I’m about to watch X-Men: Days of Future Past for the first time. But here’s the thing: I don’t know anything about the X-Men universe. Like, at all.
I watched X-Men: First Class in preparation, but I’ve been told that Days of Future Past is the big money movie. The pièce de résistance of the X-Men cinematic universe, if you will.
If you’re like me and have no knowledge of X-Men lore, Days of Future Past opens in an apocalyptic version of Earth where mutant-hunting robots called Sentinels have essentially burned the world to the ground. The only chance of saving everyone is to send Logan back in time via… inception?
They’ve set the stakes, and they’re high. Logan is going back in time to reunite Charles and Erik, and I’m determined to enjoy this movie despite knowing next to nothing about what’s going on. Let’s get into it!
EVAN PETERS
Right off the bat, I’m obsessed with the casting in the X-Men movies. It’s almost weird how well Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy play younger versions of Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart. But enough about them—the real hero of Days of Future Past is Peter Maximoff, played by my favorite cutie pie Evan Peters.
Peter’s mutation is that he’s really fast, but we don’t really get to see him in action until the scene in the kitchen at the Pentagon. It’s by far the best scene in the movie, although I’m still super curious about how Peter’s music sounds in his headphones while he’s moving faster than the speed of light.
Whoever Wrote The Dialogue Worked SO HARD
The story, the effects, and the action scenes are all good, don’t get me wrong. But the writers put in WORK on the dialogue. With so many action movies the dialogue feels like an afterthought, but here (and in First Class) it’s so powerful. One of my favorite lines includes Professor X and Magneto’s conversation about Mystique, where Professor X says “She left because you got inside her head!” and Magneto says, “That’s not my power.”
See, you might think Magneto’s superpower is moving metal with his mind—but it’s actually just cutting people to the core with his comebacks.
Thoughts On The Inception / Body Switching Thing
So, this is the SECOND inception movie Elliot Page has been in. I don’t fully understand Elliot Page’s mutation, nor do I know his character’s name. What I do know is that it seems a lot like inception (like the kind they do in the movie Inception).
But then it gets even crazier when Professor X incepts himself back into Logan’s mind in the future to talk to himself as an old man. Then it gets even crazier when he incepts himself into different people at the airport to talk to Raven in real time. Honestly, this scene was so intense.
Metal Manipulation Is The Most Badass Power
I already decided while watching the first movie that if I could have any mutation, it would be Magneto’s.
Before I knew Magneto was a main X Man, I thought metal manipulation was such an afterthought superpower. I was all like, “How convenient there’s always some metal fountain nearby.” But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it’s the only power that plays fair when it comes to the laws of the universe. Mystique can change the appearance of her cells. Professor X can take over people's minds and bodies to communicate with his friends. But Magneto can pick up a U-Haul and do things the old-fashioned way.
It’s just the most practical. There really is always some metal around, and the one thing that always gets everyone’s attention is picking it up and throwing it around. He doesn’t break the laws of physics—he just commands them.
The Way I Could Not At Any Point Predict Where This Movie Was Going
I love the exposition in this movie. Quick and dirty. But past the introductory scene, I basically had no clue where this movie was going.
When Charles starts scanning people’s minds in the crowd at the White House, someone says “I’m pregnant” and I legitimately wondered if it was relevant to the plot (it wasn’t). I started getting MAJOR Iron Man 2 vibes when they unveiled the robots, thinking maybe the robots were about to start killing citizens, but that also didn’t happen. I gasped out loud when I realized Magneto dropped the stadium around the White House (I really don’t know where else I thought he was taking it) and lost it again when “Nixon” (Mystique) shot Magneto in the neck. So, major props to this movie for never letting me know what’s coming next.
But I love the mix of meta-conflict and physical immediate conflict going on at the same time—they’re fighting a war in the past, but it’s literally not going to matter at all if they don’t stop the literal robots coming for them in the future. It adds this element of chaos to the entire movie.
Is It Morally Wrong To Side With Magneto?
I’m getting the feeling I should be compelled to side with Professor X. But I just don’t.
I know Erik is technically the “bad guy” in this scenario but… is it wrong to agree with his reasoning? I don’t trust humans to ever coexist with mutants. Humans don’t even coexist with other humans. To me it seems like Professor X’s whole plan is “mutants and humans should hold hands and sing Kumbaya.”
Anyway, I’m a Magneto stan. Turning the cameras towards him was so badass…
Just A Little Bit Convenient…
Okay, so the timing of everything working out was a little bit too perfect for me. They just HAPPENED to change the outcome of the future right at the exact moment the Sentinels were about to get Professor X?
I’m also so confused how Logan survived that metal pole predicament. I get it, like the whole reason Logan went to the past instead of Professor X is because he can heal from anything. But holy bejeezus. That seemed like it could have been the thing to finally do Wolverine in.
I’m not going to complain too much, though. This movie was insanely entertaining, and absolutely mind-blowing on a first watch through.
The X-Men Feel More Appropriate Now Than Ever Before
Honestly, I can’t believe I didn’t get into X-Men sooner. It feels more appropriate now than ever to consider the themes of the X-Men universe. At its core, it’s a story about “others” in society and how we coexist with people who are different from us. But it’s also about family, love, and self-discovery.
In conclusion, I am an X-Men girlie now (although I’ve heard the next movie sucks so maybe I shouldn’t get too excited).
X-Men: Days of Future Past is available to stream with a Disney+ subscription.
