“X-Men: Days of Future Past” review

Director Bryan Singer returns to the X-Men franchise. Is this the mutant extravaganza audiences are craving for?

The Good: There’s a lot to like in DOFP. From the opening sequence, the action scenes are the best in the series. And it is nice to see Ian McKellen (Magneto), Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde), Shawn Ashmore (Iceman), Halle Berry (Storm) and more reprise their roles. James McAvoy (Young Charles), Michael Fassbender (Young Erik), Nicholas Hoult (Young Beast) and Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique)  are the standouts from the “First Class” cast.

The real joy here is Quicksilver, played by Evan Peters. He’s easily the most memorable new character and is a blast to watch. By now, if you’ve seen any of the trailers, you know the basic plot revolving around Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). And seeing the sentinels in action is fantastic, though at least one of the designs looks and acts very similar to the robot from “Thor”. The film is a slick, fun thrill ride and a blast to watch.

The Bad: Honestly, with so many mutants, some characters were going to get the short end of the stick in terms of screen time. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Many of the mutants serve as nods for fans, but I wish Page got more screen time. I understand why she didn’t given the size of the cast, but she’s such a strong actress, it would have been nice.

No plot spoilers here, but given the story they went with, it does raise some questions, given there are six other X-Men films in the universe. But, it’s not too big of a deal.

Speaking of the plot, Peter Dinklage is, unfortunately, the weak link of the new characters introduced. He’s not terrible, but he gets a little lost in the film and the script doesn’t give him a lot to do.

The Final Word: It’s a fun, and at times thrilling, mutant adventure. This just may be my favorite X-Men film yet and breathes new life into the franchise.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Keanu Reeves returning to science fiction

Keanu Reeves has largely stayed out of the spotlight aside from making the excellent documentary “Side By Side”. That could be changing. He’ starring in the troubled, upcoming film “47 Ronin”. And now he’s set to star in a new sci fi film from director Brian Kirk (“Game of Thrones”, “Boardwalk Empire”). Jon Spaihts, one of the writers on “Prometheus” is writing the script which is said to center around “a spacecraft transporting thousands of people to a distant colony planet that has a malfunction in one of its sleep chambers. As a result, a single passenger (Reeves) is awakened 90 years before anyone else… He eventually decides to wake up a second passenger, marking the beginning of what becomes a unique love story (From Deadline)”.

Sounds a little bit like “The Lake House”, which he co-starred with Sandra Bullock in that it’s a love story with a sci-fi twist. I realize a lot of people didn’t care for “The Lake House”, but I think that film is underrated. And I have hopes that this one could lead to some interesting moments.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Kate Upton joins “The Other Woman”

I’ll give you one guess what role Kate Upton is playing in “The Other Woman”. Anyways Upton has joined the cast of the film that also includes Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann. From CinemaBlend: Diaz “is set to star as a woman who is horrified to discover her gorgeous boyfriend (Game of Thrones‘ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is actually married…and also cheating on her with a new, younger girlfriend. In this plucky dark comedy, this “other woman” decides to rat him out to his wife (Mann) so they can join forces in farcical revenge!”

Nick Cassavetes is directing. He’s probably best known for helming “The Notebook”.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Kiefer Sutherland returning to the big screen

Kiefer Sutherland’s last film that I can remember was “Mirrors”. Since the “24” film is apparently dead, Sutherland is returning to the big screen to play the villain in the upcoming film “Pompeii”. Still not excited for the film from Paul W.S. Anderson who has helmed such classics as “Resident Evil”, the new version of “The Three Musketeers” and served as a producer on “DOA: Dead or Alive”. The film also stars “Game of Thrones” actor Kit Harington, Jared Harris and Emily Browning.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Peter Dinklage to play main villain in “X-Men: Days of Future Past”

With so much of the news surrounding who is coming back, this is actually the first new actor we’re getting news of. Peter Dinklage, who can be seen in “Game of Thrones”, joined the cast of “X-Men: Days of Future Past” from director Bryan Singer. We don’t know who he will be playing exactly, but he will be the main villain reports say. Now given the time travel aspect, we don’t know how he will fit in, but it’s a solid choice none the less. He joins Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page and Shawn Ashmore.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Sean Bean joins ambitious new sci-fi film

Sean Bean is a popular actor these days. Last seen in “Game of Thrones”, he’s a rising star it seems. Now he’s joined the film “Jupiter Ascending” and let me tell you, this one has me super pumped. From the Wachowskis, the film also stars Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis and Eddie Redmayne. Tatum had this to say after discussing the film with the Wachowskis via Twitter: “Said what the Wachowskis are planning is the craziest shit he’s ever seen.” There are also those who believe that this film is THE follow up to “The Matrix”. This is coming after “Cloud Atlas”, which is now one of my favorite films period.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Some new dtails on “Thor: Dark World”

While “Iron Man 3” is set to be a big blockbuster this summer, “Thor: Dark World” is a little more mysterious. Chris Hemsworth is of course back, Natalie Portman is returning as Jane and so is Tom Hiddleston as Loki. But director Kenneth Branagh did not return and “Game of Thrones” director Alan Taylor is in.

Here’s what producer Craig Kyle said about the film:

“By bringing director Alan Taylor into the mix, with his expertise on ‘The Sopranos,’ ‘Mad Men’ and ‘Game of Thrones,’ we came up with a take that allows us to get more into the nooks and crannies of Asgard and its people. We spend more time on the ground with the commoners, as opposed to in the palace.”

We do know that Christopher Eccleston is playing Malekith and leading the Dark Elves and that a second villain named Algrim the Strong plays a big role. Kyle also said in the interview that the film will open with the Marauders invading Asgard. Now, the Marauders show up in X-Men stories a lot and, according to some sources, also appear as human terrorists and Hawkeye and Gwen Stacey team up to stop them. Which means unless a miracle deal happens between Disney, Fox and Sony they will likely be very different than what they are in the comics.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Five actresses in the running for “Captain America” sequel

Unfortunately this means we likely won’t see a reunion between Captain America (Chris Evans) and Peggy Carter. But, five actresses are in the running for “Captain America: Winter Soldier”. The role is reportedly to be Cap’s love interest in the sequel. They are: Alison Brie (“Community”), Imogen Poots, Emelia Clarke (“Game of Thrones”), Jessica Brown (“Downton Abbey”) and Teresa Palmer (“I Am Number Four”).

The other piece of bad news is Anna Kendrick’s name is no longer on the list. Oh well. No word on who the front runner of this group is, but I would have to imagine Brie is since she’s worked with Joe and Anthony Russo on “Community”.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.