Film Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past. Rated M (science fiction themes, violence and infrequent coarse language). 131 minutes. Directed by Bryan Singer. Screenplay by Simon Kinberg.

Verdict: A hypnotic return to form for the X-Men series.

Boasting ambitious storytelling on an epic scale, matched with superb visual effects and an outstanding ensemble of actors all at the top of their game, this instalment of the X-Man franchise is an often brilliant, and always engrossing, addition to the big screen adventures of Marvel’s X-Men.

Faced with extinction at the hands of an undefeatable foe known as Sentinels, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is sent back to the time these formidable creatures were invented by Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage). At this juncture, Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) had shot and killed Trask, which brought about the rise of the Sentinels who were created to exterminate the mutants in revenge for his murder. Charged with altering to course of history, Wolverine must reunite the young Charles (James McAvoy) with the younger Erik (Michael Fassbender) to ensure that Mystique doesn’t make the same mistake again.

Kinberg’s (Sherlock Holmes, X-Men: The Last Stand) screenplay manages to tell what might have been a collision of plots, subplots and character-based exposition extraordinarily well – to the point where even those who haven’t caught up with this successful series won’t be left wondering what on earth is going on. There are even some great laughs, particularly when Quicksilver (Evan Peters), is recruited to help Erik escape from a maximum security prison, deep within the Pentagon.

Singer (X-Men, X-Men 2, Superman Returns) and frequent collaborator, cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel, capture every moment of the story with supreme confidence. Unusually for this genre (and this series in particular), there is never a moment where it threatens to take itself far too seriously. Instead, X-Men: Days of Future Past plays out at a furious pace from the first frame, and the emotionally-charged awareness of all that is at stake makes for an extremely rewarding, big screen experience.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Arthur Christmas

Arthur Christmas. Rated G. 97 minutes. Directed by Sarah Smith. Screenplay by Peter Baynham and Sarah Smith.

Even in spite of the occasional lapses in pace and a mountain of exposition, it’s impossible not to be won over by the originality and abundant charms of this post-modern riff on the story of the Claus family – led by an utterly charming turn from James McAvoy (Wanted, Atonement, The Last King of Scotland) who provides the voice of the title character.

As Santa (Jim Broadbent) prepares for retirement, his uptight and ambitious eldest son Steve (Hugh Laurie), with the help of an army of elves, oversees the military operation that ensures children all over world receive their presents. When a glitch in the hi-tech, space-age delivery system results in a little girl’s bicycle failing to be delivered, the youngest son and black sheep of the family Arthur (Mr McAvoy), sets off with his Grandsanta (Bill Nighy) and elf Bryony (Ashley Jensen), a gift-wrapping expert, to deliver the present using more conventional (and reliable) methods.

The animation from Aardman (Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, Flushed Away) is typically full of singularly engaging, oddball characters and situations, and the departure from their celebrated plasticine-inspired, stop-motion animation techniques results in some glorious picture-book settings and sequences. The good, old-fashioned ‘reindeer and sleigh’ sequences are bravura displays of consummate skill – even if the screenplay does become a little too bogged-down in unwieldy complications.

With its mixture of sci-fi inspired logistics (the running gag about a recalcitrant GPS is hilarious) and the reliance on more trustworthy, if outmoded, methods of transport, Arthur Christmas makes some fine and important points about values, consumerism and the joys of Christmas for children. The scene where Arthur watches young Gwen discover her bicycle under the Christmas Tree is, simply, quite beautiful – and a timely reminder that, more often than not, giving can be equally as rewarding as receiving.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group and the print edition is included below.