The current domination of superhero franchises in our multiplexes isn't easy to pull off.
Every new release carries evidence of the effort it takes to eke more life out of the same characters, again and again.
Spider-Man has recently become "Amazing" and his story yanked back to the beginning, pointlessly starting over with a different actor in the role and rebooting villains, girlfriends and storylines. And three years ago, after five X-Men films, the mutant characters were also whisked back to the past, with a collective origins story. At least that one felt fresh, X-Men: First Class turning out to be the best in the series.
But now Marvel and their Hollywood partners are at it again. And as the title suggests, they are again playing with time in order to prolong a cash cow.
I'm not suggesting that Days Of Future Past is a bad film; indeed, it is very good fun. Yet for all but the most devoted fan it will seem too self-referential, featuring too many head-scratching moments trying to remember exactly who did what with whom and when in the preceding films - with anyone who's ever had an X on his or her CV getting a walk-on. Any sequel or prequel (this is both) has to be self-contained to some degree; this one really pushes it.
It starts in a desolate future, ravaged by a war in which humans and mutants alike are victims of murderous machines called Sentinels. Xavier/Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Eric/Magneto (Ian McKellen) have patched up their differences (the Prof seems to have returned from the dead, having been killed in Last Stand: head scratch No 1) and are looking for a way to save the world. Their idea: send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back to the past, to persuade their younger selves to bury the hatchet a few decades sooner and prevent the events that will lead to the creation of the Sentinels.
First Class took place in the 1960s, deriving humour, style and thematic context from the period, with the mutants being drawn into the Cuban Missile Crisis. Now Wolverine's consciousness is sent into his body in 1973, as Vietnam dominates the news. The first references are wonderfully comic, as our mutton-chopped hero wakes up on a waterbed, facing a lava lamp and next to a strange woman, with Roberta Flack's The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face playing in the background. It seems he's sleeping with a gangster's moll; once he's dispensed with the boss's henchmen he dons a leather jacket and hits the streets.
He finds the younger Xavier (James McAvoy) still smarting from the betrayals of First Class and drunk in his mansion; Eric (Michael Fassbender) has spent the last decade in a Pentagon cell, having apparently assassinated Kennedy; and Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), once torn between the two men, has become a one-woman mutant avenger. Wolverine needs to get Xavier on the wagon, Eric out of jail and Raven on message.
Bryan Singer, who helmed the first two X-Men films, returns to the franchise with his customary élan. And the first hour is particularly impressive, from the opening, future fight with the Sentinels to the tongue-in-cheek pastiche of the 1970s and a dazzlingly executed and amusing prison break, involving the speedy Quicksilver (Evan Peters). There's also a feast of retro-fashion starring Lawrence and a memorable head-to-head between the two Xaviers, McAvoy and Stewart. But though Fassbender is typically magnetic, the second half sees the screenwriters relying too much on Magneto's rebellious personality to keep their already strained plot in play.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article