While trailers can look as great as can be, The Amazing Spiderman 2 and Godzilla raised expectations too high and have already disappointed somewhat (depending who you ask, of course); and while this movie's trailer was one of the top 2 trailers for summer blockbusters, I was more hesitant going in.
But I didn't have anything to worry about. Even with raised expectations, this movie was a beast. No pun intended.
The opening action sequence was utterly beautiful. So well crafted by Bryan Singer and his team that I could keep watching it over and over. Each mutant's powers were exemplified with excellence and executed with so much desperation that I could not only feel, but transported to, that age of extinction Xavier was talking about.
The exposition and narrative that followed after moved a little too quickly. But it had to be done that way or the movie may carry on for far too long. So that was something minor and I could accept it completely. I wouldn't change it any other way because it told the story perfectly and got it where it needed to go.
Wolverine was the key guy that made the time-traveling jump, like in the trailers. And this is the most demure version we have ever seen, as if Wolverine suddenly matured from his outing in The Wolverine. But understandably so as he had an important task at hand (and also fair warning given by Kitty Pryde).
Beast's make up look so much better this time than in First Class, where he looked like he put on a monkey mask. Here, it was full on make up and even with a bit of CGI.
Best action sequence was watching Blink's teleportation tricks. First time it happened I had a nerdgasm! Iceman, Colossus, Storm and Sunspot never looked this good. Bishop looked badass. Blink could have said a bit more but looked great nevertheless. Warpath is the only one I'm not familiar.
And Quicksilver. So much controversy surrounded this character before the movie came out. But every single critic out there would take back their words because he was amazing. In fact, now I'm worried for Avengers' Quicksilver next year and how much he needs to do to out-do this version's.
The single best performance by any actor was James McAvoy when (like in the trailers) his Xavier met Patrick Stewart's Xavier. I was deeply moved by him and their conversation. From a comic book fanboy's point of view, there's just so much history in this character and I couldn't help but feel the enormity of their plight and how important it was for McAvoy's Xavier to get it.
How great was McAvoy's acting and bringing the humanity into the scene? Give this guy an Academy Award nomination! Let this performance be the followup to Heath Ledger getting a nod (and winning) from portraying a comic book character.
I also would like to appreciate Halle Berry, an Academy Award winning actress, coming back to give such a small performance in this movie. The dedication is much appreciated because that impact of having Storm in this X-Men movie was priceless.
And to Hugh Jackman as well, for the 14 years of his dedication to the Wolverine character. And like Wolverine, Jackman doesn't seem to be able to age. In fact, this version of Wolverine was physically the most impressive. Thank you for pushing yourself in getting into this kind of shape. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been.
Another great performance was Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask. He was charismatic, sly and evil at the same time, so good that I wished he was given more to say.
Equally great was Michael Fassbender's performance. His Magneto was terrifying and yet we can feel for him and his cause. I do not fault his choices and actions at all.
And let's not forget Ian McKellen's Magneto as well. There was one scene towards the end he shared with Patrick Stewart, again from a fanboy's perspective and understanding of the history between the two characters, that scene was so simple yet so good it gave me goose bumps.
The overall tone of this movie was set with such consistency. That urgency the characters felt translated perfectly to the audience. The pacing was amazing with a running time of only 131 minutes. To cover so much in that time frame was just astounding.
Lastly, to Bryan Singer, thank you for your dedication to these characters. Thank you for bringing comic book movie-making to another level. (Captain America: Winter Soldier just up the standard for this year's movies, Days Of Future Past did it again!) Thank you for coming onboard 14 years ago, and setting a standard for all other comic book movies to follow. And thank you for never giving up on this franchise, with whatever you had to go through to get here.
Thank you, Fox Studios and X-Men, for giving me, giving us, one of the best comic book movies ever. Thank you.
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And now for the spoiler section.
Blink and you'll miss Stan Lee's cameo in the cafeteria. (If I remember correctly that was in fact in a cafeteria.) This must be the shortest cameo I've ever seen.
It's great to see many characters brought back, like Toad and Havok. Also great to see those that made First Class boring were killed off, like Angel and Emma Frost. I would have liked to see Azazel and Banshee survive though. But then again, now that history was wiped clean, these characters could all be alive still.
And what a sneaky thing Singer pulled, bringing Jean Grey and Cyclops back, just like that. But I'm just happy Cyclops is back.
There were some humour that only fans would notice, and they were done so well. One reference, however, I could have done without; and that was Magento saying to Wolverine when he released his claws, "Imagine if they were metal." That, albeit funny, was a little out of context and felt like the writers were pushing it just a little bit.
Finally, I'm happy to see the after credit scene focusing on Apocalypse. I can't wait for it! But with such a high standard set, Apocalypse has to be even greater. But if this is the level of standard of the adaptation from the comics, and if they really do adapt from Age Of Apocalypse, we're in for a great ride.
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