Days of Future Past was the conjuncture between director Bryan Singer’s original X-Men movies and Mathew Vaughn’s eccentric First Class. It brought together both sets of casts, while picking and choosing which bits of the weaker entries stayed canonical. Lucky for us, Singer side-stepped The Last Stand, first acknowledging it and then moving well away. Far from total integration, DOFP felt as if it existed outside of the original continuity, which in a way it did. The paradox of time travel, which only ever poses more questions than it can ever answer, and the myriad continuity issues, threaten to tear the film apart if thought about longer than thirty seconds. Even so-called ‘smart’ time travel movies need so much expositional leeway and suspicion of disbelief, that in the case of DOFP, it’s better just to go with the time flow.
Based on the two-part Uncanny X-men arc, DOFP sees an underground mutant resistance trying to survive a dystopian future where mutant and human alike have suffered because of man’s fear and intolerance. Knowing only Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) would be able to survive a trip decades back into the past, Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) projects his consciousness into his younger self in order to negate the chain of events that began in 1973. This release, however, sees Anna Paquin’s Rogue take over from Kitty Pryde at the 90 minute mark after she’s wounded by one of Wolvie’s stray claws. In the theatrical release she soldiered on, but this time Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen) and Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) jet set from China, pick up Rogue and make it back in time for the third act. It’s a liberal use of the word ‘cut’, shoe-horning in deleted scenes to make Paquin’s theatrical cameo a little clearer. Even with crafty editing, the additional 17 minutes slows the film down enough to drag.
DOFP boasts some of the best action sequences of any of the X-Men movies, perhaps even most of the MCU. It’s often an excessive spectacle, but the characters are at the forefront with their complex relationships informing every punch, kick and power flex. It’s been 15 years since these actors first stepped into their roles and kick started the modern comic book boom at the box office. It’s been a long cinematic journey with more duds than ups, and The Rogue Cut is only a blip in that trajectory. Expecting fans to pay for what amounts to little more than a special features curiosity is audacious, even Rogue acolytes will be sorely miffed as her southern drawl barely gets a look in.
Special Features: Audio commentary / Round table discussion / Making-of / Gallery / Theatrical cut of the film
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST – THE ROGUE CUT / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: BRYAN SINGER / SCREENPLAY: SIMON KINBERG / STARRING: HUGH JACKMAN, JAMES MCAVOY, MICHAEL FASSBENDER, JENNIFER LAWRENCE, ANNA PAQUIN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
