X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
May 23, 2014 12:34 AM - Subscribe
The X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a desperate effort to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants.
Not having seen the new one yet (have a ticket for tonight), my guess is that it would help immensely to have seen First Class, and probably The Wolverine (the one from last year). My understanding is that the events of X3 are undone by the time travel shenanigans in this new one.
posted by doctornecessiter at 8:03 AM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by doctornecessiter at 8:03 AM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
I have never followed the comics or seen half of the earlier movies, so this was pretty close to me just going in cold as a non-fan. Overall, it was alright, but I definitely felt like someone that was trying to read a book by starting on chapter 6 and reading until 2 chapters from the end and calling it quits. I could tell I should know more about what happened before and after, and as a standalone movie for the non-fan, it was just so-so.
posted by mathowie at 8:15 AM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by mathowie at 8:15 AM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
"One more ship will make no difference in the here and now, but twenty-two years ago, one ship could have stopped this war before it started." — Capt. Picard, "Yesterday's Enterprise," Star Trek: The Next Generation
I was just a tiny bit disappointed Stewart didn't get a shout-out to this line in the movie. Change "ship" to "mutant" and "twenty-two" to "forty," and it fits perfectly. Instead, McKellen gets the closest thing to it, albeit not similar enough to be a deliberate allusion.
I would have liked to have seen more of Quicksilver — his scenes were among the best in the movie.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:18 AM on May 23, 2014 [5 favorites]
I was just a tiny bit disappointed Stewart didn't get a shout-out to this line in the movie. Change "ship" to "mutant" and "twenty-two" to "forty," and it fits perfectly. Instead, McKellen gets the closest thing to it, albeit not similar enough to be a deliberate allusion.
I would have liked to have seen more of Quicksilver — his scenes were among the best in the movie.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:18 AM on May 23, 2014 [5 favorites]
It is a sequel of sorts to both X3 and First Class, and had a teensy bit of set-up in the last scene of The Wolverine. I am sure you could watch it and generally follow it without any further preparation, but First Class and X3 would enhance the experience, I think. And for my money, X3 was not terrible, just disappointing. Brett Ratner delivered a vaguely entertaining popcorn flick rather than anything near the quality of Singer's movies.
But Mathowie is right: it hews to comic book views of continuity, where it assumes the audience knows the characters and their back stories going into it. If you do, it is a much more satisfying trip.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:21 AM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
But Mathowie is right: it hews to comic book views of continuity, where it assumes the audience knows the characters and their back stories going into it. If you do, it is a much more satisfying trip.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:21 AM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
I forgot to mention the plot follows the first Matrix movie almost exactly. When Wolverine goes back in time, they have to "hold" him in a secret lair, but then they get attacked, and then they have to wrestle with fighting attackers in the present while holding him in the past. It was exactly like the end of The Matrix.
posted by mathowie at 8:38 AM on May 23, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by mathowie at 8:38 AM on May 23, 2014 [6 favorites]
Wait, so X3 is considered terrible? I liked it. It was silly and over-the-top, but it's a superhero movie after all and I sorta came in expecting that to some degree.
posted by Hoopo at 9:11 AM on May 23, 2014
posted by Hoopo at 9:11 AM on May 23, 2014
The Onion: New X-Men Film Features Bryan Singer Traveling Back In Time To Molest Younger Self
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:17 AM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:17 AM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Wait, so X3 is considered terrible? I liked it. It was silly and over-the-top, but it's a superhero movie after all and I sorta came in expecting that to some degree.
I think it was terrible because it took two really great storylines, mashed them together like a toddler trying to imitate a boxing match between two dolls. Separately, they both would have made outstanding movies. It kind of sucked in the same way that Raimi's Spiderman 3 sucked, too much blended in to respect the ingredients.
posted by Atreides at 9:30 AM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
I think it was terrible because it took two really great storylines, mashed them together like a toddler trying to imitate a boxing match between two dolls. Separately, they both would have made outstanding movies. It kind of sucked in the same way that Raimi's Spiderman 3 sucked, too much blended in to respect the ingredients.
posted by Atreides at 9:30 AM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
P.S. I must say I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing the flick tomorrow!
posted by Atreides at 9:31 AM on May 23, 2014
posted by Atreides at 9:31 AM on May 23, 2014
It was silly and over-the-top, but it's a superhero movie after all and I sorta came in expecting that to some degree.
It was a superhero movie, but it had the misfortune to follow and stand in the shadow of two superior exemplars of what the genre could do. Viewers were hoping for (Raimi's) Spider-Man 2 and got Blade Trinity instead.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:33 AM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
It was a superhero movie, but it had the misfortune to follow and stand in the shadow of two superior exemplars of what the genre could do. Viewers were hoping for (Raimi's) Spider-Man 2 and got Blade Trinity instead.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:33 AM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Saw it last night, but there was some pretty stark inconsistency from the end of X3 and the beginning of Days of Future Past (before the time travel shenanigans). Did I miss some fancy retconning by not seeing The Wolverine?
posted by shesdeadimalive at 2:52 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by shesdeadimalive at 2:52 PM on May 23, 2014
Not enough Quicksilver. I was so hoping he'd sneak in the plane after he did the thing.
Also, there now needs to be made the film Pietro and Maude.
I just don't know who Maude should be...
posted by ursus_comiter at 7:21 PM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Also, there now needs to be made the film Pietro and Maude.
I just don't know who Maude should be...
posted by ursus_comiter at 7:21 PM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
I really enjoyed it. I kept my expectations low (XMFC was great as the great gay mutant love story of Charles and Erik and was frequently awful when its focus went elsewhere, particularly in its handling of all the women and nonwhite characters, not counting Erik) and the new one definitely exceeded them. I saw X1 and maybe X2 when they came out, and the recent Wolverine movie from Netflix, but knowing the XMFC history and being able to recognize other mutants from the comics was more of a thing for me. You get more from various cameos if you know the rest of the X films, but I don't think you miss actual plot.
The movie is supposed to be "about" Professor X, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much development they spent on Raven aka Mystique. I'm glad they're considering giving her a movie. I'd plunk down for that even faster than for a Black Widow flick.
Also, as an ex-reader of the X-comics who's read and enjoyed the DOFP comics arc, I don't have problems with the changes that they made for the movies, including the change of time traveller to Wolverine. I was never that enamored of Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat (she was the annoying character that was in everything because the writer loved her for a long time) and the audience familiarity with Wolverine from preceding movies helps with him being the POV character for the catchup for the last 10 years for those who did see First Class.
Having just seen the stinger from the recent Wolverine, it doesn't relate directly to the future history and I was a bit wtf on how they got to the start of this one from that one, but I didn't really care. The actual movie does not relate to this at all.
