Movie Review: X Men: Days of Future Past..past average but not First Class..

When I first heard that the second installment of this prequel franchise was not being directed by Matthew Vaughn who, for me, delivered a truly first class movie, with the first installment, I was rather despondent. While the X-Men franchise was quite decent, First Class was in a different league and I was worried that the return of Bryan Singer to the helm would again lower the standard to greater focus on action and less on underlying tension and plot development. My fears weren't unfounded though I wasn’t completely disappointed after watching what Singer has managed to put together.

From the opening credits itself (we are back to the DNA strands and psychedelic colours, this time in 3D) it was clear that this movie was picking up more from X Men: Last Stand in terms of treatment, rather than First Class. The jaw droppingly brilliant action scene that followed that further added credence to that notion. Post that, though, there was a refreshing change – time seemed to slow down and it almost felt as if Vaughn was back in charge. Upto around the halfway point the movie holds your attention without trying too hard and at a dangerously poised sequence, complete with underlying tension and unexpected developments, the excitement is quite palpable

Unfortunately, that moment doesn’t hold its own for very long and the next half of the movie, goes back to formulaic action and set pieces with some unnecessary dialogues thrown in. What’s worse is that some of that action is completely unnecessary and you wonder why it needed to be depicted that way in the first place. All the action though, is accompanied by high quality effects and more than the occasional round of humor every now and then

What this movie desperately lacks is a coherent plotline that remains the consistent focus through the length of the movie. While First Class deeply explored the rich bond between Charles and Eric (something even the entire X Men franchise before it only implied, but never really portrayed), Future Past is more about making the story work without much focus on the characters or anything else for that matter

This is really a pity because Future Past’s glittering star cast has too many gems – some of which (like Halle Berry and Ellen Page) are pretty much wasted given the talent they have. Fassbender continues to have tremendous screen presence and Hugh Jackman is in vintage form with his now pet portrayal (the only thing we really missed in First Class, I guess). James McAvoy also portrays the vulnerability and uncertainty of his character (a far cry from how we saw him in First Class) rather well as does Jennifer Lawrence portray Mistique.

Future Past tries to check many boxes – but at the end of the day, doesn’t manage the tight packaging and presentation of First Class. After the unexpectedly solid start that First Class gave this franchise, I was hoping for more from the second installment - still, Future Past is a better than average watch and hopefully with something better in store, the future still shines bright on this franchise (just bring back Vaughn)