These are the Days of an X-Men Renaissance

It's actually kind of amazing how much information we got about X-Men: Days of Future Past between when its production was announced in May 2012, and now. Of course, we learned the title, which immediately heralded back to the classic X-Men comic book storyline of the same name. We were disappointed that X-Men First Class director Matthew Vaughn was leaving the project to focus on other work, but then excited again when we found out that Bryan Singer - who had directed the first two wonderful movies - was returning to direct the newest installment of the franchise he helped build. We learned that it would combine the casts of both pre-existing X-Men storylines, with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan playing alongside their younger character counterparts of James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. We learned that Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman would once again be the face of the series. Empire magazine published their special issue about the film with 25 collectible covers. We were given what seemed like half a dozen full-length trailers, countless promotional clips and set pictures, and the sight of speedy newcomer mutant Quicksilver (Evan Peters) eating an X-tra Bacon, Egg & Cheese biscuit in a Carl's Jr. ad (yeah, that was kind of stupid). We also got some bad or potentially bad news, ranging from the complete cutting of fan favorite Rogue (Anna Paquin, whom the trailers had initially featured) to the current sexual assault allegations leveled against Singer. Point being, there was an almost insane amount of hype surrounding this entry to the X-Men film franchise, almost too much to actually hope the final product would live up to expectations. Well guess what? It lives up to expectations. And in some ways, it surpasses them.

Just promise me there'll be no singing.

Days of Future Past takes place within two disparate timelines. In a chaotic, post-apocalyptic future, Professor Xavier and Magneto (Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan) lead a small band of mutants trying to avoid extermination at the hands of mutant-hunting Sentinels, robots built during the time of Xavier and Magneto's youth. Through one of the group's ability to send people backwards in time (because, you know, the story demands it), de-facto tough guy Wolverine's mind is sent back in time to his younger body to prevent the actions that have brought about the chaotic world in which our heroes live. When he wakes up in 1973, he must unite the two young mutant leaders, now at odds with one another, into a team that can halt the future war on mutant-kind before it ever starts.

... I'm sorry, was I saying something?

The best thing about Days of Future Past is that it combines the greatest elements of the X-Men films. For the old-school fans, you have the return of several classic franchise actors, including Halle Berry (Storm), Shawn Ashmore (Iceman), and Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde), not to mention Stewart and McKellan. For fans of the most recent First Class kinda-reboot, you have the the unique (for a superhero film) 1970's atmosphere, the best from the cast with McAvoy, Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult, and the main focus of the narrative. And of course, there's Jackman in the lead role once again, not that the casting agent would let you forget. Singer melds these disparate parts fairly well, mixing timelines and art styles with precision, flipping from young Xavier's private plane in one scene to Sentinels battering down a door in the future, and the transition works without any loss of cohesion. The fact is, if you liked ANYTHING from the previous X-movies, you'll find plenty to enjoy here.

One of these things is not like the others...

But Singer doesn't just rely on combining nostalgic elements when it comes to building his latest effort, and his newest additions make for a nice compliment to the preexisting franchise. Games of Thrones' Peter Dinklage is perfectly at home as an adaptation of classic X-Men villain Bolivar Trask, putting an appropriate face to the public discrimination and fear that has long been the dividing line the team from the likes of the Avengers or the Fantastic Four. And even Evan Peters' take on Quicksilver is surprisingly effective. Yes, that Carl's Jr. commercial was an incredibly poor marketing idea, and at first glance his costume is just plain silly. But when Singer actually uses the character in the context of the movie (in a slow-motion action sequence set to Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle"), it's such a thrill ride that you wish it wouldn't end. Sadly, the character practically disappears after this, but hopefully he'll make a re-appearance further down the line, if the directors can capture the same level of fun and excitement that Singer nailed in that one scene.

Fifty bucks on him gutting the hippie!

And that actually sums Days of Future Past up quite nicely; it's fun, and it's exciting. People haven't been enamored with this particular superhero franchise of late, from the spottiness of the Wolverine movies to the bad script elements of First Class to the plain awfulness that was X-Men: The Last Stand. But thankfully Days of Future Past rises above those faults. The cast is perfect - even Lawrence finally seems comfortable sitting in the bright blue skin of pseudo-villain Mystique after conquering just about every other role she's been handed - and the script is not just well written, but includes more than a few inside jokes for the lifelong comic book fans. In fact, that the story was based on such a well-known comic book storyline is a main reason this new entry was hyped so heavily, and so effectively. And yet this isn't just a pandering adaption, or at least if it is, it's hidden well enough to not be immediately insulting to those paying for tickets. Beyond that, the visuals are stunning, the dialogue and character development are amazing, and - especially important when Amazing Spider-Man 2 had so many jarring, bloated bits - it doesn't feel like too much has been crammed in to make the movie unwatchable. Instead, just the right balance means that you'll be riveted to your seat for the entire 131 minutes.