I want more Quicksilver (and Wanda! I saw you sitting in his lap, Wanda!) in the next one. Also OMG THE POST CREDIT TEASE. I'm going to have a hard time not getting my hopes up for that.
posted by immlass at 8:00 PM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
The movie is supposed to be "about" Professor X, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much development they spent on Raven aka Mystique. I'm glad they're considering giving her a movie. I'd plunk down for that even faster than for a Black Widow flick.
Also, as an ex-reader of the X-comics who's read and enjoyed the DOFP comics arc, I don't have problems with the changes that they made for the movies, including the change of time traveller to Wolverine. I was never that enamored of Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat (she was the annoying character that was in everything because the writer loved her for a long time) and the audience familiarity with Wolverine from preceding movies helps with him being the POV character for the catchup for the last 10 years for those who did see First Class.
Having just seen the stinger from the recent Wolverine, it doesn't relate directly to the future history and I was a bit wtf on how they got to the start of this one from that one, but I didn't really care. The actual movie does not relate to this at all.
I want more Quicksilver (and Wanda! I saw you sitting in his lap, Wanda!) in the next one. Also OMG THE POST CREDIT TEASE. I'm going to have a hard time not getting my hopes up for that.
posted by immlass at 8:00 PM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
I've never read any of the comics but enjoyed the movie. Quicksilver's scenes were really fun and humorous.
posted by SarahElizaP at 8:18 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by SarahElizaP at 8:18 PM on May 23, 2014
I enjoyed it as well. It will be interesting to see how the FOX and Disney versions of Quicksilver play out. I think FOX has weirdly claimed the quippy-yet-powerful ground that DisneyMarvel takes while the latter seems t be sending Quicksilver in a more Winter Soldier direction. The easter eggs for fanboys like me - My mom knew a guy who could control metal / the litte redhaired girl in his lap - are probably in excess of what we will see in Avengers 2. But then again, this movie was 85% easter eggs (Poor Forge, relegated to reaction shots).
I'd like to see more of "Now You're Thinking With Portals" Blink.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:55 AM on May 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
I'd like to see more of "Now You're Thinking With Portals" Blink.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:55 AM on May 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
We saw it yesterday and enjoyed it. The scenes with Quicksilver were really good, and kept expecting him to show up later on in the movie and was disappointed.
However, he is slated to have a bigger role in Apocalypse. Let's hope that pans out.
Also, good call on the Matrix-like plot device. Although there wasn't as much suspense in it for me like there was in Matrix.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 6:14 AM on May 24, 2014
However, he is slated to have a bigger role in Apocalypse. Let's hope that pans out.
Also, good call on the Matrix-like plot device. Although there wasn't as much suspense in it for me like there was in Matrix.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 6:14 AM on May 24, 2014
X3 was awful. So awful it makes me angry.
I didn't love DOFP as much as First Class or the first two X-Men movies, but I did love the feeling of falling into the next chapter of the story without the studio needing to explain everything. There was enough exposition in there to remind us of stuff that some of us have blocked out from X3.
Also, DOFP has retconned X3 out of existence. Yay!
posted by crossoverman at 7:02 AM on May 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
I didn't love DOFP as much as First Class or the first two X-Men movies, but I did love the feeling of falling into the next chapter of the story without the studio needing to explain everything. There was enough exposition in there to remind us of stuff that some of us have blocked out from X3.
Also, DOFP has retconned X3 out of existence. Yay!
posted by crossoverman at 7:02 AM on May 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
What a fun article, immlass! Thanks for linking it. =D
I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. I am a little confused if there's supposed to be a direct chronological progression like this:
1st class -> X1 -> X2 -> X3 -> dystopic future from Days
Because a ton of people get depowered at the end of X3 and then have their powers again in the dystopic future. Did I miss something?
Loooooooooved Mystique's fight choreography. Does anyone know if Ms. Lawrence did her own fighting? Or was she stuntdoubled? Either way, it was really fun and they did long takes without jumpcuts so you could see her takedowns and strikes. Just furiously good stuff.
posted by kavasa at 8:02 AM on May 24, 2014
I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. I am a little confused if there's supposed to be a direct chronological progression like this:
1st class -> X1 -> X2 -> X3 -> dystopic future from Days
Because a ton of people get depowered at the end of X3 and then have their powers again in the dystopic future. Did I miss something?
Loooooooooved Mystique's fight choreography. Does anyone know if Ms. Lawrence did her own fighting? Or was she stuntdoubled? Either way, it was really fun and they did long takes without jumpcuts so you could see her takedowns and strikes. Just furiously good stuff.
posted by kavasa at 8:02 AM on May 24, 2014
Because a ton of people get depowered at the end of X3 and then have their powers again in the dystopic future. Did I miss something?
There is a post credits scene in X3 showing Magneto getting his powers back, hinting perhaps that the mutant cure is temporary.
What I don't get is how you move from original DOFP to X-Men Origins Wolverine (XOW) and X1. The DOFP and XOW Stryker's look nothing alike, despite being maybe existing a couple of years a part.
Also, in DOFP we find out in the original timeline Mystique kills Trask and is captured and her body used to build the future Sentinel. Yet she is seen alive in X1. They made it sound like the procedure to reverse engineer her powers was ominous, but maybe it wasn't? But of course, none of this is mentioned in X1 along with the conflicting dates when Professor X and Magneto first meet and who builds Cerebro and why Professor X doesn't mention any prior knowledge of Mystique.
posted by FJT at 10:39 AM on May 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
There is a post credits scene in X3 showing Magneto getting his powers back, hinting perhaps that the mutant cure is temporary.
What I don't get is how you move from original DOFP to X-Men Origins Wolverine (XOW) and X1. The DOFP and XOW Stryker's look nothing alike, despite being maybe existing a couple of years a part.
Also, in DOFP we find out in the original timeline Mystique kills Trask and is captured and her body used to build the future Sentinel. Yet she is seen alive in X1. They made it sound like the procedure to reverse engineer her powers was ominous, but maybe it wasn't? But of course, none of this is mentioned in X1 along with the conflicting dates when Professor X and Magneto first meet and who builds Cerebro and why Professor X doesn't mention any prior knowledge of Mystique.
posted by FJT at 10:39 AM on May 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
So am I the only one wondering how Charles is alive, and in his own body. Was that ever explained in the films. X3 I really didn't like, and so don't remember a huge amount from. But last time we saw Patrick Stewart-Charles didn't he get taken apart by Jean and ended up in a coma patient's body?? Did I miss something in between that got him back into his own body for the start of this film?
Apart from that I really enjoyed this outing. I'm not a huge fan of McAvoy, but I think that Fassbender really nailed it in this outing. Sure, he was pretty one note in terms of character, but he really does bring all that past pain out so well.
Also loved Mystique/Raven and her storyline, but yes, a lot of inconsistencies with this and X1.
posted by Fence at 11:16 AM on May 24, 2014
Apart from that I really enjoyed this outing. I'm not a huge fan of McAvoy, but I think that Fassbender really nailed it in this outing. Sure, he was pretty one note in terms of character, but he really does bring all that past pain out so well.
