REVIEW
The X-men film in the year 2000 really kickstarted the Superhero genre at the cinema for a new generation. Since this start there’s been a further three X-Men films, and two solo Wolverine ventures, and they have been good but not at the same level of other Superhero films out there. I’m glad to report that this film is easily up there with all the best efforts to come out of the genre.
The film starts in the best possible way, with some thrilling action that actually makes you fear for the lives of the X-Men involved. This is a future that all the previous films have alluded to, where the mutants are outlawed and hunted down by Sentinels. These Sentinels are the real deal and strike fear into all those hunted, including Magneto and Charles Xavier. Its from this opening act that we learn that Mystique went rogue back in the seventies, after the death of her Mutant friends, and killed Dr Bolivar Trask in revenge. This had a knock on effect as after she was caught, her DNA was investigated and went into the genetics of the Sentinels. This all means that they need Wolverine (who else really) to send his conscience back to his younger self (well he doesn’t age, but you know what i mean) to stop this event from occurring and changing all their futures. Now this is a start to an X-Men film that I’ve been looking for with real tension, action and humor.
This is Hugh Jackman’s seventh time as the Wolverine and is the center piece to this assemble. He is his usual mix of anger and sarcasm, but thankfully he doesn’t spend anytime at all moping around about Jean Gray, as he is too busy navigating through all the characters. As you can guess with two timelines there’s alot of characters needing screen time and Singer does well with balancing the mix. Sure some are on screen just to team their super skills with fellow mutants to form a great battle front against the Sentinels, the others are the main players that you expect to see fronting this film and the timeline plot ensures we get the big faces from the new films and old films. With a cast of this level you already know they will do a great job, but James McAvoy brings a troubled self being to his younger version of Charles Xavier.
A new addition that warrants a shout out is a certain guy called Quicksliver. He gets a short but effective amount of time to ensure that he stays in our memories, as Marvel have their own version coming out in Avengers 2 next summer. One scene sees him use his supersonic speed to divert bullets whizzing towards the Mutants, whilst wearing a special headset to listen to music and have a good old time.
As stated before, the return of Singer brings about some of the best action set pieces seen in the X-men universe. All the action is fast paced and well coordinated as many work together with their skills to try to take the Sentinels down. For example we have a mutant called Blink, that can open portholes that the other X-men can use to their fighting advantage when facing the giant mechanical monsters.
So on leaving whats not to like about this film .. Well we seem to get the usual template of Magneto not wanting to play nice with the other guys, but that’s about it.
This is in all effectiveness a reboot of the series as events in this film ensure key points from the third film are now forgotten about. The series for me now has some fresh legs to run with and maybe take this impetus onto future films. Lets cross our fingers and hope they will finally figure out a good solo venture for Wolverine.
VERDICT
This is how all X-men movies should be with the right balance of action and a story line which will keep you on the edge of your seat.
RATING
Please feel free to comment below if you have any opinions regarding this review or film.
5 STARS = EXCELLENT
4 STARS = VERY GOOD
3 STARS = GOOD
2 STARS = POOR
1 STAR = TERRIBLE