(WARNING: SPOILERS FOR X-MEN: DOFP LIE THIS WAY. TURN BACK IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF)
Ok, onto the Review!
Days Of Future Past is based on a 2-Issue Arc of the X-Men Comics of the Olden Days. The Arc focuses on the X-Teams efforts to stop a Future where Sentinels (Mutant Hunting Robots) have nearly decimated their species. To stop this future from happening, Kitty Pryde is sent back into her younger body to stop the Sentinels from ever advancing into the unstoppable force they'll eventually grow to be.
A key difference in the Film is: Kitty sends Wolverine (Fox Studios Batman aka Cash Grab) back to the 1970's to get help from Professor X and Magneto to stop Mystique from killing the Creator of the Sentinels, a Mr. Bolivar Trask. In the 1970's Wolverine gets Beast and Professor X (who can walk due to a Power Dampening Serum) to recruit Quicksilver (played by Evan
Peters from American Horror Story Fame) to bust Magneto out of the Pentagon Prison for being related to the murder of JFK. (Side Note: Quicksilver is in the Movie for about 20-30 minutes but leaves an impression. He's what'd you expect from a Teenager with Powers and brings humor as long as he lasts on camera. There's even a sly Relationship Tease thrown in for X-Men Die Hards) after busting Magneto out, the Group heads to Paris where Mystique is planning on killing Trask.
They manage to stop her but, in turn create another problem. In a split second choice, Magneto tries to kill Mystique believing it will halt the Sentinel Riddled Future altogether. She flees and inadvertently reveals herself to the World during the France Summit covering the end of the Vietnam War. Not only does the World know of Mutants by this point, but this pushes America and the President to pursue Trask's Sentinel Program. Trask plans to unveil several "at the ready" Sentinels at a Press Conference in Washington DC. Before Trask can reveal the Sentinels, Professor X tries to get Mystique to stop her from attempting to kill Trask at the Conference, to no avail.
(Double Side Note: Aside from being a key Plot Point, Mystique is slowly lining up to be the Cold Assassin we all know. She IS the reason for the Sentinels becoming full on Adaptoid Robots. The Movie shows a great deal of her and for good reason. She's conflicted about who she wants to be and what to do next. She's torn between being Professor X's Childhood Friend "Raven" and Magneto Loyalist "Mystique") In Washington, The President and Trask reveal 8 Fully Functioning Sentinels but, the moment is short-lived when Magneto shows up with an entire Baseball Stadium with the plan to encircle and entrap the entire White House to kill Trask himself. Magneto flings Wolverine into the River disrupting his connection to the Past and attacks Beast with a Sentinel he now controls. After dealing with them, the Past and Future come down to the decision of Magneto and if he's willing to kill Trask to stop the Sentinel Program. The President (a disguised Mystique) tells him to kill him instead to stop his plan. Beast tricks the Sentinel into attacking Magneto and Mystique knocks him unconscious, long enough to decide to spare Trask and disappear. Ending the Sentinel Future. Magneto awakens and flees, leaving Beast and the Professor to pick up the pieces.
In the now restored Future Timeline (Our Present for the X-Films) Wolverine wakes up inside the School for Gifted Youngsters with everything as it should be. In a Retcon for the Ages, Jean Grey and Cyclops are alive and well! (They both died in X-Men 3) with everything good, the X-Franchise is on a good path.
I give X-Men: DOFP a 4.5 out of 5
(Note: The Sentinel Future spotlighted some cool additions to the X-Men Movies: Sunspot (Bootleg Human Torch), Blink (Silent Teleporter), Warpath (Native American Warrior), and Bishop (Gun-Toting Absorber)
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