"In a word, X-Men: Days of Future Past is a triumph"

Following the success of The Wolverine and X-Men: First Class, Bryan Singer makes his long awaited return to the Director's chair to bring us the seventh instalment in the X-Men franchise - X-Men: Days of Future Past, based on the celebrated comic book story arc of the same name by Chris Claremont and John Byrne.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is an ambitious feat, bringing together the casts of X-Men: First Class and the original trilogy, and it works seamlessly, right from the get go, the film opens with a daring action set piece where we see a small group of mutants - some that are familiar to us, like Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) and Colossus (Daniel Cudmore) and new faces Bishop (Omar Sy), Blink (Bingbing Fan), Warpath (Booboo Stewart) and Sunspot (Adan Canto), as they battle the Sentinels - mutant hunting automatons that can adapt to any mutant power, it's a spectacular scene, and these Sentinels are mean and relentless.

As soon as the plot kicks in, we don't spend too much time in the desolate future, that whilst obviously being a horrific and harsh wasteland, there is something quite beautiful about it. The key plot of the film, sees Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) sent back in time to prevent the assassination of Dr. Bolivar Trask; the creator of the Sentinels, in order to stop the bleak future we have just witnessed from happening, as the surviving mutants believe this to be the trigger point of when things went horribly wrong for mutant kind.

In a word, X-Men: Days of Future Past is a triumph, even the aspects that are initially questionable; for example Quicksilver's outfit, or the ridiculous goggles of Toad's eyes, don't seem to be an issue, instead working within the context of the film. In fact, Quicksilver's Pentagon scene is one of many set pieces that stand out most.

The time travel element to the film is smart, and executed incredibly well from start to finish, at no point during the film are the outlandish scenarios that are presented to us distracting. X-Men: Days of Future Past does a really great job at explaining the intricacies of the narrative with ease, and gives a plausible reason as to why Wolverine is the only one that can do it, and Kitty Pryde's powers are the instrument to send him back.

After seven films, Hugh Jackman is synonymous with Wolverine, he embodies the character extraordinarily well, in fact all of the performances are flawless, though perhaps more of Anna Paquin's Rogue would have been beneficial, rather than the character being reduced to a cameo towards the end (same applies to Halle Berry's Storm), but on the whole X-Men: Days of Future Past is a superb addition to the franchise. and the blending of the two casts is impressive to say the least.

Omar Sy is great as Bishop, despite being severely underused and de-powered from the comics. Meanwhile, the interplay between Jackman's Wolverine and Nicholas Hoult's Hank McCoy aka Beast is great, with an amusing scene between the two being their first meeting at Xavier's mansion. Jennifer Lawrence proves once again why she is one of the hottest names in Hollywood at the moment, she has made Mystique her own and steals every scene that she is in, similarly the case with Peter Dinklage as the antagonist Dr. Boliver Trask, who is just perfect casting as he delivers on everything.

One of the greatest scenes in the film is where the younger (James McAvoy) and older (Sir Patrick Stewart) Professor Xavier's come face to face, it's very clever how they pull it off and is not just a "geek out" scene to appease fans the characterisations and interplay between the characters is amazing and believable and the threat is real and ever present.

X-Men: Days of Future Past continues the streak of excellence with the X-Men franchise, giving us a new addition that is just fantastic on so many levels, and is arguably the best of the series. The film doesn't rely on the spectacular effects, it is a consistent character driven narrative from start to finish, and benefits greatly as a result.