MOVIE MONDAYS// X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
Last weekend was a good'un for me. The sun was out; caught up with a friend I hadn't seen in over 2 years; dinner on Saturday consisted of a dish I hadn't had in a while- jollof rice and dodo (i.e. fried plantain) which was lovely; caught a glimpse of the Manchester Day parade; found a lovely restaurant that sells yummy and healthy meals (I will blog about this soon); and a much needed trip to the cinema was taken. Going to see X-Men: Days of Future Past had been on my list of things to do since it came out last month but sadly I was only able to see it yesterday. The original plan was to watch the previous 6 films (X-Men; X2; X-Men: The Last Stand; X-Men Origins: Wolverine; X-Men: First Class; The Wolverine) of this franchise but I couldn't find the time to do it. Luckily a friend of mine, Mercy, showed me a 3 min video that basically summarised the key events that took place in all 6 films that were relevant to X-Men: Days of Future Past. For those of you who have not seen the latest X-Men film yet, be prepared to be entertained.
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X-Men: Days of Future Past is yet another successful Marvel movie that sucked me into its world after the first 5 minutes of the film. In this instalment of the X-Men series we are given a glimpse of what the future has in store for both mutants & mankind when past and present coexist allowing us to see how the "joys" of the butterfly effect affects the fate of both species - I am finally happy with this little summary here; you have no idea how many times I re-wrote this haha. Now, I know this franchise may not be everyone's cup of tea but I love it, including the newest addition - X-Men: Days of Future Past. Bryan Singer (Superman Returns; X-2; X-Men) immersed himself back into the world of X-Men as the director of this wonderful film whose witty, action-packed and emotional screenplay was written by Simon Kinberg (This Means War; Sherlock Holmes; Mr & Mrs Smith) and based on the story he, Jane Goldman (X-Men: First Class; Kick-Ass; Startdust) and Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class; Kick-Ass; Startdust) worked on. The costumes, hairstyles (I still want to dye my hair white) and make-up looks in this film were fantastic. To me, the costume, hair & make-up design team did a great job on incorporating each character's personality in their uniform. Also, the soundtrack for X-Men: Days of Future Past is so good. There are several songs I really enjoyed but there is one score that really got me and will be finding its way onto my ipod as soon as I can find my usb cable. The scale of this project, which was mostly reflected in the action scenes, definitely made it a worthy Marvel film. The action scenes were amazing though, just a bit intense for me at times.
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X-Men: Days of Future Past is littered with a number talented actors and actresses who did not fail to give their characters a fair share of the limelight. I have to say I totally dig the hairstyle of Charles Xavier whose empathetic soul was captured wonderfully by James McAvoy (The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her; X-Men: First Class; Becoming Jane). Hugh Jackman (Les Miserable; The Wolverine; Australia) reprises his role as the infallible, kind and courageous Wolverine aka Logan who has had his fair share of pain. The ever-so driven, self-actualised and caring Raven is brought to the screens again by Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle; Silver Linings Playbook; Winter's Bone). The lengths the character Erik Lehnsherr will go to prove his strengths is enacted by Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave; X-Men: First Class; Jane Eyre). It was really good to see Patrick Stewart (Hunting Elephants; Ted; X-Men: The Last Stand) and Ian McKellen (Vicious; The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey; The Da Vinci Code) again reprising their roles as Professor X and Magneto respectively. Despite this being a male dominated cast, there were a few other strong female characters in this film who were instrumental. Halle Berry (Cloud Atlas; Catwoman; Monster's Ball) - who reprised her role as the kick-ass and oh-so-stylish Storm- and Ellen Page (Inception; Juno; X-Men: The Last Stand)- who played the role of the talented Kitty- are two that spring to mind. There are several other characters that I would love to share with you but I don't to give to much away. I hope I haven't already...
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If you are struggling to make a choice of what film to see at the cinema and you are in the mood for some action, drama, humour and superhero-ness then this might be the one for you. Also, if you do see it let me let you in on a little secret - there is in fact a clip shown at the end of the credits. As I desperately tried to read all the names of the crew members for this project I was overwhelmed by just how many people it took to create it. I am sure I saw them say that due to the making of this film 15,000 jobs were created. Or was it 1,500...? Let me know.
What have seen in the cinema lately?
Mo x