Why "Days of Future Past" has potential to be a great film (a trailer review of X-Men: Days of Future Past)

While it really hasn't been that long since the last movie in the "X-Men" franchise (since 2013's Wolverine or 2011's X-Men: First Class depending on if you take the Wolverine stand-alones into account), It feels like they are finally returning to the X-Men trilogy to me. Maybe it's because they are bringing back so many of the actors from the original three movies, maybe it's because I'm nostalgic that way... or it could just be the fact that I didn't like any of the movies past "Last Stand". Don't get me wrong, "First Class" was decent, but I felt it was too different from the others to be considered part of the series. All of that is about to change however, once this year's early summer blockbuster comes out... and I predict it to be a blockbuster. Why? Well let's find out why I think "Days of Future Past" has the potential to be the best X-Men movie since X2.

On an unrelated note, I just read the rumor that Disney wants to reboot the Indiana Jones franchise with Bradley Cooper playing Indy... I am disappointed by this news.

Back on topic, I see several reasons why DoFP has potential to be good. I'm going to start with the three most obvious reasons, using pics from the most recent trailer:

REASON #1: The return of Brian Singer as director

It's no real debate that of all the five X-Men movies so far, the first two (X-Men and X2: X-Men United) were the best. Some have even said that "X2" is better than "X-Men", and I happen to agree. But that's a debate for another time. But... there's something that can be said about the fact that Singer only directed the first two, and only the first two were considered to be great (again, "First Class" came close, but fell just short for me). "Last Stand" was directed by Bret Ratner and many people were severely disappointed by it. Many fans were equally if not even more up at arms over "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", which was directed by Gavin Hood. First Class was then directed by Matthew Vaughn, and "The Wolverine" by James Mangold. Now, X-Men are finally returning to the man who made them great: Brian Singer.

Patrick Stewart and Brian Singer on set of DoFP

REASON #2: The return of original X-Men Trilogy cast

Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen in X-Men: Days of Future Past

Admit it. This is something we've all wanted. The only X-Men member who has been in every movie so far is Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, and even then he only had a ten-second cameo in "First Class". Sure, Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier has had equally short cameos in two of the other films, and Ian McKellen's Magneto in one, but this movie brings them all back! Well, nearly all of them. Famke Janssen's Jean Grey and James Marsden's Cyclops won't make it as far as I know, since (spoilers) both characters died in "Last Stand". This time, all the important characters are coming back, including Halle Berry as Storm, Shawn Ashmore's Bobby Drake/Iceman, and Ellen Page's Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat. Even Anna Paquin returned for the film as Rogue, although sources say her only scene ended up being cut.

REASON #3: The merging of original X-Men and First Class casts

James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier in X-Men: Days of Future Past

"First Class" took the X-Men franchise in a different direction when it went back in time to focus on the relationship of young Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr (Magneto), and the formation of the X-Men. While it was a good movie over-all, "First Class" had some issues that tripped up the continuity of the other X-Men films. It featured James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, and Nicholas Hoult as Beast. Now, in "Days of Future Past", the original cast of the X-Men get together to send Wolverine back in time to fix something that went wrong in the past (hmmmmm?) to prevent terrible things that happen in the future. While I get the vibe from the trailer that more time will be spent with the "First Class" cast rather than the original cast, I still think this is a very smart move to pull both casts together. This makes for a diverse and star-studded cast on both ends. Plus there's that money shot in the trailer of James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart, as shown above.

James McAvoy/Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier and Ian McKellen/Michael Fassbender as Magneto in X-Men: Days of Future Past

Now there are other reasons I think "Days of Future Past" will be great. For one, the time period they've chosen for the film highly intrigues me. They are involving Magneto and Mystique in the Kennedy assassination, and there seems to be some hints at the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon in the trailers as well.

Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

I more or less already mentioned this reason while talking about the combining of the two casts, but I also look forward to the star-studded cast this film has to offer. A lot of my personal favorite actors are in this cast, including Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen. I've been a fan of Jackman ever since seeing "The Prestige", of Stewart since "Star Trek: Next Generation", of McKellen since "Lord of the Rings", and of Lawrence in general... I mean, c'mon. It's Jennifer Lawrence. She's hilarious just to watch apart from being a good actress.

Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Lawrence, and Hugh Jackman in X-Men Days of Future Past

I know "Days of Future Past" was one of the original X-Men comics (or was it a graphic novel?), but I never read any of the comics. In that respect, I am viewing this at face-value just for what it is. In some ways I see that as a good thing. I have nothing to compare it to other than its previous films. As a film student, I can also analyze story elements from the trailer better than some, and what I see is effective in making me want to see it, more than just wanting to see it because it's the X-Men.