Also loved Mystique/Raven and her storyline, but yes, a lot of inconsistencies with this and X1.
posted by Fence at 11:16 AM on May 24, 2014
Oh, one more thing.
Am I the only person grossed out by the veiny-ness of Hugh Jackman? I think he needs to dial it back on the working out.
posted by Fence at 11:25 AM on May 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
Am I the only person grossed out by the veiny-ness of Hugh Jackman? I think he needs to dial it back on the working out.
posted by Fence at 11:25 AM on May 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
Old!Charles shows up in the post-credit tease for the recent Wolverine movie with old!Erik. No explanation of anything that's going on is given. I don't think the XMFC timeline and X1-3 timeline ever added up anything like properly. Now they can say "timey wimey wibbly wobbly stuff" and "retcon" to cover any discrepancies.
My timeline question is about the Summers family. In the comics, Scott and Alex are brothers, but the timeline here makes them more like father (Alex) and son (Scott). Am I right?
posted by immlass at 2:12 PM on May 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
My timeline question is about the Summers family. In the comics, Scott and Alex are brothers, but the timeline here makes them more like father (Alex) and son (Scott). Am I right?
posted by immlass at 2:12 PM on May 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
At the end of X3, Charles body-jumps into his brain-dead twin brother. That's why he looks the same. I don't know why he's still in a wheelchair at the end of The Wolverine, though, since his twin wouldn't have been shot in the spine.
At the end of X3 it's also shown that the mutant "cure" eventually wears off as Magneto is able to wiggle the metal chesspiece.
What I'm confused about now is whether Wolverine has an adamantium skeleton at the end of DoFP? He's fished out of the river by Stryker, but was there a flash of Mystique's yellow eyes in Stryker's face or did I hallucinate that?
posted by Jacqueline at 8:20 PM on May 24, 2014
At the end of X3 it's also shown that the mutant "cure" eventually wears off as Magneto is able to wiggle the metal chesspiece.
What I'm confused about now is whether Wolverine has an adamantium skeleton at the end of DoFP? He's fished out of the river by Stryker, but was there a flash of Mystique's yellow eyes in Stryker's face or did I hallucinate that?
posted by Jacqueline at 8:20 PM on May 24, 2014
Needed so much more Pietro. Seriously, that could have absolutely held up an entire movie. I kind of felt like that might be a deliberate attempt to one-up Marvel Studios before they could even get started--and I'm 100% behind that kind of competition.
posted by Sequence at 9:41 PM on May 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Sequence at 9:41 PM on May 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Ahhh, I hadn't remembered that Charles' new body belonged to his twin brother. But as you say, what about the wheelchair.
I presume that Wolverine adamantium issue will be revealed in the next film. Or possibly "wizards did it"
posted by Fence at 7:16 AM on May 25, 2014
I presume that Wolverine adamantium issue will be revealed in the next film. Or possibly "wizards did it"
posted by Fence at 7:16 AM on May 25, 2014
The confusion is easily clarified. The only X-Men movies that should be considered with regard to Days of Future Past are X1, X2 and The Wolverine. Everything else, just ignore and forget. DO IT NOW. See? Feel better?
I saw it yesterday and did enjoy it. It didn't blow me out of my shoes, but it was a solid, good and entertaining movie.
posted by Atreides at 7:43 AM on May 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
I saw it yesterday and did enjoy it. It didn't blow me out of my shoes, but it was a solid, good and entertaining movie.
posted by Atreides at 7:43 AM on May 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
Forgot to mention First Class above.
Also, EW writer tries to untangle and make sense all the timeline and confusion after Days of Future Past.
posted by Atreides at 8:05 AM on May 25, 2014 [6 favorites]
Also, EW writer tries to untangle and make sense all the timeline and confusion after Days of Future Past.
posted by Atreides at 8:05 AM on May 25, 2014 [6 favorites]
I know that First Class was based on a comic, and basically a rewrite of the X-Men origins. Did they also do DOFP in that comic? This movie pretty much felt like Second Class, only they killed off most of the FC characters offscreen. I think it would be better if they were treating First Class as an separate universe. Attempting to connect all of them together creates a jumbled mess of a timeline.
posted by graventy at 8:32 AM on May 25, 2014
posted by graventy at 8:32 AM on May 25, 2014
I know that First Class was based on a comic
FC was not based on a particular comic arc from any of the X-Men series, though the story was derived from a lot of different details referred to in different X-Men comics. There are a lot of different books and the first X-Men comics appeared in the 1960s, so there are a ton of comics stories to work from, like Batman or Superman.
DOFP is based (loosely) on a comic arc by the same name.
X3 (Last Stand) was loosely based on an arc in the comics called the Dark Phoenix Saga. I'm pretty sure X2 and X1 were based on comics arcs as well, but it's been a long time since I saw them and I don't remember them well enough to say which ones.
posted by immlass at 8:48 AM on May 25, 2014
FC was not based on a particular comic arc from any of the X-Men series, though the story was derived from a lot of different details referred to in different X-Men comics. There are a lot of different books and the first X-Men comics appeared in the 1960s, so there are a ton of comics stories to work from, like Batman or Superman.
DOFP is based (loosely) on a comic arc by the same name.
X3 (Last Stand) was loosely based on an arc in the comics called the Dark Phoenix Saga. I'm pretty sure X2 and X1 were based on comics arcs as well, but it's been a long time since I saw them and I don't remember them well enough to say which ones.
posted by immlass at 8:48 AM on May 25, 2014
If the result is conflicting storylines, but better movies, that's not such a bad thing.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:51 AM on May 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:51 AM on May 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
What was the deal with Kitty's new power? I'm not too versed in the comics, so is this some kind of extension of her existing power or was it just a case of Plot Powers?
posted by Gordafarin at 10:08 AM on May 25, 2014
posted by Gordafarin at 10:08 AM on May 25, 2014
Oh, you're right. Just based on the title I assumed it was connected to this. But, apparently, it is not.
I assumed Kitty's power was new nonsense, given to her as a lazy way to connect us to the character doing the past-projection.
posted by graventy at 10:35 AM on May 25, 2014
I assumed Kitty's power was new nonsense, given to her as a lazy way to connect us to the character doing the past-projection.
posted by graventy at 10:35 AM on May 25, 2014
Kitty was initially the one who went into the past, but I couldn't find in at least cursory searching how it was that was actually accomplished in the comics.
posted by Sequence at 10:24 PM on May 25, 2014
posted by Sequence at 10:24 PM on May 25, 2014
From what I've read, Kitty's projecting power is just a case of compressing necessary powers into the more well-known characters for simplification of plot reasons.
