2014 Movie Preview: #2 - X-Men: Days of Future Past

Release date: May 23

Plot summary: The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in "X-Men: Days of Future Past." The beloved characters from the original "X-Men" film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from "X-Men: First Class," in an epic battle that must change the past – to save our future.

My take: It is serendipitous that I review The Wolverine right before previewing this upcoming X-Men film given that events at the end of one set up this big blockbuster. This is looking like the end all to be all of X-Men movies. I am so excited to see how the casts of the two respective X-Men franchises coming together in this one epic film. From the reports we are hearing, it sounds like they have a ton of material and are needed to remove entire characters just to cut the film into a reasonable runtime. It's exciting to also see that Bryan Singer has come back to direct this since he's the one that started this franchise in the first place. My expectations for this one are really high, so I hope they do not disappoint.

Back in the Hobbit

Because the original Lord of the Rings trilogy came out before I started this blog, many may not know that I have never been a big Tolkien fan. It's mainly based on the fact that the fantasy genre is one that I have never found overly compelling (it's the same reason you'll never see me talking about Game of Thrones on the blog either). Despite the fact that I am not a fan, I did see all three Rings movies mainly because I have friends who enjoy them and I'd rather do something with them than sit at home alone. Well a similar situation arose this weekend when I had a friend ask me if I wanted to join him to see the second installment in the Hobbit trilogy. Given that I had not seen the first one that came out last year, I opted to rent that one so that I would be able to follow along with the story. So without further ado, here's my quick and dirty reviews for both of those films

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Like many I struggled with this first film for the sake that it felt like it contained too much superfluous content. I mean, it takes 45 minutes before the characters actually decide whether or not to take the titular Journey. As we watch this collection of dwarves, Gandalf, and the hobbit known as Bilbo Baggins, head on out we get some brief moments of excitement that end up getting stretched out for far too long. The best moments come when we see appearances from familiar faces. Although it goes on too long (a recurring theme), the scenes between Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and Gollum are a lot of fun and remind us once again as to how good Andy Serkis is in this type of role. I also really enjoyed the scene between Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), Elrond (Hugo Weaving), and Saruman (Christopher Lee). Even though there's very little action going on here, you enjoy seeing these great actors sharing dialogue. Despite some bloat, it does a decent job of establishing the quest that these characters will be encountering. I did have to laugh, however, as one character states near the end of the film that they believe the worst is behind them. It is quite clear that there's a lot more story and a whole lot more peril yet to come. Grade: B-

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - The second film features a similar and yet slightly different problem. Most of the action in this film flows better and is more engaging, yet it suffers from being the middle portion of the story. As a result, all of it is mere set-up without any decent pay-off. The film's closing feels particularly cheap knowing that there's still one more lengthy movie to go before we get a true resolution. Prior to that point, there are several impressive sequences that involve spiders, elves, orcs, and a wild river ride in a barrel. The introduction of the aforementioned elves including Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and new character Tauriel (played by Evangeline Lily) bring both some exciting action and an unconventional love triangle. In addition to all that, we get some major scenes involving an impressive looking dragon, known as Smaug. Voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, the creature is not only visually impressive, but provides some key dramatic tension in the film as well. While still far from perfect, this movie is an improvement over the first by virtue of its tighter storytelling. It is strongly advised, however, the you watch the first one before this or else you will struggle with following along with the plot and these many characters. Grade: B

Counting down the Days

Worlds are about to collide as the casts from the two X-Men franchises are about to come together in one epic movie. While the film, titled X-Men: Days of Future Past, won't come out until next year, we already have a first trailer. Check it out below.

Back to the Future

From movies.com

Once it was revealed that the sequel to X-Men: First Class would be an adaptation of the very popular story arc in the comics called X-Men: Days of Future Past, people immediately began speculating about how much this new, prequel franchise would integrate with the first X-Men trilogy. The comic's story involves two different timelines merging, which certainly opens up the possibility of characters and actors from Bryan Singer's films once again reprising their roles. And lo and behold, that's exactly what's happening.

Singer, who recently took over directing the project from First Class director Matthew Vaughn, confirmed today on Twitter that Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen were joining Days of Future Past as Professor X and Magneto. He also confirmed that James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult would be returning as well, which is pretty damned awesome news, if you ask us.

Of course this early on we don't know how much of the film will take place in the McAvoy/Fassbender past and the Stewart/McKellen future, but if the director of the film is comfortable announcing the veteran actors now, it's safe to say they're not just going to be cute little cameos. And all this timeline blending will surely also server as a clever way to address some of the continuity issues that our own John Gholson pointed out when First Class released.

So what say you, X-Men fans? Are you excited to see the new and old school on the big screen together? Who else from Singer's X-Men films do you hope shows up here?

2012 Fall Movie Preview (December)

DJANGO UNCHAINED (December 25)
Plot: Set in the South two years before the Civil War, "Django Unchained" stars Academy Award-winner Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles - dead or alive.

Quick thoughts: I can't say I'm the biggest fan of Quentin Tarratino's work (I'll admit I still haven't see Pulp Fiction) but I absolutely loved Inglorious Basterds, so I'm excited to see what he does for a follow up. Having a pair of Oscar winners as the leads and Leonardo DiCaprio in the mix hamming it up seems like a recipe for success to me. This isn't the most conventional Christmas movie, but it seems like it'll certainly be a nice gift for all moviegoers.


THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (December 14)
Plot: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" follows title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever... Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum's "precious" ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities... A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

Quick thoughts: While three of the four movies on this month's list were no-brainers, I struggled with the final one. I ultimately chose The Hobbit because it will no doubt be the 'biggest' of all the movies I considered. While I admired the filmmaking of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the story did not capture my interest like so many other people. While I doubt I would be rushing out to see this on my own, I have friends who are huge fans of anything Tolkien, so I'll no doubt be checking this one out as well later this year.


JACK REACHER (December 21)
Plot: Six shots. Five dead. One heartland city thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. Except for one thing. The accused man says: You got the wrong guy. Then he says: Get Reacher for me. Sure enough, ex-military investigator Jack Reacher is coming. He knows this shooter, a trained military sniper who never should have missed a shot. Reacher is certain something is not right, and soon the slam-dunk case explodes. Now Reacher is teamed with a beautiful young defense lawyer, moving closer to the unseen enemy who is pulling the strings. Reacher knows that no two opponents are created equal. This one has come to the heartland from his own kind of hell. And Reacher knows that the only way to take him down is to match his ruthlessness and cunning, and then beat him shot for shot.

Quick thoughts: After last year's fourth Mission: Impossible film, I learned never to question Tom Cruise's ability when it comes to action films again. So even though he doesn't exactly match the description of Jack Reacher as author Lee Child has established him in his series of novels, I have all the confidence in the world that Cruise will be able to pull the role off and deliver another terrific thriller.


THIS IS 40 (December 21)
Plot: Writer/director/producer Judd Apatow ("The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Funny People") brings audiences "This Is 40," an original comedy that expands upon the story of Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) from the blockbuster hit "Knocked Up" as we see first-hand how they are dealing with their current state of life.

Quick thoughts: It's been three years since Judd Apatow directed a film and even longer since he directed a good one. I'm anxious to see him return to greatness and based on the trailers, he's got a shot with this one. 40 was a lucky number for him when he did Virgin with Steve Carell, and Rudd and Mann were the best part of Knocked Up, so let's hope that all adds up to a winner here.


OTHER POSSIBLE FILMS OF INTEREST
Les Miserables (December 14)
Monsters Inc. 3D (December 19)
Zero Dark Thirty (December 19)
The Guilt Trip (December 25)