DoFP comes out May 23, 2014. I am planning on doing one of my Monthly Chronicle videos on my YouTube channel with my friend who knows more about X-Men than I do around the time the movie comes out, so if you're interested in seeing that, you should go subscribe to me! Here's the link to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Sampson9091

Trailer Reviews - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Trailer #2

Earlier today at Comic-Con, they released the latest trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. This trailer was then uploaded to Yahoo! Movies for those who didn't go to Comic-Con. I'm one of those guys who sat at home waiting to review this trailer like I did the last one (to see my review of the previous Catching Fire trailer, click here.) Again, like I said in my previous trailer review and my pre-review for this film, I will more than likely deal with spoilers, since the film is based on a book which I have read. This review is geared towards those who have also read the book.

To start things off, here is the link to the trailer in question. I can't link it like my last couple trailer reviews, as the trailer isn't currently on YouTube that I could find. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/the-hunger-games-catching-fire/

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is an upcoming action-adventure film based on the novel Catching Fire by Susanne Collins that follows Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark as they tour the districts of Panem on their victory tour after winning the 74th annual Hunger Games. What they don't realize is that their defiance of the rules that they demonstrated in the Games has made them into role models for a rebellion rising in the districts. This prompts President Snow to mark them both as well as the previous Game victors as threats to be resolved in the Quarter Quell.

This new trailer offer much more than the previous, which is something I like to see. I'm not a fan of when trailers reuse the same footage in every trailer and only offer a small handful of new clips. This one recycles a few shots, but the majority of it is new material. This trailer also touches on a major plot point of the story, the Quarter Quell. The Quarter Quell was hinted at in the end of the previous trailer, but never outright shown or explained. We were only treated to an exchange between President Snow and Heavensbee: "Her entire species must be eradicated." "Her species, sir?" "The other victors. Because of her, they think they're invincible."

Now I'm going to get into the shot-by-shot review. I'll be doing this a bit differently, since trailers skip around with shots, I will be grouping similar shots and review them as a group, rather than one by one.

The trailer opens with Katniss entering Victor's Village, where all the District 12 victors live after the Games. This is a scene from early on in the book.

While this scene of Katniss and her sister Prim appeared briefly in the previous trailer, none of the dialogue used in the first trailer is recycled. It also touches on something that really drives Katniss's motivations in the book, which is that her acts of rebellion have an effect on not only her, but those she cares for.

Catching Fire is directed by a new director, Francis Lawrence. As such, not everything can be expected to be the same. One thing that I find both different and very interesting is the shots of The Capitol shown in this new trailer. We weren't treated to very many shots of the Capitol in the previous trailer, and the shots in this one seem different to me than how I remember the Capitol looking in the previous movie. In The Hunger Games, I always thought the Capitol looked a lot like Corescant in the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, but the Capitol in this film looks more like a cross between Corescant and a modern day city with normal skyscrapers. All that being said, in the trailer over-all, I do get more of a sci-fi feel from this trailer than I did in the entire first movie.

Advanced technology was hinted at in the first film, but this trailer certainly shows a bit more. Like in the above picture of Katniss and Peeta being filmed by a camera system. They doesn't appear to be any crew, but it's a trailer. We're only treated to two shots of it. This shot also begins to show the complicated relationship (or lack thereof) between the two, which Peeta then explains.

Also prevalent in this trailer is the threat of rebellion. The trailers (and I wouldn't be surprised if the movie also takes this view), but Gale seems to be the leader of the rebellion. There are many shots of rebellion, (some recycled from the first trailer) including the execution of Rue's family member, the attack on and burning of the Hub, and Gale's whipping.

Dang, she grew several feet in only a year...

In the book, the kiss between Katniss and Gale was only mentioned as already happened, but the movie (being a movie) needs to show it. It also takes it a step further by proving that President Snow has been spying on Katniss's activities via cameras, as in the trailer, we see that Snow has video evidence of the kiss. The President's threat against her family is also shown dramatically.

The trailer also expands upon the Quarter Quell, a topic that is a major plot point in the book and almost completely absent in the first trailer. We are also teased with brief glimpses of Katniss's wedding dress and Phoenix dress.

 And the final topic in the trailer: The Quell itself. The 75th Hunger Games in which past victors are chosen and must fight to the death. We are shown shots of victors training, including a brief shot of Finnick Odar, Enobaria, Gloss and I think Johanna. As the trailer closes, we get a brief glimpse of the arena, and Katniss dives into the water.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Coming to theaters November 22, 2013. I liked this trailer, as it did not use too much footage from the previous one, and they do give more information on the driving plot point, the quell. I will say though, they don't shown that much of Peeta or Haymitch in this trailer. It reminded me of the latest trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in which several main characters, including Thorin and Gandalf, are oddly absent.

I still can't wait to see this movie but until then, May the Odds be Ever in your Favor.