My biggest frustration about this movie was similar to my big frustration at the end of First Class: Erik (Magneto) was right!
posted by sleeping bear at 11:18 PM on May 25, 2014 [3 favorites]
My biggest frustration about this movie was similar to my big frustration at the end of First Class: Erik (Magneto) was right!
posted by sleeping bear at 11:18 PM on May 25, 2014 [3 favorites]
X-Men’s ‘Days of Future Past' Is One of the Most Influential Comics Stories Ever. Here’s How It Happened - from Vulture, if you want to read about the original comic:
posted by ChuraChura at 8:55 AM on May 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
She reaches some kind of mutant gulag in the Bronx and meets a sad, small group of X-Men, including an apparently benevolent (and inexplicably wheelchair-bound) Magneto. One X-Man asks Kitty, "Can our mad, desperate plan work? More importantly, should it? We are toying with the basic fabric of reality." Some previously unseen character named Rachel puts Kitty into a trance. The narration tells us Kitty's soul is "flung out across the abyss of eternity. What happens next is anybody's guess." What the hell was going on?There's also a good (spoilery)interview with one of the screenwriters that deals with (among other things) how this fits in with the other movies.
posted by ChuraChura at 8:55 AM on May 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh - and I assume that Wolverine remains un-Adamantiumed in this timeline, which sets up a new mutant as the Heroine of X-Men and lets Hugh Jackman take a break from injecting himself with steroids.
posted by ChuraChura at 9:00 AM on May 26, 2014
posted by ChuraChura at 9:00 AM on May 26, 2014
ChuraChura - I'm actually extremely curious about that. Why did Mystique disguise herself as Stryker to recover Logan? Was she going to put some metal on his bones?
posted by kavasa at 12:21 PM on May 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by kavasa at 12:21 PM on May 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yeah - no clue!
posted by ChuraChura at 1:44 PM on May 26, 2014
posted by ChuraChura at 1:44 PM on May 26, 2014
I enjoyed it, but I just didn't get into it the way I did with X-Men and X-Men 2.
Maybe it's because I don't really care about Charles and Erik's epic man pain. I mean, I love the tragic regretful love affair that McKellen and Stewart portray so very well, but actually seeing where it all goes wrong? Meh.
Plus add in the scary-veiny Wolverine (oh god, Fence, you are not the only one), and I'm just not interested in a hefty chunky of the story. Jennifer Lawrence looks freakin' fabulous in 1970s' clothes, which is no small feat, Evan Peters is a delight (and it's great to see he has good comic timing - something you didn't often see in American Horror Story), and, man, I wanted Bolivar Trask's backstory the second I saw that awesome kitschy painting in his office. Plus, Peter Dinklage is always awesome.
But despite those three, I'd be much happier watching the bruised, beaten, run-down but never broken Kitty Pryde phasing in and out across a postapocalyptic wasteland with exhausted and bearded Bobby Drake (oh honey, you can grow that beard all you want, but you're still incredibly baby-faced and adorable), trying so hard to save people against all the odds. All that things that happened. Give me that movie.
posted by Katemonkey at 2:07 PM on May 26, 2014
Maybe it's because I don't really care about Charles and Erik's epic man pain. I mean, I love the tragic regretful love affair that McKellen and Stewart portray so very well, but actually seeing where it all goes wrong? Meh.
Plus add in the scary-veiny Wolverine (oh god, Fence, you are not the only one), and I'm just not interested in a hefty chunky of the story. Jennifer Lawrence looks freakin' fabulous in 1970s' clothes, which is no small feat, Evan Peters is a delight (and it's great to see he has good comic timing - something you didn't often see in American Horror Story), and, man, I wanted Bolivar Trask's backstory the second I saw that awesome kitschy painting in his office. Plus, Peter Dinklage is always awesome.
But despite those three, I'd be much happier watching the bruised, beaten, run-down but never broken Kitty Pryde phasing in and out across a postapocalyptic wasteland with exhausted and bearded Bobby Drake (oh honey, you can grow that beard all you want, but you're still incredibly baby-faced and adorable), trying so hard to save people against all the odds. All that things that happened. Give me that movie.
posted by Katemonkey at 2:07 PM on May 26, 2014
Hollywood is a Jerk: Kitty Pryde, Sexism, and Days of Future Past
posted by homunculus at 9:35 PM on May 26, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 9:35 PM on May 26, 2014 [6 favorites]
Nice link, Atreides!
I love how they adjusted the role for Peter Dinklage: they didn't do anything at all.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:18 PM on May 26, 2014 [7 favorites]
I love how they adjusted the role for Peter Dinklage: they didn't do anything at all.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:18 PM on May 26, 2014 [7 favorites]
Some previously unseen character named Rachel puts Kitty into a trance.
I am totally on board with how Kitty should have gotten to be the main character here and I think Ellen Page absolutely could have carried a movie--I've seen Hard Candy, that girl can be intimidating under the right circumstances--but I have to say, doing it in a way that does not involve Yet Another Summers saving the day was a point in its favor. Maybe not enough to make it a wash, but.
posted by Sequence at 2:55 AM on May 27, 2014
I am totally on board with how Kitty should have gotten to be the main character here and I think Ellen Page absolutely could have carried a movie--I've seen Hard Candy, that girl can be intimidating under the right circumstances--but I have to say, doing it in a way that does not involve Yet Another Summers saving the day was a point in its favor. Maybe not enough to make it a wash, but.
posted by Sequence at 2:55 AM on May 27, 2014
Also OMG THE POST CREDIT TEASE.
Can someone explain this? I was hoping for a cameo* from Rebecca Romijn and srsly I have no idea what that (admittedly very cool-looking) scene was all about.
*Speaking of cameos, holy billing-inflation! Whoever Anna Paquin's agent is, he deserves a huge bonus to get her listed over Dinklage in the end credits.
posted by psoas at 5:58 AM on May 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
Can someone explain this? I was hoping for a cameo* from Rebecca Romijn and srsly I have no idea what that (admittedly very cool-looking) scene was all about.
*Speaking of cameos, holy billing-inflation! Whoever Anna Paquin's agent is, he deserves a huge bonus to get her listed over Dinklage in the end credits.
posted by psoas at 5:58 AM on May 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
I absolutely loved the Quicksilver sequence in the middle of the movie. Also, I loved that they retconned X3 out of existence.
Can someone explain this? I was hoping for a cameo* from Rebecca Romijn and srsly I have no idea what that (admittedly very cool-looking) scene was all about.
Apocalypse. The next X-Men film will be about Apocalypse.
posted by Fleebnork at 6:35 AM on May 27, 2014
Can someone explain this? I was hoping for a cameo* from Rebecca Romijn and srsly I have no idea what that (admittedly very cool-looking) scene was all about.
Apocalypse. The next X-Men film will be about Apocalypse.
posted by Fleebnork at 6:35 AM on May 27, 2014
Apocalypse is kind of held out as one of the very first mutants ever, who appeared thousands of years ago (i.e., time of pyramids). He's famous for his "four horsemen" who are mutants that have been "upgraded" by Apocalypse to be the deadliest they can be. The most famous horseman being Archangel, who used to be the X-men Angel (he was given a short bit in X3), and had his fluffy white feathery wings turned into wings of metal that could shoot/fling lethal blades at people. A side effect is that your eyes also turn red.
posted by Atreides at 7:03 AM on May 27, 2014
posted by Atreides at 7:03 AM on May 27, 2014
So, wait, this really bothered me. What happens to the version of Wolverine who wakes up in the boat at the end of the movie and lives out the rest of his life until Old!Wolverine's consciousness jumps back into his body from the past?
