Review: X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST  (ACTION-ADVENTURE/FANTASY) 
4 out of 4 stars
Directed by Bryan Singer
Starring: Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Peter Dinklage, Nicholas Hoult, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Omar Sy, Daniel Cudmore
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi violence and action, some suggestive material, nudity and language.
Verdict:  Bryan Singer returns to the X-Men film series in peak form, crafting an epic, time-spanning, character-driven melodrama that at once unites the relatively disparate chapters of the series in common cause and yet standing alone as something new entirely.
YOU MAY ENJOY X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST IF YOU LIKED:
X2: X-MEN UNITED (2003)
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS (2011)
MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS (2012) 
TERMINATOR 2 (1991)

Bryan Singer directed the original X-MEN, released fourteen years ago, and it's even more acclaimed sequel, X2: X-MEN UNITED, released eleven years ago.  X2 was the first sequel of the new resurgence of superhero movies that began with X-MEN and SPIDER-MAN, and it upped the ante significantly, still standing as one of the best superhero movies to date.  When the opportunity came to Singer to direct the long-gestating Superman reboot, the severely underrated SUPERMAN RETURNS, he took the offer at Warner Brothers, but left the third X-Men film in limbo at 20th Century Fox.  That film, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND, was ultimately directed by journeyman director Brett Ratner, and while that film currently ranks as the highest-grossing in the series to date, it is widely disliked and earned Ratner the ire of many fans for an abundance of reasons.  After a couple of Wolverine spin-off films and the excellent prequel/reboot X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, directed by Matthew Vaughn and co-written/produced by Singer, Singer has returned to helm a film that is not only the most ambitious X-Men film to date by far, but is also one of the most ambitious superhero movies ever.
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST opens in an apocalyptic future where cities are in ruins and extremely formidable robots called Sentinels hunt down mutants without mercy and anyone who sympathizes with mutants.  A few remaining mutants, including Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and others retreat to a hidden location in a last-ditch hope of not only mutant, but human, survival.  One of the X-Men, Kitty Pride (Ellen Page), has discovered a way to combat the Sentinels by using her powers to make herself and others intangible (i.e. walking through walls) to transport a person's consciousness into their previous self, allowing them to experience past events with their present state of mind.  Thanks to his super accelerated healing ability, Wolverine can survive the process of going back years in time, so he is chosen to be transported to the year 1973 to change history.  In order to prevent the creation of the Sentinels, Wolverine must, with the help of young Professor X (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender), prevent the shape-shifting militant mutant Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from assassinating the Sentinels inventor, Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), thus creating a martyr of him and fueling anti-mutant sentiment that creates the Sentinels of the future.

Admittedly, it's pretty convoluted, but Singer sets the stage with remarkable efficiency and clarity, so even those less familiar with the previous films will be caught up to speed in the first fifteen minutes, and no less entertained.  The film feels strangely separate from the previous six films, probably closest in relation to X2, unsurprisingly, and it yet, in spite of the series' notorious lack of continuity, unites the events of each film as much as possible.  Simultaneously, it stands apart from those previous films, acknowledging them, while never letting what others have done before get in the way of the story at hand.  The screenplay, written by THE LAST STAND co-writer, Simon Kinberg, impressively juggles storylines while injecting a dizzying dose of welcome emotional heft evenly balanced between all major players and allowing the audience to be fully invested on all sides.
The cast is one of the most impressive ever assembled for summer blockbuster, with nearly all the major players from both the first three films and much of the FIRST CLASS cast showing up, including the super-in demand THE HUNGER GAMES star Jennifer Lawrence (beautiful in blue body paint) and Michael Fassbender, each at the top of their game, even in this ensemble cast superhero film.  Especially peculiar is how, when all is said and done, despite a gigantic $225 million budget (the second-most expensive Fox film behind AVATAR) and special effects to show for it, it doesn't feel like you've been watching a special effects extravaganza.  The special effects are all merely a substantial garnish to the astutely acted emotional spectacle.
It's not altogether perfect, as there are moments of redundant exposition and some seemingly extraneous plot elements that eventually tie-in, albeit roughly, but its shortcomings are minor.  If anything, X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST is an all too welcome deviation from the bland formula of desaturated destruction and third act showdown bombast, and it sets the stage for the series to pave a new and fresh path.  After the franchise-building cartoon antics of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 and the slow-burn with uninteresting characters of GODZILLA, X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST is fast, fun and invested thrill ride that proves summer has truly arrived.