Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past, or The Longest-Running Non-Rebooted Movie-Comic Franchise So Far

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The X-Men film franchise is now on its fifth film (2013’s The Wolverine is considered a spin-off, which would make 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine a prequel slash spinoff – or a sprinquel, if I may coin the term. What's that? No, I may not coin the term? Okay then.), and Days of Future Past (DoFP, because I love acronyms) is the second film in what we all first thought was a reboot. DoFP ends somewhere before the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, which could actually allow the filmmakers to pretend that third X-Men movie never really happened.

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"Yes, I've gained weight, but only because  I actually
never thought we'd be asked to come back. ."

Why Dom Cobb is the Most Awesome Movie Character of 2010

I guess it's pretty obvious. I love Inception so much, I'm making another post about it.

And there are some things that you realize about a film only after watching it a second time. Or a third time. Or in my case, a fourth time.

And let me tell you why I think Dom Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) is in my opinion the most awesome movie character of 2010. You can see it by the looks that the characters give him at the end of the movie. Remember when they were about to land? Everyone just starts giving him looks. Looks that tell a different story altogether. The story of Dom Cobb's awesomeness. Starting with this:

"Shit. Where the hell am I? Am I still in Limbo? The last thing I remember is being trapped in Limbo."

"Great work man! I mean, bringing Saito back from Limbo. I mean, yeah, I haven't seen Limbo yet. But from what I know, it's pretty dangerous. And you got back! Just before we land! That's freakin' amazin'!"

"Woah, Cobb. You're back? That quick? I mean, I honestly thought you'd be gone for a few more days. That Limbo is one creepy place. I was already thinking of what I was going to say when we landed, you know, like, 'Hey immigration people, this is our Asian friend and our white friend, and I think they had their champagne spiked with acid. They've 'flown over the cuckoo's nest', if you know what I mean. Anyway, throw 'em in a straitjacket, then lock 'em up somewhere until they come back to their senses.' Or something like that. But gosh, I can't believe you got Saito out that fast!"

"Woah, I'm so spaced out. Where am I? An airplane? I just had the weirdest dream. Like I was ten thousand years old. I thought I'd die. I thought I'd never come back from whatever that place was. And you were in it, Cobb. But you were young and I was old. How was that possible?"

"Oh shit, Saito's looking at me with that crazy look. Did I bring him back safely? Or have his brains turned to scrambled eggs? But what if he's crazy? How the hell am I going to get through immigration? Damn you Saito, you better NOT be crazy! I need that damn phone call!"

"Why is Cobb looking at me like that? Wait, isn't Cobb one of America's Most Wanted? How's he going to get past immigration? Oh yeah, right. The phone call."

"Holy shit. I just got Saito back from Limbo! In less than five minutes! Holy shit. I just saved his life. Holy shit. Did I say I just got Saito back from Limbo? Holy shit. I just did the impossible. Holy shit."

And the story of his awesomeness continues even after the plane lands.

"You're so awesome, Cobb. Best. Extractor. Ever. Damn it, you're making me wet."

"There he is! My main man Cobb! You know, my sedative is really powerful shit, and yet you managed to bring back Saito from Limbo even before the "Fasten Your Seatbelt" sign came on! You're the man, Cobb. Respect."

"I know I already gave you my 'You're So Freakin' Awesome' smile back at the plane. But I just want to tell you that you're so freakin' awesome. So here I am giving it to you one more time."

"Yeah, okay, Cobb. You're the best. Even I couldn't have gotten Saito out of that nightmare in under five minutes. I'd give you a high five, but I don't do high fives. That's so gay. So I'll just stand here and try to look more awesome than you."

"That guy looks so familiar. I think I've seen him somewhere. Maybe I've seen him in a dream. Or in a movie. He kind of looks like that guy from Titanic."

"Totally from Titanic."

Also featured in the pics are Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Dileep Rao, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and some uncredited guy.


*some info from IMDb

Inception

By The Negation
Sat, 24 Jul 2010, 7:10

What can I say? I'm stumped! This flick is the shizzlenit! It's a thinkin' man's movie. If you're left with zero questions when this film ends, that doesn't mean that you are a movie expert. That means you can't understand shit because you can't comprehend a single thing that's happenin'!

Well anyway, I could go on forever explaining what the hell happened and everything. But I can't, because this film has a lot of intricate complexities. I admit that it's more complex than The Matrix. I could actually compare this to The Matrix (with the Architect and other stuff like that). I could say that "Inception is the new Matrix". Without the "Geta-Zone" shots of course. But still, Inception's effects were eye candy to say the least.

Christopher Nolan is a thinkin' man's director. He made my mind work in The Prestige and The Dark Knight (hence, the familiar Batman Begins/Dark Knight faces in Inception like Cillian ["Kill-Yan"] Murphy and Michael Cain), but I didn't really expect him to make my mind work this much in this movie. Damn Inception! I'm still hung-over. This rant was due a week ago, but I'm just waiting to exhale after the movie. In fact, I will watch this again this coming Sunday! But first, I must watch The Sorcerer's Apprentice and The Last Airbender. Fuck Salt for now.

All I can say is that I give this movie a perfect 10 out of 10 due to the fact that it was all Nolan. Well DiCaprio was pretty impressive too. I haven't watched Blood Diamond yet but my couch tomato bro told me that Leo's acting chops started to sharpen up in this movie. I hope Orlando Bloom's acting goes the same direction as Leonardo's.

Another thing, I'm Asian. And so is Ken Watanabe. 'Nuff said!


(More reviews on Inception after the jump.)

Juno

Simple storytelling goes a long way.

Oscar season is over, and yet people are still raving about this coming-of-age drama that also pulls a few laughs.

Ellen Page shows extraordinary brilliance, a remarkable metamorphosis from Kitty Pride of the X-Men days. You will totally feel for Juno, from her pregnancy test all the way to her delivery, and you will also realize your concept of parenthood changing.

Supporting Ellen Page in this film is Michael Cera of Superbad, once again playing his trademark soft-spoken character, but this time donning gold shorts. J.K. Simmons also shows a more subdued side, playing Juno's supportive father. Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner, fresh from their team-up in The Kingdom, play the adoptive parents, Garner actually displaying brilliant acting as an expectant mother who will finally get what she wants.

In fact, everyone's acting is subdued except Ellen Page, and this was probably intentional to let her fiery character stand out. And it does.

Rating: Four and a half stars.