To clarify: The movie starts in The Darkest Timeline, pretty much. Old!Wolverine's consciousness jumps back in time into his younger body and fixes everything, but then ends up at the bottom of a lake in 1973. With the mission having now been accomplished, The Darkest Timeline disappears and Old!Wolverine's consciousness jumps back from his younger body to his older body in the Ideal Happily Ever After Timeline. In the past, Wolverine's younger body is once again inhabited by the Young!Wolverine's consciousness, presumably with no recollection of the last few days (as evidenced by his PTSD episode in Paris when Kitty was briefly unable to keep Old!Wolverine's consciousness in the Young!Wolverine's body), and this body/consciousness pair is dredged from the lake by Raven and allowed to live out the rest of the Happy Timeline. But when Old!Wolverine's consciousness finds itself back in Old!Wolverine's body, he remembers only the Darkest Timeline and none of the Happily Timeline. He goes to Charles Xavier and basically says "Bwha?" Charles Xavier realizes what's happened and goes "You're back!"
So... What the fuck happened to the version of Wolverine who wakes up on the boat with no memory of the last few days? Like, he lived for the next 40 years and had real experiences, relationships, feelings - a whole different identity - only to be erased as a person the moment Old!Wolverine's consciousness jumps back from the past. Nobody spends a single moment mourning the loss of that identity. And I can only imagine that Charles opted not to *tell* this alternate-timeline person that he will simply Cease To Be at some undefined future point. Which, for an apparently unkillable guy like Wolverine, is pretty mind-boggling.
posted by lizzicide at 7:20 AM on May 27, 2014 [10 favorites]
To clarify: The movie starts in The Darkest Timeline, pretty much. Old!Wolverine's consciousness jumps back in time into his younger body and fixes everything, but then ends up at the bottom of a lake in 1973. With the mission having now been accomplished, The Darkest Timeline disappears and Old!Wolverine's consciousness jumps back from his younger body to his older body in the Ideal Happily Ever After Timeline. In the past, Wolverine's younger body is once again inhabited by the Young!Wolverine's consciousness, presumably with no recollection of the last few days (as evidenced by his PTSD episode in Paris when Kitty was briefly unable to keep Old!Wolverine's consciousness in the Young!Wolverine's body), and this body/consciousness pair is dredged from the lake by Raven and allowed to live out the rest of the Happy Timeline. But when Old!Wolverine's consciousness finds itself back in Old!Wolverine's body, he remembers only the Darkest Timeline and none of the Happily Timeline. He goes to Charles Xavier and basically says "Bwha?" Charles Xavier realizes what's happened and goes "You're back!"
So... What the fuck happened to the version of Wolverine who wakes up on the boat with no memory of the last few days? Like, he lived for the next 40 years and had real experiences, relationships, feelings - a whole different identity - only to be erased as a person the moment Old!Wolverine's consciousness jumps back from the past. Nobody spends a single moment mourning the loss of that identity. And I can only imagine that Charles opted not to *tell* this alternate-timeline person that he will simply Cease To Be at some undefined future point. Which, for an apparently unkillable guy like Wolverine, is pretty mind-boggling.
posted by lizzicide at 7:20 AM on May 27, 2014 [10 favorites]
I guess the short answer is: we don't know.
posted by Fleebnork at 8:01 AM on May 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Fleebnork at 8:01 AM on May 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
Amnesia. The new happy timeline Logan couldn't remember his past (originally, either), like the old one and now it's explained by Time hopping Logan conscience.
posted by Atreides at 8:46 AM on May 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Atreides at 8:46 AM on May 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
Having never seen any of the movies or read the comics, my 11-year-old son and I spent the long weekend catching up on the original trilogy (didn't get to First Class or the Wolverine ones) then saw this yesterday. It was a neat, compressed experience, taking them all in so quickly.
Some thoughts that I had:
* I'm glad that this isn't part of the MCU. The X-Men universe feels like its own weird and messy place, and it feels right that it's its own thing.
* I'm guessing that this is addressed in First Class, but how is it that Professor X is alive in the bad future? At first, when this movie started, I was thinking they were just going to pretend that X3 never happened, which is fine by me. But then they include the scene where Logan kills Jean.
* Why didn't the Sentries immediately attack Magneto? At first he was just standing in front of them, and it seemed to suggest that he was controlling them (altered them on the train? I dunno). But then, at some point with no apparent reason, they identify him as a mutant/target and turn on him.
* Evidently this is based on a classic story from the 80s. If you've read those - did they have the portal-jumping powers? That part felt very inspired by the game Portal to me, but obviously not if it's from the 80s.
* Lingering doubt/concern leftover from X3, brought back by that Wolverine/Jean scene - in the comics, is it ever explained why Phoenix suddenly and arbitrarily starts killing her friends? From the way the professor described the half of her personality that he had kept "locked up," she didn't sound violent at all.
posted by jbickers at 12:46 PM on May 27, 2014
Some thoughts that I had:
* I'm glad that this isn't part of the MCU. The X-Men universe feels like its own weird and messy place, and it feels right that it's its own thing.
* I'm guessing that this is addressed in First Class, but how is it that Professor X is alive in the bad future? At first, when this movie started, I was thinking they were just going to pretend that X3 never happened, which is fine by me. But then they include the scene where Logan kills Jean.
* Why didn't the Sentries immediately attack Magneto? At first he was just standing in front of them, and it seemed to suggest that he was controlling them (altered them on the train? I dunno). But then, at some point with no apparent reason, they identify him as a mutant/target and turn on him.
* Evidently this is based on a classic story from the 80s. If you've read those - did they have the portal-jumping powers? That part felt very inspired by the game Portal to me, but obviously not if it's from the 80s.
* Lingering doubt/concern leftover from X3, brought back by that Wolverine/Jean scene - in the comics, is it ever explained why Phoenix suddenly and arbitrarily starts killing her friends? From the way the professor described the half of her personality that he had kept "locked up," she didn't sound violent at all.
posted by jbickers at 12:46 PM on May 27, 2014
* I'm glad that this isn't part of the MCU. The X-Men universe feels like its own weird and messy place, and it feels right that it's its own thing.
Until recent years (read the last decade or so), the X-Universe was kind of its own place. I read Marvel almost exclusively, but almost entirely X-titles. Then Wolverine blew up in the 90s and he started appearing everywhere and then everyone started enjoying each other's company.
* I'm guessing that this is addressed in First Class, but how is it that Professor X is alive in the bad future? At first, when this movie started, I was thinking they were just going to pretend that X3 never happened, which is fine by me. But then they include the scene where Logan kills Jean.
