In Review: "X-Men: Days of Future Past"

In Review: "X-Men: Days of Future Past"

All of the X-Men movies have one thing in common—other than the constant reference to mutated genes. They are all full of humanity. They are complete with tons of laughs, heart, and personality. No mutant has the same "powers" or the same personality. Of course, the most popular mutant and frankly, the one with the most personality is Wolverine. Poor Hugh Jackman will never get away from the animal inside. Even at the age of 48 with a wife and kids, he still plays the hunky and jaded X-Man with ease. This film is no exception.

The Story

The world is ending and all mutants are being hunted down and killed by giant metal machines. But a small group of mutants including Kitty Pryde (the girl who can go through walls- we last saw her in X-Men 3), Bishop, Blink, Colossus (the guy that looks like the Silver Surfer from Fantastic Four- we last saw him #3) Bobby/Iceman (Rogue's boyfriend- we last saw him in #3), and Warpath have figured out a way to get around the giant creatures. Kitty has figured out a way to send people back in time to warn the group that the machines are coming and then they never get hurt. Professor X, Magneto, Storm, and Wolverine find out what Kitty can do and ask her to send Wolverine back in time to tell past Professor X and Magneto that they need to stop Mystique from killing this scientist named Dr. Trask (Peter Dinklage) because apparently her actions started this whole war.

Kitty is successful, and Wolverine finds a closed-down school and a broken Professor X (James McAvoy) with Hank/Beast (Nicholas Hoult). Erik/Magneto is in jail for supposedly killing JFK. The whole gang gets back together and tries to stop the future from ever happening. But will they succeed or is the future just set in stone?

The Stars

The consistency of this film follows through with its narrative as well as its casing. Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore, and others show up from the original film. People from the 3rd film include: Ellen Page and Daniel Cudmore. People from the X-Men Origins film include: Nicholas Hoult, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Lucas Til. No old character is replaced by someone new. Everyone was a good sport and came back for one more film! YAY!

Message

All of our actions have consequences. The problem is that we are not really sure which actions those are. The future is always hard to see, even for those who have a time traveling mutant.

Overall

Just a suggestion: before you go see this movie, brush up on your mutant history. Take a few days to watch X-Men 1, 2, 3, and definitely X-Men: Origins. I are welcome to watch Wolverine too if you want to remind yourself where he comes from but that one is not necessary. Wolverine 2 has nothing to do with the new movie. But all the others are crucial.

My sister and mother struggled to keep up with this one. I blame it on their lack of knowledge of the topic. Even if it's just a simple wikipedia search to remind yourself of what is going on with everyone.

Also, I'm saving you from a lot of searching below—BEWARE MINOR SPOILER (if you didn't watch the trailers)

So... Professor X is alive. If you remember, last time we saw him he was obliterated by the Phoenix. BUT, at the end of X-Men 3, after the credits, it is implied that Professor X's conscious has been reborn into a brain dead hospital patient. So how the hell does he end up in his own body in this one?

Hold on to your hats folks. Producer-screenwriter Simon Kinberg sat down with BuzzFeed to explain. He says on BuzzFeed:"The Last Stand hinted that Prof. X’s consciousness had been transplanted into another man’s comatose body, but that still didn’t resolve how that body came to look exactly like Patrick Stewart’s by the time the character appeared in the end-credits teaser for 2013’s The Wolverine. “We tried at some point in Days of Future Past having some dialogue about how he was brought back together,” said Kinberg. “It was using other mutant powers to reconstitute him. [But] we just didn’t end up putting it in the movie that had enough explanations and exposition already in it.” In other words, they just wanted Prof. X back, dammit."

WARNING: This BuzzFeed article contains a lot more spoilers than I am giving you, but if you are curious:http://www.buzzfeed.com/jacelacob/x-men-days-of-future-past-questions-simon-kinberg-answers

Minus the plot holes, I really thought this film was a great way to finish off the series and tie everything together. It respected all of the original characters and their story lines as well as introduced some new mutants I would love to get to know better (Quicksilver). Every i is dotted and every t has been crossed in this one, and that just makes this closet nerd happy.

I can't give this film 4 stars though. I can't disregard the fact that they didn't explain all of the plot holes like how is Charles alive in the future, how did Magneto get his powers fully back, where is Rogue in the future if Iceman is here, when did Professor X get back, and so many more my head is spinning just thinking about all the questions I still have.

