“X-Men: Days Of Future Past” Takes On The Whole Mutant Timeline

I remember when people actually left when the end credits started to roll. I don't miss those days.

The X-Men practically come gift wrapped to appeal with their themes of isolation, paranoia, persecution, and angst. But they've had a very mixed record onscreen, and I seem to enjoy their movies that inspire hatred and hate the movies everyone likes.

But “Days Of Future Past should bring everyone together again. It begins in a dystopian future, where robot Sentinels have hunted mutants nearly to extinction, as well as the humans who've dared to help them. They've also enslaved the rest of humanity, and even killed humans with the genetic potential to produce mutant children or grandchildren. The few X-Men left are now scattered and dwindling in number. But they come upon a possible solution: send Wolverine back in time to the year 1973, to change the event that caused the devastation.

Said event is the assassination of the scientist who created the Sentinels, Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage, brilliant as usual) by Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), her first kill that would likewise set her irrevocably down her dark path. Trask's death will ensure the continuation of his creations, and Mystique's capture means her DNA will enable the Sentinels to adapt to any mutant's powers.

But when Wolverine wakes up in his younger body and finds the much younger Xavier (again played by James McAvoy) the school has long since closed and Xavier's telepathic powers are blocked by the serum that allows him to walk. Oh, and they need the still terroristically-inclined Magneto's (Michael Fassbender) help, who is imprisoned in the Pentagon. Tough sell.

But wait, there's more. Mystique is already, if not quite set in her ways, then very inclined toward them. How to find her, and then convince her of their errors?

And so our merry journey begins. That some members of the huge ensemble cast get more attention than others is a given, albeit a somewhat disappointing one given the fascinating crowd here. But luckily, the ones the film does focus on are showstoppers. One scene-stealer includes Evan Peters as Peter/Quicksilver, who delivers some of the movie's best lines and moments as he literally runs faster than a speeding bullet.

And if “X-Men: First Class” bungled Mystique's character, “Days Of Future Past” more than makes up for it. It shows her in all her flawed glory, as a smart, strong, capable antiheroine, yet still defined by the two opposing men in her life, who both use and control her in varying ways. Amidst all the chaos through time and history, she is the focus, (art once again imitating life) and her choice will determine her future, as well as everyone else's.

But can the future even be changed? Or will it correct any changes made to it and arrive at an inevitable end point? How much power do our choices really have? Are we simply ruled by fate or another power greater than ourselves? Can a person choose a different path after making a few wrong ones and really change?

These questions are all explored in “Days Of Future Past.” It continues an enjoyable action movie trend, one that believes explosions, special effects, and being an action movie in general doesn't have to mean a dumber product.

That's not to say there aren't a few unanswered questions, some nitpicky (how exactly does Kitty Pryde, whose power is passing herself and others through solid matter, send someone's consciousness into the past? Why couldn't the other future mutants have a few more lines?) to not so nitpicky.

A major lost opportunity is Peter Dinklage as Trask. That no one ever acknowledges his size is mostly a good thing, but you'd think there would at least be some mention of it, especially in a film like this. Dinklage is basically planning a genocide of mutants, yet some would also view him as less than a person because of his height. Could there be some serious self-hatred issues there, and is his focus on mutants part of an effort to make himself more “normal”? Well, we'll never know because “Days Of Future Past” refuses to address it. Having the courage to confront these questions would have made a great movie a perfect one.

But if those are the only things missing, it still won't prevent anyone from enjoying the best X-Men film to date, complete with its own intriguing post-credits scene.

Grade: A-

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Wall-Crawlers Have More Fun

Critical consensus seems to have come down firmly against “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” which I don't really understand. Particularly when they say it's not as good as Sam Raimi's movies. Sure, I found his version of the wall-crawler to be cheesy and corny. But cheesy plots, especially for a comic book movie, are nothing new, and at times it was somewhat enjoyable. But Raimi's franchise could make you gag on cheese, and the movies' plots weren't merely by the numbers; you could actually predict them with your eyes shut. Was the villain just bad enough to cause trouble but not enough make people truly uncomfortable or threatening? Check. Did they die through no fault of Spidey's? Check. Oh, and my favorite...is Mary Jane going to do absolutely nothing AND get captured? Check again. Seriously, remember when she tried to hit Doc Ock on the head with a piece of wood and she couldn't even manage that? Jesus.

But “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” is not only good in comparison with Raimi's vision, it actually manages to be good on its own terms too. It has depth, wit, and a love interest who is a highly intelligent, competent, budding scientist in her own right, and who is actually useful. There's also a good backstory that involves Parker's father, Oscorp, and its CEO Norman Osborn. In other words? This is the kind of Spider-Man I've been waiting for.

The movie finds him still fighting the good fight in NYC, saving everyone he can, and even stopping to offer encouragements to some. One such rescuee just happens to be Oscorp employee Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx, who is actually VERY good at playing awkward). He's a nerdy, isolated, and very lonely man who develops an obsession with Spider-Man after he saves his life. Soon after, he just happens to have an electrical accident after-hours at Oscorp, turning him into the villain Electro. And his transition from longing, pitiable, and worshipful to angry, corrupt, and heartless is done a lot better than the abrupt flips in Raimi's version.

