I think that's the title, I can't be sure... The more I think about the film the less I want to think about it, does this make sense? This movie didn't make much sense... But what was oddly thrilling was that it didn't feel the need to really explain itself too much, sure there was plenty of expository dialogue but there was a whole mess of things the film expected you to keep up with and be aware of. In many ways I admired this film mostly because of the way it blatantly just went about with it's business and didn't stop to allow you much time to really think, because to be honest, it was so damn entertaining. If I stop now and think about the plot holes, the missed explanations, of which there are many, it may irritate me slightly... But for the most part I enjoyed what was happening on the screen so much I didn't care about the leaps in logic, the glossing over and such. Does that make it a good film? I can't really say, the fact I'm willing to say I enjoyed it even though I usually pick at the details until the whole film unravels and loses it's appeal over time is quite telling.
Stand out parts of the film are the way it utilises it's actors, the characters get some short shrift (Ian McKellen for instance does painfully little) but with what they get, it feels like for the ones that count, they get their moments. The core three from the past, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence, all great actors, get their moments to flex their acting muscles, Fassbender as ever proving he can be intense and menacing without breaking a sweat but also perpetually charming. Then there's the core three of the veterans, McKellen, Stewart and Hugh Jackman, all providing a backbone and some gravitas to proceedings, all the rest are just add colour, some get more than others Nicholas Hoult for instance gets to play Hank McCoy but still have such a slight role, then Halle Berry literally does so little it's embarrassing, Ellen Page turns up too as one of my favourite mutants with her expanding (yet unexplained) powers, and hints at a Shadowcat/Colossus union are stoked ever so slightly, the fact that they are on screen together pleases me.
Not even mentioning the bit part Quicksilver plays in the film, turning up, stealing the show and essentially disappearing. Now for some complex manouvering which will never make sense to me, Aaron Taylor-Johnson will be playing this character in Avengers 2 with his Godzilla wifey Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch, for some reason I was more excited about seeing the latter's portrayal; with zero expectations I was thoroughly entertained by Evan Peter's performance, as with most of the film, but that kid got some of the loudest laughs in the cinema and had one of the best scenes, rearranging some bullets to hilarious effect. Maybe Mr Johnson will surprise me but after the charisma he brought to Godzilla - an entirely different tone I'll grant, also he'll have a totally different characterisation of course, but at this moment there was a light fun energy to Quicksilver that I don't think can be matched. Basically Aaron has a tough act to follow, no lies, they were inviting comparisons when they both used the same character.
Getting to the film, as I say, the more I write, the more I think about it, the less sense the film made and the more angry I get about the continuity but that's not what the film was about it. It was consistently entertaining and did the whole, let's reset all those past mistakes with a big eraser, rather than just rebooting the whole damn franchise. I admire that, and I also respect that they wished to at least to maintain some semblance of a history as time goes on. Messing with the continuity makes things a bit muddy, but it's satisfying to know as they build this tapestry of films, it's all connected somehow and it feels more organic and more of a franchise than the Marvel Universe that is being built. This has been going on 15 years and it still feels exciting and fun and we are still with the same, core bunch of characters having the same battles, but it's still feeling fresh and entertaining without drastically changing the tone or the message of the series, plus it respects it's audience enough for them to not have to explain itself. I like that, and I'm genuinely surprised by how much I liked this film.
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