Starring: Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Peter Dinklage, Fan Bingbing Director: Bryan Singer

    Returning to the X-Men franchise for the first time since 2003, director Bryan Singer shows little sign of rust, delivering one of the series’ very best instalments.

    “X-MEN: Days of Future Past” has a grandeur and elegance to go along with its expected action spectacle, but it’s also sufficiently funny and emotional, capably interweaving big themes about identity and destiny into the mix as well.

    Considering that this is the seventh “X-Men” film, including two standalone Wolverine adventures, “Days of Future Past” can’t help but suffer a little from mutant fatigue. But on the whole, this latest sequel manages to bring together the original trilogy’s stars (most importantly Hugh Jackman) with the new films’ leads (particularly Michael Fassbender) for a story that’s appropriately dark, epic and intelligent.

    Set in both the past and the future, “Days of Future Past” kicks off about 10 years from now in a bleak dystopia in which humanity and mutants have almost been eradicated by the Sentinels, a race of robots that hunt down and enslave most of the planet. Among the survivors, Magneto (Ian McKellen) and Professor X (Patrick Stewart), mutant rivals who are now allies, recruit Wolverine (Jackman) to go back to 1973. That’s the year in which the rebellious Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) kills Dr. Trask (Peter Dinklage), a brilliant scientist whose creation of the Sentinels in order to track mutants only draws more support after his murder. If Wolverine, alongside the younger Magneto (Fassbender) and Professor X (James McAvoy), can prevent Mystique from assassinating Trask, maybe earth’s dark future can be rewritten.

    Working from a screenplay by Simon Kinberg and a story co-written by “First Class” director Matthew Vaughn, “Days of Future Past” has certain logic issues inherent in time-travel narratives, which often make simplistic assumptions that stopping one event in the past will automatically prevent a larger catastrophe in the future. But if one’s willing to accept this sequel’s premise, “Days of Future Past” creates plenty of suspense and intrigue as the younger Magneto and Professor X must learn to work together while grappling with the events that drove them apart at the end of “First Class.”

    Indeed, theirs is a wary allegiance, with both men suspicious of the other person’s motives, and Fassbender and McAvoy, adept dramatic actors, are easily able to give their characters’ reluctant truce a lingering unease.

    X doesn’t just have to contend with the treacherous, vindictive Magneto who’s insistent that humans need to be punished for their hatred of mutants, though: He also must grieve over the loss of Mystique’s friendship and wean himself off the potent serum that mutes his debilitating ability to read others’ minds. As opposed to the regal, wise older Professor X of the Stewart films, McAvoy’s X is a weak-minded defeatist who has to find the courage and personal fortitude to become a leader. McAvoy conveys X’s inner struggles poignantly, although he isn’t as confident with the film’s lighter moments, especially during action sequences.

    Singer (who directed 2000’s “X-Men” and 2003’s “X2”) does a marvelous job giving “Days of Future Past” a swiftness and grace that transforms what could be a lumbering, bloated sequel into a coherent and satisfying tale. With careful focus, Singer observes how Mystique, Magneto and Professor X are all pursuing different (and sometimes conflicting) agendas to make their world safer, and the actors’ empathetic, nuanced performances bring out the tension and pathos in their characters’ choices.

    But this praise of intellectual and emotional rewards of “Days of Future Past” shouldn’t overshadow the movie’s kinetic rush. Working with John Myhre’s exquisitely Spartan/futuristic production design and composer/editor John Ottman’s tension-building expertise, Singer has produced his most muscular and inspired action film. The film builds to a finale in which the life-or-death stakes are played out over two eras, and Singer conjures up scenes that outdo everything that came before, delivering in terms of spectacle but also successfully addressing the lingering issues between the characters. Even though the film predictably leaves the action unresolved so there’s room for a follow-up film — “X-Men: Apocalypse” is set for a May 2016 release — the cast and the crew more than give viewers their money’s worth so that “Days of Future Past” feels less of a franchise placeholder than a legitimate entertainment in its own right.

    But just as important as Singer is to this movie’s vision, special mention must go to Jackman. Like Singer, Jackman has been part of the X-Men universe for almost 15 years, and Wolverine will probably be remembered as his signature role.

    The movie is now being screened in Shenzhen.

    (SD-Agencies)