**X-Men: Days of Future Past leverages time travel to bring its expansive universe and different casts together for one of the most powerful and entertaining superhero epics ever made.** Days of Future Past was the pinnacle of the 20th Century Fox X-Men franchise. It beautifully unites the original cast with the First Class cast in one of the best X-Men comic book stories. The story feels urgent and high stakes right from the beginning, with the world destroyed and only a small band of mutants fighting to survive and try to prevent this apocalyptic future. The time travel plot of the film allows Hugh Jackman to interact with McAvoy and the young X-Men but also bring back the older cast and correct some of the franchise's past mistakes. Evan Peters' Quicksilver offers some of the movie's best moments with his silly but technically stunning scenes. Seeing Stewart and McKellen back and seeing their performances contrasted with McAvoy and Fassbender was incredible. With great highs like X2 and First Class and disappointing lows like Last Stand and Dark Phoenix, Days of Future Past rises as the best X-Men movie and one of the best comic book films of all time.

So in the best spirit of "Terminator", the X-Men conclude that the best way of securing the future is to send "Wolverine" (Hugh Jackman) into the past to try to stop history from causing the demise of both human and mutant alike. Why? Well that's because they realise that modern science, which has created the unstoppable robotic "Sentinels", is capable of destroying all in it's path - and them fighting each other will merely ensure they all end up going the way of the dodo. The task assigned to "Wolverine" is to try and convince the 1973 version of "Mystique" (Jennifer Lawrence) upon whose DNA these metallic creations are based, to co-operate - and that is not going to be an easy task. Especially as she has no idea that she is the crucial source of their genetics. This is easily the best of the series for my money. The amalgam of new and old cast deliver the best, meatiest, of the stories efficiently and entertainingly. "Wolverine" takes the lead but there is plenty of scope for the other characters to shine, use their powers, have a bit of romance and generally keep this 2¼ hour action adventure moving along quickly. We are spared much of the repetitive close-combat scenes that Jackman's character usually delivers; the visual effects are lively and vibrant and the denouement offers a degree of food for thought amidst the chaos and mayhem. Great to watch on a big screen and well anchored by the (slightly side-lined) Thespians, this is well worth a watch.

***Focuses on the best characters and an interesting story*** "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014) starts in an apocalyptic near-future where mutants are being wiped out by Sentinels, government-made robots created for this very purpose. The X-Men and Magneto decide to send Wolverine's consciousness back to his body in 1973 to prevent the Sentinels from attaining their mutant-killing powers. This is easily one of the best X-Men films because of the interesting plot and the focus on the most interesting characters. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) has been the top X-Men since day one so you can't go wrong with making him the focal point. James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart are excellent as Professor X, as are Michael Fassbender as young Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique and Evan Peters as Quicksilver, the latter in a small but highly entertaining role. Nicholas Hoult as Beast gets an honorable mention and Bingbing Fan is notable as Blink, particularly her stunning face. The plot is convoluted and yet easy to follow if you're familiar with the franchise's story arc. The film is all-around compelling. It has the confidence to slow down and be pensive while throwing in the requisite thrills and not forgetting to be entertaining. For instance, the creative and amusing way Quicksilver takes down a bunch of security guards at the Pentagon, which is one of the movie's top scenes. Lastly, I like the way Magneto’s great power is illustrated (you’ll see what I mean). The film runs 2 hours, 11 minutes and was shot in Québec, Canada. GRADE: A