I mean this in the nicest possible way but it would appear that Bryan Singer has been living under a very large rock since his last X-Men outing in 2003. Days of Future Past is completely untouched by the Christopher Nolan dourness that has infected so many summer blockbusters over the last few years and still manages to be a complex and exhilarating experience with heart as well as spectacle. Who would have thought it?
We begin in the dark days of the future, in a time when human and mutant-kind has been decimated by robotic creatures called Sentinels. Originally designed by the human military to target and neutralise the mutant threat, the Sentinels then turned on their makers until no-one was safe. Hiding out in a final stronghold are the remains of the mutant race including our old friends Magneto (Ian McKellen), Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). In an attempt to stop the wars before they even start, Wolverine is projected back into his younger self in an attempt to stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from a piece of vigilante justice that inadvertently sets mankind on its dark path to annihilation.
There is, in short, a lot of plot to get to grips with here. Furthermore, the cast is stretched to mammoth proportions; not only including old favourites from Singer’s two films but also the young pretenders of X-Men: First Class and some new faces. On paper, it seems like a recipe for disaster but this is a very, very clever film that never collapses into a great big mutant stew. Singer refuses to sacrifice pace for exposition, instead allowing the action to speak for itself. I for one enjoyed X-Men: First Class but introducing its new characters and their powers felt a little awkward, like a school roll call. Here, Singer gives us an action packed opening sequence which explains the new characters and their powers without ever having to say a word. It’s a genius move.
For fans of the franchise it’s great to see old friends like Halle Berry’s Storm but it’s the alumni from First Class that really carry the weight of this film. James McAvoy is fantastic as the young, disillusioned Xavier, struggling with the physical and mental fallout of his last battle. Michael Fassbender is an excellent foil for McAvoy once again as the powerful and ruthless Magneto. A special mention too must be given for newcomer Evan Peters as a young Quicksilver, whose slow motion sequence in the White House kitchens provoked spontaneous applause from our audience.
The labyrinthine plot and huge cast of characters could have been alienating for the less nerdy audience member but Singer marshals it all with such an easy confidence that it allows the audience to lie back and enjoy this incredibly fun ride without head-scratching. Put simply, I loved and admired this film in equal measure, it is a hugely entertaining and ambitious blockbuster that frequently sets the pulse racing.