Alan Markfield/Marvel/Twentieth Century FoxThe mutants are back!
The highly anticipated X-Men: Days of Future Past hits theaters on Friday.
Director Bryan Singer, who helmed the first two X-Men flicks, has returned to give us the latest installment of the hugely successful franchise, which stars Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen.
Just to name a few, of course.
So what are the critics saying about the movie that will undoubtedly score big at the box office over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend? Read on to find out!
• "The most ambitious and ingenious of the long-running series, X-Men: Days of Future Past keeps the key crew of mutants busier than ever," writes Claudia Puig of USA Today. "Between globe-hopping, time-traveling and employing their various powers early and often, these superhuman folks are non-stop in this riveting sequel."
• "Not since 2003's X2: X-Men United has [Singer] tapped so effortlessly into his talent for comicbook gravitas, his ability to mine emotinal resonance, pop poetry and (crucially) sly humor," says Variety's Justin Chang.
• "While it's more dramatically diffuse than the reboot and lacks a definitive villain, the new film is shot through with a stirring reverence for the Marvel Comics characters and their universe," notes David Rooney of the Hollywood Reporter. "Singer has pulled together an ambitious, suspenseful screen chapter that secures a future for the franchise while facilitating continued reinvention."
• "Days of Future Past toys with history, but stays true to its outsider roots, expressing them with conviction and a sense of narrative sure-footedness," writes Randy Meyers of the San Jose Mercury News. "Even better, it's timeless fun, a summer movie that engages and entertains us in equal measures."
• "Singer's return in the pretzel-logic pop fantasia X-Men: Days of Future Past is so triumphant because of how effortless he makes connecting the dots seem. It's an epic that couldn't be more Byzantine on paper but scans with ease on screen," remarks Entertainment Weekly's Chris Nashawaty, adding, "And once again, McAvoy and Fassbender prove that just because a movie is huge doesn't mean you have to ham it up—that it's possible to make a superhero flick feel as intimate as a piece of theater."
• "X-Men: Days of Future Past blows a breath of fresh air through the musty Marvel universe, which increasingly is all about pandering to hard-core fans rather than trying to make good movies for everybody," shares Lou Lumenick of the New York Post. "This is a superhero movie for those who don't like superhero movies—as well as those who do."