X-Men: Days of Future Past *** (PG-13) If you’re a fan of the X-Men comics, movies, etc., chronicling the sagas of assorted misunderstood superheroes and the baddies within their gifted ranks, this one will probably satisfy many of your visceral cravings, even if the exposition grows tedious, and the time-travel plot is, well, another time-travel plot. That inherently means logical problems will abound, for those who care about the left-brain component of such tales.
Trying for a 3-D screen is a good idea. Several of the action sequences are first-rate, especially one early scene featuring Quicksilver (St. Louis native Evan Peters) in slo-mo that so masterfully mixes mirth and mayhem, I kept hoping he’d show up for the later proceedings. Without him, the film seemed every bit as long as its 130-minute running time. Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is the one sent back 50 years from a dark, dystopian future to prevent Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence, who succeeded Rebecca Romijn as the lethal blue babe) from killing a scientist (Peter Dinklage) whose legacy would have eventually led to the demise of all our iconic mutants, and a slew of humans with connections to them. A couple of historic figures and references add brief bits of amusement, but not enough.
The movie will certainly make a bundle, and spawn more sequels, with one already slated for 2016. But this script concept raises an annoying question - the extent to which succeeding in this mission would nullify all the other X-Men adventures in the handful of films we’ve already seen. If so, shouldn’t they refund the cost of those tickets? Discuss among yourselves. (5/23/14)