But he has a little help from Peter's childhood friend Norman Osborn (Dane DeHaan of “Chronicle” and “The Place Beyond The Pines”). He's back in town after his father passes, and finds he's inherited his company and the disease that killed him. But he thinks that Spider-Man's blood may be able to cure him.

Of course, this soon means war...or at least a showdown with high stakes for the city, as well as some very hefty emotional ones for Peter. Not to mention tons of supervillains that “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” sets up. (Hoping it'll be kind of like an evil Avengers thing. Sinister Six, anyone?)

That's not to say there aren't a few plot holes. Why can't Peter study his blood somewhere else with equipment provided by Oscorp or something? What about the Daily Bugle? Peter is still selling photos of Spider-Man to them. Can't we see any of that? And shouldn't he have gotten over the whole dating Gwen Stacy anyway thing? And why didn't they use more of the hugely talented and almost unrecognizable Paul Giamatti?

But there's just too much fun to be had here. Peter and Gwen are actually interesting, fun, and adorable to watch, have great dialogue to work with, great chemistry (evidenced by the fact that they're dating in real life) and they have great talent to work with in the supporting cast.

And of course, the action scenes are incredible. Spidey of course does the usual web-slinging, but it's also a marvel as he swings through his high-tech environments, dodging the electrical blasts, various supervillain weapons, or just plain bullets, while also incorporating his premonitory spider-sense, is just breathtaking. So frankly, I'll take THIS franchise, plot holes and all.

Grade: B+

“Divergent” Takes The Boring Route Through The Dystopia

When will people learn that trying to please everyone pleases no one? Those walking in cold to “Divergent” will feel bored by the generic plot and lackluster characters. If you're a fan, it'll feel like a slap in the face to the source material.

There's a reason the “Divergent” series was hyped up as the heir to the “Hunger Games” franchise. While the author's biases (mostly in the form of anti-intellectualism) hold the series back, talent can help compensate for a writer's failings or at least help you tolerate them. And Tris (Shailene Woodley) can certainly be compared to Katniss Everdeen. She is another complex heroine, capable of cruelty and callousness as well as bravery and heroism. And she certainly doesn't see her love interest as her perfect knight in shining armor. But “Divergent” is merely the cowering reflection of what “Hunger Games” could have been had its filmmakers been just as timid.

My impressions of the movie stem from only having read the first book in the trilogy, and they have only helped to deepen what would've been a very unfavorable impression going in blind. There is great irony, even humor, in this latest failure to deliver due to the fact that the movie seems to share the same fear as the futuristic dystopian society it aims to be pillorying: an almost paralyzing terror of Tris herself.

Like many other YA adaptations, “Divergent” takes place in a dystopian (has hope been officially declared dead?) society where it's members choose which faction they will belong to for the rest of their lives at age sixteen: Erudite, who value knowledge and make up the media, Amity, who value peace and are the counselors and farmers, Dauntless, who value bravery and comprise the military. Tris's faction, Abnegation, values selflessness and service and control the government.

Then there are the factionless, who for whatever reason, have no faction. They seem homeless and/or equipped with the bare minimum (sometimes not even that) and have the least desirable jobs, such as janitorial work. When Tris chooses Dauntless, she soon has to compete with other recruits to earn a place there-or risk joining them.

The danger increases when Tris discovers that she's Divergent, meaning that her mind can't be confined to one way of thinking, which jeopardizes the control that her society's leaders so desperately desire.

She naturally starts at the bottom of the ranks and just as predictably rises. This is where the movie first starts to stumble. Tris is competing with others, some enemies, some friends, for entry into Dauntless, and failure has dire consequences. Competition like this inevitably brings out the worst in people, or at least a bit of their darker sides.

But you'd hardly know it here. Tris and her friends are always nice to each other, and they never do anything wrong. Or if they do, they do it because they have no choice. Naturally, her enemies have no redeeming qualities, and when they have her in their sights, they aren't allowed to do lasting damage. Really, the training and all that occurs in general is so sanitized you almost wonder why anyone is struggling at all.

No one watching “Divergent” can be foolish enough to think Tris won't survive the first movie at least, but all the timidity means it that the suspense, and therefore any excitement, is completely exorcised. It actually makes a moviegoer yearn for a little projectile vomiting to liven things up. Where's the little possessed Regan when you need her?

This removes all the edge from Tris, thus making her (and everybody else) a lot less interesting. Hell, “Divergent” even goes out of the way to show that Tris doesn't want to have sex with her obligatory love interest just yet.

Shailene Woodley has done excellent work in the past in films such as “The Descendants” and “The Spectacular Now,” and this this should have been her coming-out party, where she was introduced to the mainstream in all her talent and glory, (again, think Jennifer Lawrence in “Hunger Games”) complete with a meaty, juicy role to sink her teeth into. Instead, it bears more resemblance to processed tofu.

What with this mess and her role as Mary Jane Watson being edited out of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” here's hoping Woodley gets a role worthy of the talent she seems to possess and hasn't been fully revealed yet. Maybe the upcoming adaptation of “The Fault In Our Stars?”

Grade: D