This is not addressed in First Class. It isn't even mentioned. He shows up at the end of The Wolverine (not Origins), howdy doody and hello.
* Why didn't the Sentries immediately attack Magneto? At first he was just standing in front of them, and it seemed to suggest that he was controlling them (altered them on the train? I dunno). But then, at some point with no apparent reason, they identify him as a mutant/target and turn on him.
My thought was Magneto used metal to control them (see train scene) but he then relinquished a degree of control when he opted to let the Sentinels go after Beast and Logan. Apparently, if he wasn't paying attention and actively controlling them, they behaved as programmed. Once Beast was out of the picture (and Wolvie in the Potomac), they defaulted to Magneto as the next threat.
* Evidently this is based on a classic story from the 80s. If you've read those - did they have the portal-jumping powers? That part felt very inspired by the game Portal to me, but obviously not if it's from the 80s.
Blink the X-Men who creates the portals, actually predates the game Portal.
* Lingering doubt/concern leftover from X3, brought back by that Wolverine/Jean scene - in the comics, is it ever explained why Phoenix suddenly and arbitrarily starts killing her friends? From the way the professor described the half of her personality that he had kept "locked up," she didn't sound violent at all.
The Phoenix isn't Jean Grey, so much as it's own individual personality. Jean just happened to be the vessel for the Phoenix entity, hence why it would have no problem wiping out former friends and lovers.
posted by Atreides at 2:51 PM on May 27, 2014
Until recent years (read the last decade or so), the X-Universe was kind of its own place. I read Marvel almost exclusively, but almost entirely X-titles. Then Wolverine blew up in the 90s and he started appearing everywhere and then everyone started enjoying each other's company.
* I'm guessing that this is addressed in First Class, but how is it that Professor X is alive in the bad future? At first, when this movie started, I was thinking they were just going to pretend that X3 never happened, which is fine by me. But then they include the scene where Logan kills Jean.
This is not addressed in First Class. It isn't even mentioned. He shows up at the end of The Wolverine (not Origins), howdy doody and hello.
* Why didn't the Sentries immediately attack Magneto? At first he was just standing in front of them, and it seemed to suggest that he was controlling them (altered them on the train? I dunno). But then, at some point with no apparent reason, they identify him as a mutant/target and turn on him.
My thought was Magneto used metal to control them (see train scene) but he then relinquished a degree of control when he opted to let the Sentinels go after Beast and Logan. Apparently, if he wasn't paying attention and actively controlling them, they behaved as programmed. Once Beast was out of the picture (and Wolvie in the Potomac), they defaulted to Magneto as the next threat.
* Evidently this is based on a classic story from the 80s. If you've read those - did they have the portal-jumping powers? That part felt very inspired by the game Portal to me, but obviously not if it's from the 80s.
Blink the X-Men who creates the portals, actually predates the game Portal.
* Lingering doubt/concern leftover from X3, brought back by that Wolverine/Jean scene - in the comics, is it ever explained why Phoenix suddenly and arbitrarily starts killing her friends? From the way the professor described the half of her personality that he had kept "locked up," she didn't sound violent at all.
The Phoenix isn't Jean Grey, so much as it's own individual personality. Jean just happened to be the vessel for the Phoenix entity, hence why it would have no problem wiping out former friends and lovers.
posted by Atreides at 2:51 PM on May 27, 2014
* I'm guessing that this is addressed in First Class, but how is it that Professor X is alive in the bad future? At first, when this movie started, I was thinking they were just going to pretend that X3 never happened, which is fine by me. But then they include the scene where Logan kills Jean.
This is not addressed in First Class. It isn't even mentioned. He shows up at the end of The Wolverine (not Origins), howdy doody and hello.
My understanding is that there's a scene at the end of X3 (after the credits, maybe) that shows Professor X's brain-dead twin brother wake up filled with the Professor's consciousness. (This brother's mind "had been destroyed at birth when Charles' powers manifested.") Charles jumped bodies, in other words. But if he jumped bodies, why is he still paralyzed?!
posted by lizzicide at 3:34 PM on May 27, 2014
This is not addressed in First Class. It isn't even mentioned. He shows up at the end of The Wolverine (not Origins), howdy doody and hello.
My understanding is that there's a scene at the end of X3 (after the credits, maybe) that shows Professor X's brain-dead twin brother wake up filled with the Professor's consciousness. (This brother's mind "had been destroyed at birth when Charles' powers manifested.") Charles jumped bodies, in other words. But if he jumped bodies, why is he still paralyzed?!
posted by lizzicide at 3:34 PM on May 27, 2014
Amnesia. The new happy timeline Logan couldn't remember his past (originally, either), like the old one and now it's explained by Time hopping Logan conscience.
I don't think that's true, In the beginning of the movie, it's explained that if Logan is successful in preventing the Darkest Timeline, only Logan will remember the Darkest Timeline. This is further supported by Charles saying "You're back!", indicating that Old!Wolverine's consciousness has returned to the body. If you're saying he's suffering from complete amnesia ("The new happy timeline Logan couldn't remember his past"), I completely disagree, given his reaction to seeing Jean. I'm pretty sure his memory is continuous but is missing all of the history from the Happy Timeline.
posted by lizzicide at 3:39 PM on May 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
I don't think that's true, In the beginning of the movie, it's explained that if Logan is successful in preventing the Darkest Timeline, only Logan will remember the Darkest Timeline. This is further supported by Charles saying "You're back!", indicating that Old!Wolverine's consciousness has returned to the body. If you're saying he's suffering from complete amnesia ("The new happy timeline Logan couldn't remember his past"), I completely disagree, given his reaction to seeing Jean. I'm pretty sure his memory is continuous but is missing all of the history from the Happy Timeline.
posted by lizzicide at 3:39 PM on May 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
JFK was a mutant? I shudder to think what his superpower must have been...
posted by fuse theorem at 5:32 PM on May 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by fuse theorem at 5:32 PM on May 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Being a womanizing stud who conquered the moon?
posted by Strass at 5:45 PM on May 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Strass at 5:45 PM on May 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'm pretty sure his memory is continuous but is missing all of the history from the Happy Timeline.
I agree; I think it's more that they just wrote it off, as a "well, this guy's had his memory wiped and his brains scrambled so many times all ready, a couple more times from time traveling won't even matter."
posted by mstokes650 at 8:48 PM on May 27, 2014
I agree; I think it's more that they just wrote it off, as a "well, this guy's had his memory wiped and his brains scrambled so many times all ready, a couple more times from time traveling won't even matter."
posted by mstokes650 at 8:48 PM on May 27, 2014
I don't think that's true, In the beginning of the movie, it's explained that if Logan is successful in preventing the Darkest Timeline, only Logan will remember the Darkest Timeline. This is further supported by Charles saying "You're back!", indicating that Old!Wolverine's consciousness has returned to the body. If you're saying he's suffering from complete amnesia ("The new happy timeline Logan couldn't remember his past"), I completely disagree, given his reaction to seeing Jean. I'm pretty sure his memory is continuous but is missing all of the history from the Happy Timeline.
