X-Men: Days of Future Past Review

Grade: A-
One-Liner: Back to the future or your future's past? Oh, I don't know!

It's truly remarkable when one movie is able to incorporate more than 20 mutants and a slew of main characters and still make understandable plot lines that truly connect audiences with these characters (see, Spider-Man 3, it was possible!). Forget the Avengers, the X-Men are still doing it right.

The latest installment didn't disappoint with high-thrills action, heartstring tugs, and Michael Fassbender in a '70s pimp hat. Days of Future Past began with a dystopian future for our mutant pals, fighting massive robots constructed to destroy mutants by using their own powers against them. This horrific cycle of murder and mayhem began in the '70s when Katniss Everdeen decided to shoot Tyrion Lannister — well, you know what I mean.

Peter Dinklage plays anti-mutant scientist Dr. Trask, who is building these robots when he is murdered by Mystique, spiraling human/mutant relations down the drain. To reverse history, Wolverine must go back in time, reunite Professor X and Magneto, stop Mystique, and cure cancer (that last one isn't true, but considering how much these guys are able to do, don't you wish they'd prioritize that one?).

Naturally, he is met with a series of daunting challenges, each one more visually satisfying than the next. Though Wolverine is the messenger from the future, he doesn't seem to be the focal point of the film — come on, he did just get his own entire movie last year.

James McAvoy, who plays a young Charles Xavier, gets most of the screen time, and his painful journey is certainly compelling. Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique also logs a significantly increased amount of plot line, and unfortunately (I truly hate to say this), she proved to be the film's weakest link.

Perhaps it was because Mystique was required to spend more time in other people's bodies in this film, but Lawrence's full acting capabilities weren't at their finest as she was supposed to be having one of the film's biggest internal battles.

One standout who completely stole the show was Evan Peters' Quicksilver. The speedy teen with a sense of humor as rapid as his sprints around the room proved to be the highlight of the film's dark first half. Hopefully he will turn up more now that there are sure to be countless sequels.

The special effects in this film were entirely on par, from the mutants transformations to entire football stadiums being lifted in the air. And apart from one over-the-top JFK joke, the '70s vibe felt authentic and well-executed.

And no spoilers, but the ending opened up the chance for an entirely new set of X-Men films, which, after this, is not unwanted.