by Roy Runnels

Special coupon for Dinuba Platinum Theatre at the end of this review.

X-Men: Days of Future Past does what I never felt the other X-Men were able to successfully do, with the exception of First Class. Days of Future Past manages to tell a very enjoyable standalone story that you can walk into without any prior knowledge of the other movies. Yes, watching the previous movies does help, but they worked very hard to craft the chaos and a sense of unknown that is present throughout the future scenes of the movie. But the biggest thing the movie gets right is that they don’t get hung up on the time travel. They briefly explain the rules and dive right in, and the film is much better off that way.

The movie takes place in two time periods, which explains the complicated title, and manages to flow really well. It frequently cuts to the different time periods, giving a sense of urgency in both, and showing us the various struggles. It’s also a very clever way of combining the old cast, such as Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, with their younger counterparts from First Class, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. The only person that gets to truly interact with both casts though is Wolverine, played by the wonderful as always Hugh Jackman. There is a clever reasoning behind it, but I’ll leave that to the film to explain.

Being someone that found the first few X-Men movies cheesy at times, I was very happy with how this one played out. It took the same approach as First Class and gave us a mature look into these heroes’ lives. The humor is still present, but it’s been stepped up a notch and shed its kiddy vibe. Even Wolverine has grown as a character. No longer the loner he was in the first movies, he fully embraces that he can’t do it alone, and recognizes that he needs a team to save the day. The film smartly plays that up too. It focuses on Wolverine when appropriate, and then will allow him to take the backseat for everyone else to have the spotlight.

It’s very difficult to discuss a time travel movie without giving away major plot points and spoilers, so all I can say is that the final act is something truly remarkable. Seeing these characters again has been a real treat, and I can’t wait to see the next one. Speaking of which, it would be best if you sat until the end of the credits. It wouldn’t be a Marvel movie if they didn’t have a tease at the end.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is currently playing at Dinuba Platinum Theatres 6. Showtimes can be found on their website. Platinum Theaters Dinuba 6 now proudly presents digital quality films in 2-D and 3-D with 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound to maximize your movie experience.

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Roy Runnels is a 23 year old aspiring writer currently working on becoming an English teacher. He has a great deal of interest in television as well as video games, when he is not busy writing. Roy was born in Lake Jackson, Texas and moved to Reedley, California in late 2012.