They act like they've never seen a man in purple armor and a cape before... oh, wait...

In closing, I think it's safe to say that after years of mediocrity and unfulfilled potential, the X-Men franchise is back on its feet and on a path to glory with Days of Future Past. Sure, the story has a few hiccups, some parts kind of rely on the audience remembering the plots and unseen characters of the previous films, and the ending isn't particularly clear how the universe will play out in future films. But despite the weariness the hype might have on your decision whether or not to see this in the theater, let me assure you that this is a superhero movie well worth a trip to your theater, even if you're not a fan of the genre. It might be one of the best of its kind in recent years, and there's no better way to celebrate that than seeing it on the big screen.

Open Letters Monthly: Jack the Giant Slayer

Wow, I've been gone for a little bit, huh? This week was an abysmal one for writing, almost as bad as the weekend grosses for Jack the Giant Slayer, 21 and Over, The Last Exorcism Part II and Phantom. I'll return to regular posts next week, but while it's generally accepted that nothing good hits the movies this time of year, you would at least hope that an up-and-coming star and a generally reliable director would be enough to carry a potentially fun movie.

In an ancient age of kingdoms and legends, Jack is just a simple farm boy, tricked into trading his pony for a handful of beans. When one manages to send his house and a wandering princess into the clouds via a giant beanstalk, he joins a group of knights seeking to rescue the young woman from her fate. But they'll have more to contend with than heights, as charlatains, Giants and other dangers threaten to make sure that nobody - Jack included - will ever make their way back down to Earth.

Jack the Giant Slayer is directed by Bryan Singer and stars Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, Bill Nighy, John Kassir, Eddie Marsan, Ewen Bremner and Ewan McGregor.

Click here for the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: Warm Bodies

Teen supernatural romances are all the rage right now. Capitalizing on the goodwill generated by those awful Twilight films, titles keep popping out of the woodwork, trying to transmogrify into the next blockbuster series. This month we'll see whether Beautiful Creatures, based on the series by authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl can live up to the hype, but in the meantime we have Warm Bodies, the zombie comedy romance brought to us by the director of 50/50.

In a future controlled by hordes of shambling corpses, R is a zombie trying to maintain his last shred of humanity via collecting knickknacks and vintage vinyl records. Though a philosophical sort, he's stuck following his instincts most of the time, which usually involves hunting the few living humans left on the planet for food. That all changes one day when he runs into Julie, a young human woman, while she and her small party are scavenging for medical supplies. After he eats her boyfriend, R falls head over heels for the lovely lady, and it changes something inside him. But while the two develop feelings between themselves, the people and monsters around them struggle to understand their mutual attraction. But as his love for Julie slowly brings R back to life, the question becomes whether living and undead can ever coexist, or if the two groups will forever be at war.

Warm Bodies is directed by Jonathan Levine and stars Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Analeigh Tipton, Rob Corddry, Dave Franco and John Malkovich.

Click here for the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Class is in Session

When I first heard that the X-Men film franchise was going to be rebooted with an origins story of  Professor X and Magneto, I wasn't sure what to think. On the one hand, another X-Men film in the same vein of the first two series titles is overdue, as the superhero team is one of the more popular comic book organizations out there with hundreds of interesting characters and forty years worth of interesting stories to tell (there's a reason Marvel Comics has had dozens of spin-off titles to accompany their original X-Men series). On the other hand, well, X-Men Origins: Wolverine was merely okay, and don't even get me started with all the mistakes made with X-Men: The Last Stand. Thankfully X-Men First Class has a lot going for it. First you have the amazing cast that includes James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Oscar-nominee Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, January Jones and Rose Byrne. Next you have director Matthew Vaughn, who has done an amazing job with story-based action films Layer Cake and last year's Kick Ass. Finally, the film seemed to step away from the popular-but-overused characters of Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm to allow other, newer characters to grow into the franchise. That would allow for the inevitable staleness of the previous trilogy's cast to refresh, and make these characters more viable down the line. Still, in a summer full of superhero film fare, I wasn't sure whether X-Men First Class would rise to the top, or sink deep beneath the waves of the likes of Thor, Captain America and Green Lantern.

Obligatory cast shot! And go!

As I stated before, the film focuses on Professor Charles Xavier (McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Fassbender), and takes place during the height of Communism and the Cuban Missile Crisis. When CIA operative Moira McTaggert (Byrne) accidentally discovers the existence of mutants while conducting investigations into a secret society called the Hellfire Club and its leader, Sebastian Shaw (Bacon), she asks for help from Xavier, who is the foremost expert on genetic mutation. Of course, he is no mere observer of these events; Charles possesses a mutation himself, full-blown telepathy that he uses to read minds and communicate with others. With the CIA's help, they put together a full team of heroes to combat Shaw, including Raven Darkholme (Lawrence), a shape-shifter and Charles's childhood friend; Dr. Henry McCoy (Nicholas Hoult), a malformed athletic mutant trying to discover a cure to his physical appearance; Sean Cassidy (Caleb Landry Jones), who can create sonic bursts with his voice; Alex Summers (Lucas Till), who can absorb and discharge blasts of energy; and Lehnsherr, a former concentration camp victim with a lifelong grudge against Shaw and an affinity for moving metal with his mind. Together they hope to stop the Hellfire Club, whose goal is global domination and the rise of the mutant as the world's dominant species. From these beginnings comes the origin of comics' most unique superhero team.

