X-Men: Days of Future
Past - The Rogue Cut (2014/2015) – I’m not doing a full review of The Rogue Cut, which adds about fifteen
minutes of unseen footage, because my original sentiment still stands. I called
the theatrical release “one of the better outings in the series,” and The Rogue Cut doesn’t change that. If
anything, it makes the film a stronger one, filling in what I had perceived to
be a stumble before the third act begins, the beat when Mystique (Jennifer
Lawrence) goes missing. Here, The Rogue Cut fills in the gap by 1) restoring
Anna Paquin’s turn as Rogue in the dystopian future of the film, and 2) giving
Mystique a wonderful moment with Beast (Nicholas Hoult) in 1973. While I
concede that the theatrical cut isn’t less by omitting these sequences, the
film is overall richer for having them. In fact, I got more of a sense that I
was entering a world during The Rogue Cut,
rather than the crossover event the theatrical release felt like. Although the
changes are almost universally positive additions to Days of Future Past, I have a small complaint, which might not even
be a negative. The Rogue Cut
juxtaposes Magneto (Michael Fassbender) retrieving his helmet with Magneto (Ian
McKellan) rescuing Rogue, and while I think the cross-cutting is a nifty formal
trick, I can’t help but feel the former sequence was better served on its own,
building more tension as we got inside the young Magneto’s head. But it’s a moment
that only rings hollower if you’re familiar with the original incarnation, and
everything else in The Rogue Cut is
so well-crafted that it might now be my new favorite X-Men film. PS – Stay tuned
for a new mid-credits sequence! (The original post-credits scene is still
intact.)That does it for this week’s edition of “Monday at the Movies.” We’ll see you here next week!
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