I was responding to the question on what Happy Timeline Logan personality was doing until his "return." I totally agree that Darkest Timeline Logan remembers everything.
My understanding is that there's a scene at the end of X3 (after the credits, maybe) that shows Professor X's brain-dead twin brother wake up filled with the Professor's consciousness. (This brother's mind "had been destroyed at birth when Charles' powers manifested.") Charles jumped bodies, in other words. But if he jumped bodies, why is he still paralyzed?!
I've repressed a lot of X3, so you could be entirely right!
posted by Atreides at 10:18 AM on May 28, 2014
I was responding to the question on what Happy Timeline Logan personality was doing until his "return." I totally agree that Darkest Timeline Logan remembers everything.
My understanding is that there's a scene at the end of X3 (after the credits, maybe) that shows Professor X's brain-dead twin brother wake up filled with the Professor's consciousness. (This brother's mind "had been destroyed at birth when Charles' powers manifested.") Charles jumped bodies, in other words. But if he jumped bodies, why is he still paralyzed?!
I've repressed a lot of X3, so you could be entirely right!
posted by Atreides at 10:18 AM on May 28, 2014
X-Men: Days of Future Past Saves Mutantkind By Teaching Professor X to Respect Women
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:37 AM on May 28, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:37 AM on May 28, 2014 [6 favorites]
Great essay! That's exactly why I liked this movie--it made it clear that the things I hated about the first one (well, most of them) were done on purpose, or at least that the writers realized that they were problematic. I wasn't 100% sure at the end of First Class if I was supposed to feel sympathy for Charles, and now it seems clear that I wasn't. Yay!
It sucks that Ellen Paige couldn't have been the lead because they failed to give her any screen time in any of the other movies. I've never been interested in Wolverine and his pointless angsty love triangle. My BFF has pointed out that they've also done a real disservice to the Holocaust-parallel story by not having Kitty, a Jewish character, be the one to take the lead on fixing the timeline.
posted by chaiminda at 12:08 PM on May 28, 2014
It sucks that Ellen Paige couldn't have been the lead because they failed to give her any screen time in any of the other movies. I've never been interested in Wolverine and his pointless angsty love triangle. My BFF has pointed out that they've also done a real disservice to the Holocaust-parallel story by not having Kitty, a Jewish character, be the one to take the lead on fixing the timeline.
posted by chaiminda at 12:08 PM on May 28, 2014
Seconding what a great essay that was. One of the things I really loved about First Class was that Charles was such an asshole and the filmmakers let him be. Though I think a beat that got missed in the essay was that Charles went with Erik's plan to kill Shaw and look where that got them all. It should have been a lot harder to let Raven go after that, but Charles did it anyway. The movie was billing this as Charles growing up, but I felt like that shorted Mystique's storyline a lot.
I know I ought to be upset that they shorted Kitty for the time traveller job in DOFP, but I could never get into Kitty (she was super-cool, in every book, had a DRAGON, and Wolverine, who was also everywhere, trained her to be a ninja!). I'd love to see a young Storm movie; I'd love to see a young Jean Grey movie; I'd love to see a Blink movie. I'm not sure I could be bothered to see a Kitty Pryde movie. (I did see the more recent Wolverine movie, but I was totally meh on it. I like Jackman a lot, but he does better with Wolverine in an ensemble.)
posted by immlass at 1:11 PM on May 28, 2014
I know I ought to be upset that they shorted Kitty for the time traveller job in DOFP, but I could never get into Kitty (she was super-cool, in every book, had a DRAGON, and Wolverine, who was also everywhere, trained her to be a ninja!). I'd love to see a young Storm movie; I'd love to see a young Jean Grey movie; I'd love to see a Blink movie. I'm not sure I could be bothered to see a Kitty Pryde movie. (I did see the more recent Wolverine movie, but I was totally meh on it. I like Jackman a lot, but he does better with Wolverine in an ensemble.)
posted by immlass at 1:11 PM on May 28, 2014
Fassbender and McAvoy doing impressions of their co-stars.
posted by jbickers at 6:54 AM on May 29, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by jbickers at 6:54 AM on May 29, 2014 [5 favorites]
I think this may have been my favorite of the X movies yet, and then I come in here and see that Kitty got robbed of filling Wolverine's time travel role! That would've been an even better movie in my opinion. Also thought Jennifer Lawrence killed it, did someone say she's gonna have her own Mystique movie? or is that just hopeful speculation?
posted by DynamiteToast at 9:01 AM on May 29, 2014
posted by DynamiteToast at 9:01 AM on May 29, 2014
A little of both? The producer, Lauren Shuler Donner, says she'd like to do a Mystique solo film. Here's a little article on the Entertainment Weekly site.
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 5:10 PM on May 29, 2014
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 5:10 PM on May 29, 2014
wow I have never seen anyone look as bad in a beard as Bobby did over there. Seriously there should be a law.
posted by The Whelk at 1:08 PM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 1:08 PM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Don't mock him for two months of effort. THAT'S JUST MEAN.
posted by Atreides at 2:36 PM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Atreides at 2:36 PM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
IT LOOKED LIKE CGI
posted by The Whelk at 2:40 PM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 2:40 PM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Of course Nixon's missing tape time was about Sententels of COURSE it was.
posted by The Whelk at 3:19 PM on May 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 3:19 PM on May 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
Strange that they got Paquin in for a part that wasn't even a cameo, she could've been played by a cardboard cutout from the first movie, was her Orginal role larger or something?
I see "when in doubt push a large monument around." has been a Magneto go-to for a while.
posted by The Whelk at 3:23 PM on May 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
I see "when in doubt push a large monument around." has been a Magneto go-to for a while.
posted by The Whelk at 3:23 PM on May 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
Strange that they got Paquin in for a part that wasn't even a cameo, she could've been played by a cardboard cutout from the first movie, was her Orginal role larger or something?
Yes; here's a summary from the AV Club.
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 3:35 PM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yes; here's a summary from the AV Club.
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 3:35 PM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Here's another untangling of the timelines.
posted by Jacqueline at 4:09 PM on May 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Jacqueline at 4:09 PM on May 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
The movie was pretty good and pretty forgettable. Enjoyable while watching, but after walking it, there wasn't a lot to think about or revisit because the movie timelines are still pretty messed up. If the studio can't be bothered to make the franchise make sense, then one really shouldn't be bothered with it.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:11 PM on May 31, 2014
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:11 PM on May 31, 2014
It had some fun historical moments and like First zclass, I enjoy the actors' chemistry way more than the actual plot...
