X-Men: Days of Future Past Review

Justin, Mike, and I saw X-Men: Days of Future Past on May 26, 2014. I had been anticipating this movie for months, and I am happy to say that it lived up to my expectations. When it comes to the Marvel universe, I am not a huge fan of it, but if there is one comic I have always liked it is X-Men. I'm more of a DC guy, but X-Men has always been an amazing world to get wrapped up in. This was such an excellent movie bridging the past and the future. The cast is one of the best ever assembled for a movie. The movie's plot revolves around stopping a certain event in the past from happening in order to erase the dark, dreary, dismal future that lies ahead.

I felt this was Hugh Jackman's best performance in the role of Logan (Wolverine)-he did extremely well understanding how important his task was and interacted well with everybody. James McAvoy & Michael Fassbender are two of the best actors today, and they once again did a phenomenal job in their respective roles as Charles Xavier & Eric Lensherr (Magneto). McAvoy did such an amazing job dealing with events following X-Men: First Class. His ability to capture loss resonated with the entire audience. He knew exactly what emotions to play to. He played a bitter character early on, but eventually through guidance is able to realize his worth and what he means to both mutants and humans.  His conversations with Logan are emotionally deep, and a brief interaction with his future self in Patrick Stewart helped him realize how important he is. Fassbender continues his incredible performance from X-Men: First Class and gives us a tremendous insight into the mind of Magneto. We realize his dilemma in trusting the human race, and his constant battle to preserve mutants is what causes rifts between him and those around him. One can understand his problem with humanity based on what happened to him in his past, and for recently being considered the culprit behind one of the biggest tragedies in American history. So, in a way he is dealing with loss, much like Charles, but in a different way. I think both embody everything the characters represent. Of course, Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellan are excellent as well in the roles. I just am such a huge fan of McAvoy & Fassbender's portrayals.

Jennifer Lawrence's role as Raven McCoy (Mystique) was one of the biggest highlights, because her decisions are what rocks the foundation of the two worlds in the overall plot-leading to the Sentinel program, and total annihilation. Lawrence really does well in this role. You can see how she acts on instinct, but at the same time contemplates her decisions in terms of how they impact future events. A basic study of humanity is evident in all these characters even if they are mutants. The decisions we make shape us into what we are. This movie and story arc really examines that perfectly.

We also have many characters from the original trilogy, with the most important besides Wolverine being Kitty Pryde. It was so cool seeing my favorite actress Ellen Page being one of the most important pieces of this movie. She is the one that is able to bridge the past & the future allowing Logan to go back and fix the past.  We also saw Storm, Ice Man, Colossus, etc. It would be a crime to omit Evan Peters show stealing scene in the middle of the movie as Quicksilver. It combined great elements of comedy, while showing just how cool the world of X-Men is. Quicksilver's rescue sequence is one of the most entertaining, visually impressive scenes I've ever seen. This was really incredible work on display as the cinematography & acting worked together to create something special.

The action sequences were incredible. I was amazed by the cuts between the past & the future towards the end. While there was so much heartache in the future, there were incredible steps being taken in the past to prevent it. It really needs to be seen to appreciate how incredible it looked. Everybody had a chance to shine in some way, which was great to see. The incredible cast delving into their roles perfectly, a movie tackling one of the biggest story arcs in comics, the deep conversations between characters (loved these crucial dialogue scenes), the incredible action sequences blending visuals & emotion so well, intelligent usages of comedy, & a really awesome future at Xavier's School make this a definite 5/5. It's in my Top 5 favorite superhero movies with Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, The Dark Knight, and Batman (1989) being the others. I highly recommend this movie. It's a difficult subject matter to translate to film, and I believe that Bryan Singer did a phenomenal job with it. I think the only other person that would have been able to do as good of a job is Matthew Vaughn, who directed X-Men; First Class. Excellent movie!!

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Review

Justin, Mike, and I saw The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on May 3, 2014!! I can honestly say going into this movie I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as I personally did not like the first of this new trilogy at all. However, I am pleased to say that this was very well done. I still believe that the first two movies in the Sam Raimi trilogy are the best Spider-Man movies. but I'd put this one right after those.  I was shocked (no pun intended) by the overall quality of this movie. They got their act together for this one. The performances by Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield, Dane Dehaan, Jamie Foxx, Paul Giamatti, and Sally Field were all pretty good for the most part. Stone did really well with Gwen Stacy here and I think her and Garfield's Peter Parker had better chemistry than in the first one. Dehaan did really well as Harry Osborne descending into madness. I liked his approach, but I could have done without the emo look. Of course, it's really a nitpicky thing, because DeHaan did well tapping into the mind of the character. Jamie Foxx's portrayal of Max Dillon presented him as somebody that is more of a tragic hero than a pure villain. His frustrations with being invisible to the world can be something anybody can identify with. His transformation into Shocker was great-effects were absolutely amazing. The only thing I'd criticize is that his story did parallel Doctor Manhattan in Watchmen a great deal right down to the blue look. Shocker actually looks like Willow or Jeff Hardy's alter ego character he currently portrays in TNA Wrestling (at least one version of the character does). I do think Foxx really gave a tortured soul aspect to the Shocker character that made it stand out. The battles between him and Spider-Man were visually impressive. Paul Giamatti's appearance as Rhino was interesting-criminal mastermind that had a manic edge to it. Giamatti is an excellent actor, so his approach worked for the darker nature of this movie. Sally Field did a phenomenal job as Aunt May. She is exactly how the character should be. Overall, the plot of the movie focuses around three parts: 1. Peter Parker balancing his life as Spider-Man and his personal life with Gwen Stacy, 2. Peter's friendship with Harry Osbourne and the subsequent connection of Oscorp and his parents, and 3. Max Dillon's struggle with his invisibility as a human being to his larger than life persona as Electro. Each of these stories were written well, and some of them were met with some shocking (again, no pun intended) results. I am still recovering from a certain event towards the end of the movie. The whole theater screamed at this event. I honestly couldn't believe how graphic it was. Some of the dialogue was cheesy, and certain interactions felt awkward (the first time Harry & Peter share a scene), but that's just minor things because its a comic book movie, so you're going to encounter things like that. Overall, I'd give this movie a 4/5. The cast, darker storylines, incredible scores, brilliant storytelling for the villains, and better portrayals of Gwen and Peter from the first movie made this a very good superhero movie. It also did an excellent job of shaping things for the next movie in terms of main plot as well as hinting at new character arcs. This is one of the best movies of 2014 in my opinion.