Emma Frost about to come out of your screen, Ring style

X-Men First Class features one of the best stories I've seen from the superhero genre in quite some time. Almost epic in feel, the film doesn't rush a single detail, introducing the audience to Charles, Erik and Raven at young ages and the manifestation of their powers, before setting up the film's main story. Even then it doesn't rush things; even though Charles and Erik are the focus of the tale, they don't even meet for the story's first third. Nothing is sacrificed in the name of forcing the plot forward, and every pain is made to humanize each of these characters before going full steam ahead. Once everything is in place, First Class does go ahead quickly, but nothing feels lost to time spent. Even though the film runs well over two hours, it doesn't seem like anything close to that, as looking back I'm sure I could have sat through another hour comfortably.

Seems wrong to see Magneto wearing the classic X-Men colors... that doesn't last long.

One of the things I most enjoyed was getting used to all the different characters, many of whom haven't appeared in previous X-Films. Though comic fans will be quick to point out that the first actual X-team (according to their bible which is Marvel's database) was comprised of Cyclops, Beast, Angel, Iceman and Jean Grey, I'm okay with only Beast getting this first cut. Of the other notable additions, it was good to see lesser-known X-Men Banshee, Havok and Angel make their debuts on screen, even if the characters aren't nearly as fleshed out as are Professor X and Magneto. Sure, it's odd seeing Magneto and Mystique (two future X-Men villains) wearing the colors of the good guys, but the payoff by seeing their turns to the other side makes it all worth the while. I also loved the dichotomy between the mutants like Xavier who wanted to blend into society and could because they exhibited no physical abnormalities, and those - like Mystique and Beast - who knew they never could because they had to hide theirs. It made for great sources of conflict amongst the team, and a great commentary on human society as a whole.

Somehow, I don't think "I didn't do it" is gonna cut it.

The casting was also amazing, with only a few actors failing to live up to their perceived talents. McAvoy is once again amazing as Charles Xavier, as he proves himself a talent worth following. Somehow he's been overshadowed by his co-stars in many films, but any who don't appreciate the seriousness McAvoy brings to every performance simply can't recognize his immense charisma and acting chops. Of course, as I say this, he IS overshadowed by one of his co-stars by quite a degree. Michael Fassbender has amazed me this past year, with starring turns in Centurion and Jane Eyre catapulting him to stardom. Hell, even his performance in the otherwise-awful Jonah Hex was more than worth the price of a $1 rental. Fassbender far and beyond exceeds the talent potential for ANY action film, let alone one with superheroes, and so his role here as one of the X-Men's greatest enemies is a tour de force (see, they can't use that term just for serious films anymore) for the genre. Simply amazing. Bacon, meanwhile, feels half-baked. While he really seems to be trying in some parts, you can't help but feel that even HE knows he's just a placeholder for the next generation of X-Men villainy. Better is Shaw's number one, Emma Frost, played by Mad Men's January Jones. Though hardly a deep role, Frost has gotten more or less the shaft from previous films despite being one of the most important characters in the X-comics today. Still, Jones barely shows any range in her monotonous dialogue, though that only exhibits that she was perfectly cast for the role. Rose Byrne is good if underused as Moira McTaggert, a CIA operative who seems to be assisting the mutants while not actually seeming to be doing a whole heck of a lot. She's another actress with huge potential; it's a shame this film doesn't make use of it. Most of the secondary characters, played by Till, Jones, Hoult and Zoe Kravitz, do some interesting things but don't really get a chance to shine like McAvoy and Fassbender. At least they're more interesting than the "normals" like Oliver Platt as a nameless CIA agent. Most disappointing however is Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence, who rightfully earned an Academy Award nomination for last year's Winter's Bone, doesn't seem fully in command of her character, Mystique. Compared to just about everyone else on the cast, her dialogue seems forced, with little to no conviction in her delivery. That's not a good sign, but hopefully this is a fluke and not a sign that her performance in next year's Hunger Games will be less than stellar.

"The Magneto!" is the new dance hitting Hollywood this year

Thankfully, that is the only major quibble I had with X-Men First Class. While I thought some of the special effects and makeup work was less than amazing (and really, no Stan Lee cameo?), the strong story and acting from most of the parties involved more than made up for any misses director Matthew Vaughn might have made. So far, it's the best superhero film I've seen this year, coming in at #3 for 2011. If you absolutely have to see one comic-book film this year, make it this one.