P.S. I blame my satisfaction with not getting my questions answered on my love of "Once Upon a Time" TV Show created by the "Lost" people who don't like to answer any of my questions.

3 Out of 4 Time Traveling Mutants

In Review: "The Other Woman"

In Review: "The Other Woman"

Think "John Tucker Must Die" minus teenage angst and add in some booze and 21st century ideals of women. It's not that I don't like "John Tucker Must Die," I'm just highly offended by the portrayal of women. This one, on the other hand, treats women like real people and not stereotypes. What would happen if you found out your husband was cheating on you with another woman... how about two other women? Realistically, you'd freak out and be a total mess. And yeah, you'd probably try and get crushing revenge on the jerkazoid. But would you take it out on the women who had absolutely no idea he was married? Women can be cruel, but we're not stupid. "John Tucker" treats women like jealous animals who end up hurting themselves and not really getting over this idiot guy. "The Other Woman" tells a story of women who humiliate a cheater-cheater-pumpkin-eater and gain new confidence and new friends. Way better ending.

Plot

Kate King (Leslie Mann) is a stay-at-home...wife... whose soul purpose in life is to please her businessman husband, Mark King (Nikolja Coster-Waldau aka Jamie Lannister from "Game of Thrones"- it's like he's the same guy!). Unbeknownst to Kate, Mark has been sleeping with Carly (Cameron Diaz) for 6 months now. The two are actually in a relationship, and Carly wants Mark to meet her father (Don Johnson). One weekend, Mark tells Carly he can't go to dinner with her and her father because there's a problem with the pipes at his house (who has a giant house if he's a bachelor??). So what does Carly do? She goes to his house in a skimpy little plumber's outfit and doesn't find Mark at the door, she finds Kate. Kate quickly puts together the pieces and visits Carly at work the next day hysterical. Like completely inconsolable. The two women become friends to get through this crazy mess together. They quickly realize that Mark is also sleeping with Amber (Kate Upton) who is also unaware of the fact that Mark is married. Hilarity ensues as the three women come up with a way to get back at the a-hole. Together they move on with their lives and find new confidence they never knew they had.

Stars

I never realized how funny Leslie Mann is! She is usually overshadowed by comedy kings like Steve Carell and Paul Rudd. I think this is the first time we actually get to see her shine. And she's hysterical! Cameron Diaz doesn't get to be very funny, but she does have her moments. I think she could have been much funnier, but there are real issues with the script and with the editing. I'll talk about that in a second.

Message

You don't need a man to survive. I'll say that again. You DON'T need a MAN to SURVIVE! There is no reason for women to beat up on each other for the stupidity of men because we are all we've got in this crazy man-ran world. We ladies got to stick together and let go of those horrible men who are cruel to us because frankly, we are awesome and we don't need anyone bringing us down. We are not in the 50s anymore. Our lives should not be controlled by the lives of our husbands nor should our friendships.

Also, the best way to get over an awful guy is to let go. No amount of chocolate or wine or even crazy revenge plots will help us let go of the pain our hearts are feeling. It's up to us to release ourselves from his control.

Overall

I love the story. I love the actresses. I love several of the scenes were the evil husband really gets what's coming to him. But there are big holes in this film.

The editing really needs some work. There are several awkward scenes of just the women smiling and slow romantic music in the background. What are they thinking? What are they doing? Where is the relationship building scenes of confession and friendship. Also, the music just doesn't go. There is one scene where Kate and Carly are being girls and trying on Carly's clothes and shoes and such. In the background is a slow drone of "Love is a Battlefield." Ok, great song, but what is a slow song doing in this upbeat scene? What about "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", which shows up in a stakeout scene. What??

The dialogue is also lacking in this film. Cameron Diaz deserves funny lines! The relationship between these three women deserves more time and dialogue. Because it would be hard to start a relationship with someone who has been sleeping with your husband. And they would have some great things to bond over, like how good is he in bed. Let's talk about his baby pictures. Let's talk instead of staring into space at nothing.

Overall, this movie had its good parts and its bad ones. But it's a whole lot better than "John Tucker Must Die." If crappy teen movies mean anything to you.

2.5 out of 4 Single Ladies