartoon series, and the version in these movies is certainly not the type.

 

[Evil Twin]

Just got back from it. Really liked it, probably my second favorite of the series (X2 still the best, and still my all-time favorite superhero movie.) This was very much The Avengers of the X-Men franchise. I wasn't real fond of all the future scenes, rather kind of cheesy, and some of the mutants brought back bad memories of Magneto's goth-y crew from The Last Stand. The movie did definitely pick up in 1973 though. We need more superhero movies in vintage settings! I'd love to see, say, Batman in the 1940's, but not, y'know, terrible like the old serials. And I really liked the happy ending, even though it pretty much negated the events of all the other movies (well ok, The Last Stand I'm happy to see erased.)

 

[Captaindemotion]

Probably the only time Bryan Singer's been spotted in the last few weeks...

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrn!

(And I lol'd)

 

[Mr Light]

Loved it! It's hard to compare it to previous X movies since this one is so much more comic book-y science fiction-y, but I'd say it was the best of them. My only regret is that we didn't have more scene with the future cast.

Quicksilver and Blink were absolutely amazing in this. Loved how they used their powers. Reminded me of how badass the opening in X-Men 2 with Nightcrawler was, only much more so.

Can't wait for the sequel since Apocalypse is my all time favorite X-Villain (though obviously they're going to nerf him tremendously. I doubt he'll have a skyscraper sized sentient space ship here!)

 

[DarKush]

I saw DOFP yesterday. I wasn't feeling it. I can't quite put my finger on why. It was well made, ambitious, well cast, had strong performances, had the nostalgia factor, and finally included the Sentinels in a major way. Those were all good things.

I didn't like the actions of Mystique and Magneto at the climax of the film. It made no sense for Magneto to lift the stadium and then try to kill the President. He had already sabotaged the Sentinels and likely turned the president and public opinion against their use without having to show his face. It was like the movie had to remind everyone that Magneto was a villain and had him try to assassinate the president, which would likely lead to the creation of the Sentinels or other anti-mutant measures.

As for Mystique I don't see why she didn't kill Trask. It felt convenient storyline wise for to have that change of heart when she could've had it much sooner. There wasn't anything Charles said to her that was much different than his arguments before.

The film could've used more Peter Dinklage. It would've been nicer to have him chew more scenery and make more of an impression as the main bad guy, like Sebastian Shaw and Colonel Stryker did in First Class and X2 respectively.

I didn't care for the look of the futuristic Sentinels. They were cool in action but the aesthetics didn't appeal to me.

I wasn't bowled over with the futuristic X-Men, outside of seeing them for the first time. I would've liked to have seen them at least named in the film. The battle scenes against the Sentinels had a sameness to them that didn't engage me. I also thought the death scenes didn't pack enough of an emotional punch, outside of the first attack.

Questions I had:
-Why didn't Havok show back up in the film?
-Why was it necessary for Kitty to maintain the psionic link with Logan once Charles and Magneto had been convinced that Raven needed to be stopped? And in light of how Wolverine was absent from the climatic scene, that reinforced how little Wolverine was needed. Since the movie was more about young Charles, Erik, and Raven, the link could've been broken earlier instead of sinking Wolverine at the bottom of the river. And why didn't Charles and Beast recover Logan?
-Good point some other poster raised about Wolverine in Vietnam. And wouldn't Stryker have been older, as played by Danny Huston, he looked older than the actor playing Stryker in this film. Perhaps they should've made this guy Lt. Stryker.

 

[Claudia]

(2) Per here, with no practice controlling them he (Charles) just hears everything. He has to relearn filtering things out, etc., and becoming selective in terms of what he hears.

Thanks for your explanations!

ad 2 - but shouldn't he have had those problems already in First Class? From what I understood in DoFP he started with the serum in earnest because he felt overwhelmed by the others' thoughts. So it wasn't a question of practice back then.

 

[Shazam!]

How did Mystique know where to find Logan? How did she know he was at the bottom of the river?

Xavier probably read Magento's mind and told her.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

-Why didn't Havok show back up in the film?

He was seen in Vietnam amongst the group of mutants Raven rescued from Stryker.

That being said, I was disappointed that was the limit of his appearance. Hopefully he'll have a larger role in the next one.

 

[DevilEyes]

Am I the only one who can't stop listening to this song now? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO1rMeYnOmM

The only thing I disliked about this movie is that I could only watch it in 3D. I thought that was completely unnecessary, there wasn't a one single scene where I really felt it. I hate the way they make every blockbuster these days 3D just to get more money from the tickets, when it only really has a purpose in a few movies like Avatar or Gravity.

 

[Turtletrekker]

-Why didn't Havok show back up in the film?

He was seen in Vietnam amongst the group of mutants Raven rescued from Stryker.

That being said, I was disappointed that was the limit of his appearance. Hopefully he'll have a larger role in the next one.

Yeah, this movie was juggling enough characters as it is. That said, I would have liked a larger "team" in the final confrontation with the Sentinels, and Havok has really cool "blow 'em up" powers.

 

[JD]

I saw the movie this morning and I loved it. The future scenes were pretty cool, with some pretty impressive action sequences and nifty new mutant powers. I wasn't real clear on what exactly Warpath's powers were though.
The '70s stuff was really good too. I really liked what they did with all of the characters here. I especially enjoyed Xavier's story, which was powered by a great performances by James McAvoy. I think pretty much the whole cast did a great job here.
Quicksilver was a really fun character, and I can't wait to see what they do with him in Apocalypse.
I also really enjoyed the stuff with Mystique. Jennifer Lawrence is awesome, but I don't think anyone really doubts that at this point. I could easily see her becoming the new Wolverine if Hugh Jackman does decide to stop.
I loved how they pulled a JJ Abrams Star Trek here at the end with the new timeline. At least now we don't need to listen to everybody throw a fit over every little inconsistancy.
One last thing:
EN SABA NUR, EN SABA NUR, EN SABA NUR!!

 

[CaptainCanada]

ad 2 - but shouldn't he have had those problems already in First Class? From what I understood in DoFP he started with the serum in earnest because he felt overwhelmed by the others' thoughts.

No, he started taking the serum to fix his spine. Eliminating his powers was just a side effect, but since he had already given up on being a hero, it didn't matter to him.

 

[Saga]

-Why didn't Havok show back up in the film?

He was seen in Vietnam amongst the group of mutants Raven rescued from Stryker.

That being said, I was disappointed that was the limit of his appearance. Hopefully he'll have a larger role in the next one.

same here. i also hated that Banshee died off screen.

 

[Frodo Lives]

I'm not sure what else to say, other than, am I the only one who caught the

Spoiler: Pre-title cameo

Sweetmonkeyfuck, it's Cable!

?
Pure speculation on my part, but considering his hair colour, and the perfect symmetry it creates with the post-credits sequence, IMO it's just got to be!

When and who was that?

The young man in the hoodie who picks up the X-Men belt buckle right before the main title sequence kicks in. He's seen scrambling through the rubble right after the ghetto shots, and finds a buried X-uniform (body?).