X-MEN: Days of Future Past Review

Written By Brandon Pershing

Its the midnight premiere of X-men: First Class during the summer of 2011, and I remember having waited so anxiously to see the much hyped film. When the credits ended, and the projector shut down I was still sitting on the edge of my seat, amazed by the superhuman action that had just shredded its way across the screen. I remember just being in complete shock how well the casting of James Mcavoy and Michael Fassbender enhanced the entire X-men saga, and more than anything I wanted to see the cast reunite again for a sequel. Cut three years and another Wolverine spinoff later, and my wish was granted far more than expected.

Days of Future past is hands down the best X-men film, and it deserves that distinction for a good reason. Its a movie that transcends just the superhero genre, as it is a stellar film regardless of the big MARVEL branding that comes along with it. The film not only bridges the gap between the younger and older X-men casts, but also successfully revitalizes the X-men franchise itself. DOFP operates as a unique hybrid movie, being a prequel/sequel/reboot, a strange conglomeration of many different elements that ultimately make even the general idea of the film interesting. Set both in a far dystopian future and the Nixon era 1970s, the plot takes moviegoers on a time bending adventure to right the wrongs done to the mutants of both eras. While the time traveling element of the film does sometimes get confusing, audiences will likely love getting to see such drastically different X-men teams come together to fight enemies of both eras. Leading the bad guys is Peter Dinklage's character Bolivar Trask, a mutant hating scientist who has nothing much on his mind but creating giant killer robots.

While the inclusion of the Game of Thrones star in this film was awesome to see, Trask as a character is ultimately quite boring next to more memorable movie villains. Most of the time Trask can be seen making robust statements about his distaste for mutants, or showing off his robot army to potential clients. Trask’s robotic creations, called sentinels, on the other hand are much more exciting, as they are nearly indestructible ruthless butcherers who will indeed kill many of your favorite characters in the most heinous ways.

Speaking of mutants, Hugh Jackman returns for his seventh outing as Wolverine, and once again offers another great performance as his most famous character. This time around he operates much more in the background, and lets his other team members shine for once. This was both a fantastic and disappointing choice by director Bryan Singer, as its great to see more focus on James Mcavoy’s Professor X and Michael Fassbender’s Magneto, but the battle worn wolverine seen in this film was the closest to the comic books the character has gotten since the start of the series in 2000. The rest of the cast is very much at home and featured normally throughout, however its obvious that the film favors showing off the prequel cast more, as the past is where the duration of the plot takes place. The real breakout star of the film however was Evan Peter’s Quicksilver. A super fast mutant who steals the spotlight every scene he is in, Peter’s Quicksilver will likely become a new fan favorite, especially after viewers see him featured in one of the best slow motion action sequences ever.

Overall, Days of Future Past is going to amaze every type of moviegoer that walks into the theater. Its a visual treat in its entirety, and longtime fans of the X-men comic books will be pleased at the faithful character representations featured throughout. The film shows just how to remarket and revitalize a struggling series into a hollywood game changer, and is going to get fans on their heels for 2016’s X-men Apocalypse.

Star Trek Theater 3000: Power Play (TNG Season 5, Episode 15

Written by Stuart Cooper

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 Episode 21 "Power Play"

If you know me personally, or if you've ever seen me at a comic convention or nerd related event, it's usually pretty evident that I am a Trekkie. I've been a Trekkie for about a decade and I love it more and more every time I watch it. I think the show holds a lot of merit in terms of storytelling and underlying themes. The show can speak to you on a lot of different levels, and that's why I believe it has endured all these years. I decided to start reviewing one Star Trek episode a week. This will be coinciding with something I'm doing with my friends. My friends and I recently decided to randomly choose one Star Trek episode a week, watch it at the same time, and share our thoughts/and or riffs. This week's episode was “Power Play”, a gem from Season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The plot involved possession, ghost machines, a reserved Worf, and some pretty intense fighting. Let's dive into it.

In the episode “Power Play” the crew of the Enterprise intercepts a distress signal, which usually in science fiction means certain death, and of course they choose to pursue it. The crew arrives at a baron planet and Troi says she senses life on the planet, so an away team is sent down to investigate and possibly save whatever being is down there. This ignorant move results in Troi, O’Brien, and Data being possessed by orbs on the surface that are apparently the souls of a lost crew that was stuck on that planet. You still with me? I know that last sentence was heavy. After the orbs enter the bodies of the 3 crew members, they get back onto the ship and organize a mutiny of sorts. Troi, O’Brien, and Data hold crew members hostage in Ten Forward. It's soon after this that we find out the orbs from earlier were souls, and they are now possessing the crew members. One big question that has to be asked tho, how can a ghost possess Data? He has no organic matter to control, do souls have power over technology? This is never explained. I think it was merely a plot device that would give Brent Spiner another chance to act goofy and different. One cool little tid-bit. This episode featured Patricia Tallman (Night of the Living Dead 1990) as one of Worf's Security Officers! She unfortunately does not speak, and is only on screen for a few seconds.

After some tense hostage scenes, there is a confrontation between Worf and Data. A fight between the two is teased, but Worf backs down. Worf appears to be very weak in this episode, but at the end of the episode he implies this was only because he was “being reserved”. If you watch enough TNG, you know who would have won that fight. Another highlight in the episode was Miles snapping at Keiko and their crying baby. Data also threatens the baby at one point, just to emphasize how evil these ghosts are. Towards the end of the episode there is a huge moment of tension when Data picks up Picard and chokes him, then picks him up off his feet and holds him in mid-air by his throat. Just shows you that Data could really kill anyone he wanted, if he needed to. Soon after that scene the ghosts are hit with some type of wave and forced to leave the bodies of the crew members.

Overall the episode was a lot of fun and full of tension. The acting was spot on and tight. There were moments where main cast members really became vulnerable, and the villains proved to be rather menacing. I think this was a very effective story. It was also nice being able to see some of the actors act differently than they did normally. I'm sure Spiner enjoyed letting loose a bit. I would definitely recommend this episode to anyone who wants to watch a good one and done TNG episode. You get to see Evil Data, Evil O’Brien, and Evil Troi, what's not to love?