It is with pleasure that this reviewer returns after a two month hiatus to start again at the advent of summer which hand in hand with being the season of the blockbuster, also coincides with the
Cannes film festival.
As a person who unabashedly loves almost all films (barring possibly the worst of the dude/frat boy comedy excesses) – it is delightful to have the prospect of watching (at least by autumn) the winner of the Palme this year Winter Sleep – a 196 minute long drama by Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, a veteran of cinema who beat out contenders like the Dardenne brothers, Belgian film-makers who have previously won the Palme twice.
As we wait impatiently for these (hopefully) edifying films to be released for the public, we have some rather satisfying summer popcorn guzzling distractions at our fingertips. While Godzilla has made its mark as being surprisingly watchable, and the Angelina Jolie vehicle Maleficent sounds possibly diverting enough, with X-Men: Days of Future Past, Hollywood shows that even while being reduced to a sequel churning machine, it can still, with a little bit of real effort, produce story driven action films that bank more on character development than blinding special effects.
The great strength of this X-Men film lies, of course, in its casting. One would be hard pressed to guess that an ensemble consisting of Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Halle Berry, Jennifer Lawrence, Ellen Page, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Hugh Jackman would be representing a superhero movie, and yet, none among the X-men fan base could think of more apt choices to play those beloved characters.
Days of Future Past begins with a riveting action sequence set in the future. The Sentinels, machines created to combat mutants with terrifying ferocity, have broken into a rebel stronghold, intent on their continuing mission to eradicate the world of everything but humans. With the situation being dire, the older versions of Magneto (Ian McKellan) and Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) team up with the remarkable Kitty Pride (Ellen Page) who has the ability to send a person’s consciousness back in time. And so Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) finds himself the only one resilient enough to undertake the epic task of going back in time to warn the younger versions of themselves of the choices that lead to the current fiasco.
So suspend your disbelief for a few hours, and let your mind escape to a world where friendship and humanity triumph - leaving you ready to face our sometimes comparatively dreary lives with just a little bit better humour and perhaps even an iota more of comic courage.
Watch trailer: