X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Year: 2014
Running Time: 131 minutes
Director: Bryan Singer
Writer: Jane Goldman, Simon Kinberg and Matthew Vaughn (story), Simon Kinberg (screenplay)
Cast: Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Peter Dinklage, Nicholas Hoult, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Ellen Page, Halle Berry, Evan Peters

X-Men: Days of Future Past is the film all X-Men fans have been waiting for with bated breath. The idea of the old joining the new in one film is extremely exciting for any fan of the franchise, but also a very worrying one as it is an extremely ambitious and potentially complicated task for any filmmaker to successfully undertake. Luckily, director Bryan Singer and the writers have overcome the potential continuity problems that were foreseeable in such an endeavour and have created an entertaining and enjoyable superhero film. More for X-Men fans than not, X-Men: Days of Future Past has a clever script and suspenseful action sequences which are only intensified by the performances of the outstanding cast.

Due to the actions of the mutant Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) in the 1970's, the future of both human and mutant are in doubt as Earth has been taken over by Sentinel's, which were initially made to rid the world of mutants. Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) decide that the only way to save the world from these machines is to send someone back in time to stop Mystique from killing the Sentinel's creator, Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) and setting the wheels of destruction in motion. They choose to send Logan/ Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back to find the younger versions of Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lenhsherr (Michael Fassbender) and alert them to what is to come if they do not stop Mystique.

It is an absolute dream come true for X-Men fans to be treated with a film like X-Men: Days of Future Past. To be able to have the original Professor X and Magneto in the same film as the younger versions of themselves and be joined by other X-Men favourites such as Wolverine, Mystique and Beast just seems too good to be true. The concept itself was actually quite worrisome, as there were foreseeable problems in regards to continuity and the overcrowding of characters in the film. These problems are successfully overcome as a result of a strong and smart screenplay. The joining of all these characters in the same film is very well done and continuity problems solved in slick and smart fashion. The first scenes which are shot in the present do feel quite rushed and are in a hurry to explain things so they can return to the past where the film solidifies. After this time travel takes place, at no point does it become predictable or dull as it is constantly moving towards a tense and explosive finale. This film is probably one of the better superhero films in recent times as it encompasses all the elements which make a great film, not just a great superhero film. The outcome of the film is something which has not been seen before and changes the rules of it's franchise and for it's future films.

Being that X-Men films have been gracing our cinemas for 14 years now, there is a great deal of reference to past X-Men films which people who have seen the past films will understand and obviously those who haven't won't. It is fair to say that it is the already existing X-Men fans who will enjoy this film a great deal more than those who are not. It is impossible to get this far into a franchise and audiences not be expected to take just a little bit of back information in with them. So for those who haven't seen the past films, there is a tiny bit of information given about the past films, but not a great deal so much of it will not make any sense. Yet, if you just watch X-Men (2000) and X-Men: First Class (2011) than you have most of the information you need.

X-Men: Days of Future Past may not have as many explosions and extreme action scenes as many other films in it's same genre, but the scenes which are the most intense are very impressive. The special effects in the opening scenes and when Erik/ Magneto unleashes his fury are fantastic. The cinematography in the Pentagon when Peter/ Quicksilver does his work makes the scene incredibly fun. The make-up used for Mystique and Beast are very well done and the costumes depict the time period perfectly.

The great thing about all of the X-Men films which sets them apart from so many other genre films is that they rely so greatly on character. There is always a great amount of character to all of the X-Men characters. Their mutation is just the beginning of what sets them apart from each other, they are all different in behaviour and emotion. These distinctive characters have wonderful and acclaimed actors portraying them which makes them all even more exciting. Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Ellen Page and Nicholas Hoult all return to the roles they have played in previous X-Men movies.

Hugh Jackman is as ever charismatic as Logan/ Wolverine. He is a complex character, but one which the viewer loves. Jackman gives a hard exterior as Logan, but softens and shows his emotional side when heading towards the end. James McAvoy is wonderful as Charles Xavier. He plays a broken man in body and soul, who struggles with finding his way. His performance is heartfelt, but rough around the edges giving even more depth and personality to his character. Michael Fassbender is once again superb as Erik/ Magneto. Erik is a man with a tremendous amount of hurt and pain which he carries around, and that has been turned into vengeance. Fassbender does bad so very well. He is so subtle in his delivery and terrifyingly so.