But this means x3 NEVER EXISTED and for that I will be forever grateful.
posted by The Whelk at 5:39 PM on May 31, 2014 [3 favorites]
But this means x3 NEVER EXISTED and for that I will be forever grateful.
posted by The Whelk at 5:39 PM on May 31, 2014 [3 favorites]
If the studio can't be bothered to make the franchise make sense, then one really shouldn't be bothered with it.
For me this is actually a reason to enjoy a movie more, not less. For all that XMDOFP is part of a franchise, the people who made it made a movie based on a story they wanted to tell about a particular set of characters, not a set piece in a production line of stories that has to be tipped over in a particular way like dominoes and seen in a certain order to make sense. The stupid crossover disease is already in the process of sucking the fun out of the Marvel movie/tv timeline (see: Agents of Shield) just the way crossovers did in the comics.
I'm much more interested in movies that tell a story about a particular set of characters than the latest puzzle piece in a giant interlocking puzzle set where you have to see all the movies to make sense out of any of them.
posted by immlass at 5:46 PM on May 31, 2014
For me this is actually a reason to enjoy a movie more, not less. For all that XMDOFP is part of a franchise, the people who made it made a movie based on a story they wanted to tell about a particular set of characters, not a set piece in a production line of stories that has to be tipped over in a particular way like dominoes and seen in a certain order to make sense. The stupid crossover disease is already in the process of sucking the fun out of the Marvel movie/tv timeline (see: Agents of Shield) just the way crossovers did in the comics.
I'm much more interested in movies that tell a story about a particular set of characters than the latest puzzle piece in a giant interlocking puzzle set where you have to see all the movies to make sense out of any of them.
posted by immlass at 5:46 PM on May 31, 2014
Cranking Kitty down to a conduit & making up ways she can't do it hopefully doesn't mean they keep doing it only with Wolverine ...
posted by tilde at 6:04 AM on June 1, 2014
posted by tilde at 6:04 AM on June 1, 2014
Well, it's Logan and the background X-Men, so Wolverine will remain front and center.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:19 PM on June 1, 2014
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:19 PM on June 1, 2014
You can't stop Wolverine, you can only hope to cash in ruthlessly.
posted by Atreides at 6:02 PM on June 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Atreides at 6:02 PM on June 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
As someone who's been reading the X-men since Kitty killed her first N'Garai, I don't really think of the movies in terms of reboots or retcons, as I don't think they have any part to play in the overall X-Men history.
They're entertaining offshoots, not part of the main trunk, so I don't really expect them to have any sort of continuity from one to the next and enjoy each one on its own merits.
This one was OK, though not as much fun as 1 & 2.
posted by signal at 6:03 PM on August 12, 2014
They're entertaining offshoots, not part of the main trunk, so I don't really expect them to have any sort of continuity from one to the next and enjoy each one on its own merits.
This one was OK, though not as much fun as 1 & 2.
posted by signal at 6:03 PM on August 12, 2014
How Days Of Future Past Pulled Off Those Amazing Quicksilver VFX
posted by homunculus at 7:13 PM on September 26, 2014
posted by homunculus at 7:13 PM on September 26, 2014
So this finally showed up on Netflix Canada and I watched it over the weekend. Enjoyable - hell, anything that has Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan together is going to be fun - but:
So... What the fuck happened to the version of Wolverine who wakes up on the boat with no memory of the last few days? Like, he lived for the next 40 years and had real experiences, relationships, feelings - a whole different identity - only to be erased as a person the moment Old!Wolverine's consciousness jumps back from the past. Nobody spends a single moment mourning the loss of that identity.
After the movie finished, I spent a few minutes trying to figure out the continuity stuff and felt like most of it was ok, except for this bit - so we have Wolverine in 1970s who goes to bed one night and wakes up the next morning as Dark Timeline Wolverine. What happens to that consciousness that went to bed in 1970? And then when Dark Timeline Wolverine goes into the new future, then (a) the consciousness of the Wolverine on the boat (Obviously he wasn't brain dead for the intervening decades), so where did that come from and how did it integrate the events? Or does that now explain the amnesia of Wolverine at the start of X1? and (b) When Dark Timeline Wolverine wakes up in the new timeline, what happened to the consciousness that went to bed the night before?
Like, it seems to me some pretty horrible shit went down in this film that just gets ignored. You'd think Professor X, who obviously became friends with whatever Wolverine evolved in the new timeline, would be a little weirded out to realize that that person is dead. Or is Wolverine just such a basic personality that it doesn't matter, he's fundamentally the same in every timeline, and just has some holes in his memory that need to be filled in?
Anyways, really liked how this film made more use out of Mystique and her decisions and agency than I was expecting.
(and really liking the fact that Fanfare threads don't close so I can come and share my thoughts here no matter how many months/years later it takes me to catch up).
posted by nubs at 9:45 AM on April 6, 2015
So... What the fuck happened to the version of Wolverine who wakes up on the boat with no memory of the last few days? Like, he lived for the next 40 years and had real experiences, relationships, feelings - a whole different identity - only to be erased as a person the moment Old!Wolverine's consciousness jumps back from the past. Nobody spends a single moment mourning the loss of that identity.
After the movie finished, I spent a few minutes trying to figure out the continuity stuff and felt like most of it was ok, except for this bit - so we have Wolverine in 1970s who goes to bed one night and wakes up the next morning as Dark Timeline Wolverine. What happens to that consciousness that went to bed in 1970? And then when Dark Timeline Wolverine goes into the new future, then (a) the consciousness of the Wolverine on the boat (Obviously he wasn't brain dead for the intervening decades), so where did that come from and how did it integrate the events? Or does that now explain the amnesia of Wolverine at the start of X1? and (b) When Dark Timeline Wolverine wakes up in the new timeline, what happened to the consciousness that went to bed the night before?
Like, it seems to me some pretty horrible shit went down in this film that just gets ignored. You'd think Professor X, who obviously became friends with whatever Wolverine evolved in the new timeline, would be a little weirded out to realize that that person is dead. Or is Wolverine just such a basic personality that it doesn't matter, he's fundamentally the same in every timeline, and just has some holes in his memory that need to be filled in?
Anyways, really liked how this film made more use out of Mystique and her decisions and agency than I was expecting.
(and really liking the fact that Fanfare threads don't close so I can come and share my thoughts here no matter how many months/years later it takes me to catch up).
posted by nubs at 9:45 AM on April 6, 2015
Or does that now explain the amnesia of Wolverine at the start of X1.
I always took that as the impoication
posted by The Whelk at 9:47 AM on April 6, 2015
I always took that as the impoication
posted by The Whelk at 9:47 AM on April 6, 2015
The first X-Men: Apocalypse trailer will play before The Force Awakens
posted by homunculus at 7:05 PM on November 12, 2015
posted by homunculus at 7:05 PM on November 12, 2015
X-Men: Apocalypse | Official HD Trailer #1 | 2016
posted by homunculus at 3:44 PM on December 12, 2015
posted by homunculus at 3:44 PM on December 12, 2015
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posted by selfnoise at 7:50 AM on May 23, 2014