Jennifer Lawrence has a very physical role as Mystique in this film, and even though her face is behind blue paint the large majority of the film and very rarely is shown without make-up, she still conjures a great amount of emotion in her key scenes. Peter Dinklage also does very well, as do Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, particularly in their final scenes together. It is a shame that Anna Paquin's Rogue received an incredibly small amount of screen time, as she would have been as great addition to the journey.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is quite possibly the best X-Men film thus far. It gives endless possibilities of what is to come in future films of the franchise by doing something truly different and changing the rules completely.

8/10

New Year's Eve (2011)

New Year’s Eve

Year: 2011

Director: Garry Marshall

Cast: Hilary Swank, Sarah Jessica Parker, Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Lea Michelle, Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, Robert De Niro, Halle Berry, Josh Duhamel, Jessica Biel, Abigail Breslin, Jon Bon Jovi

Before I begin my review….

Wow, after I had written down the cast for New Year’s Eve, I thought to myself how impressive that list of actors really is.

There are a few Academy Award winners or nominees in that list, but those who aren’t…it is a who’s who of chick flicks really.  Sarah Jessica Parker is once again enjoying her time in New York City, Katherine Heigl plays the same film role she always does, Lea Michelle is belting out a tune and Zac Efron busts a move on the dance floor. Besides the winners/nominees circle where Hilary Swank, Robert De Niro, Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin belong, everyone is happy playing who they normally do.

My favourite thing about the movie? The bloopers reel. In my opinion, every comedy film should have a bloopers reel at the end. They just keep the laughs going right until the credits role. Honestly, some blooper reels are even funnier than the movies themselves. For the record if I was in a movie, my blooper reel would be like that of Halle Berry’s.

Review

What did British film Love, Actually start?

Garry Marshall has continued his 2010 film Valentine’s Day with this year’s New Year’s Eve. What is this film designed to do? Not much else than the collaboration of some big names for box office draw and create some sort of feeling of optimism. Other than that, it is a completely faulted film with more wrong with it than right.

New Year’s Eve follows the much used film technique of a number of stories being told over a particular time period with characters who’s lives all link in with each other. It is New Years Eve in New York City and everyone is trying to get through the night of nights in their own way. The night doesn’t end up the way any of the characters expect and there are tears, smiles, laughter and, of course, that elusive midnight kiss.

The best thing about New Year’s Eve is it does have a party atmosphere which makes everyone in the audience ready for the party season. However, the ball has to drop for this to be felt.

The first half of the film is incredibly boring and slow which will only prompt you to check your watch.  No suspense is felt and none of the subplots are really that interesting.  It is more of the same old, same old chick flick stories you see rolled into one with no time for any real emotion and any connection as the film darts from one story to the next. 

The script is very lack lustre and relies on the sparkly glitter and confetti to make the film fun and enjoyable.

For a comedy, there isn’t very many actually funny moments. The moments in the film which are supposed to be funny are more just very forced and the jokes are really quite old. The blooper reel at the end of the film is funnier than the majority of the film.

None of the characters have absolutely any depth to them and people will walk away asking questions about the background of them, as there are definitely questions there to be asked. For example, how is Sarah Jessica Parker’s character of Kim Zac Efron’s Paul’s sister? There is at least an age difference of 20 years there. Some explanation of the family dynamics there would have been nice.

Hilary Swank, who plays the vice president of New Year’s Eve proceedings in Times Square Claire Morgan, starts off shaky and a bit rubbishy, grows into her role towards the end, helped by Robert De Niro who plays her father. Halle Berry is also quite good as Nurse Aimee, although her role is really very brief. It’s also good to see Abigail Breslin growing into a woman and still holding onto her acting talents.

Michelle Pfeiffer’s Ingrid is so pathetic at times that she is just irritating and Efron is also completely irritating at times. Lea Michelle’s Elise seems like a whole lot of nothing besides a singing voice and her and Ashton Kutcher have absolutely no screen chemistry.

Katherine Heigl is once again, just Katherine Heigl.

New Year’s Eve is, if nothing else, relevant for this time of the year. Completely unmemorable and trying a bit too hard to be everything it’s un named predecessors were.

3.5/10