X-Men: Future is the Past (Rouge Cut) - Blu-ray

Movie: In the not-too-distant future, the battle between humans and mutants has gotten completely out of control. The Sentinels, giant fighting machines designed by Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), are hunting not only the mutants, but also any humans who try to help them. The result is unimagined destruction, suffering and death. There is a war going on that could mean the end of all humanity. The only chance left to avert it is to send Logan aka Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back in time. He is to seek out the younger self of Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart/James McAvoy) in the 1970s and get him to join Magneto (Michael Fassbender) in preventing the event that led to the construction of the Sentinels. But in the process, the fact that Magneto is in a nearly impregnable maximum security prison proves to be the least of his problems. And the time Logan has left in the past is running out, as the Sentinels have long since tracked him and the other mutants to the future...

After four X-Men movies and two Wolverine adventures, you might think that there would be no new cinematic sides to this superhero universe. But Bryan Singer, director of the first two X-Men movies, has managed to do just that. His X-Men: Future is Past can be seen as a sequel to both X-Men 3 and the reboot X-Men: First Class. At the same time, the interweaving of two time levels reshuffles the cards entirely, allowing this franchise to now launch into a new, exciting future. And by the way, X-Men: Future is the Past has also become a really good, exciting, spectacular and extremely entertaining superhero movie, which can convince not only on a purely trick-technical level.

Surely, as with all films that deal with the theme of time travel, there are again some logic holes. The fact that Wolverine's journey to the 1970s negates some events from the earlier films might also rankle some fans. But since everything else is right, possible points of criticism are quickly forgotten. At the latest when Quicksilver (Evan Peters) is allowed to use his abilities in a great sequence during Magneto's escape from the Pentagon, even the last nagger should fall silent. Singer finds the perfect blend of action-packed suspense, gritty vision of the future, humorous '70s nostalgia and tongue-in-cheek irony. In the process, he gives his ensemble cast, consisting of two generations of X-Men, enough room to show off some real acting chops as well.

James McAvoy as the broken and utterly disheartened Charles Xavier, Jennifer Lawrence as borderline dark side Mystique, and Michael Fassbender as a young Magneto all deliver truly great performances, which really isn't a given in a special effects spectacle of this nature. And Hugh Jackman is cooler than ever as Wolverine. You can tell that Jackman loves this character and is constantly trying to develop him. Some supporting actors, such as Pretty Best Friends star Omar Sy, Oscar winner Halle Berry, and even Ellen Page, get a little lost next to the very dominant leads. But even if for a short time the impression may arise that Storm, for example, would be completely unnecessary in this film, every single character proves in the end to be an important part of the whole, which is still very clear by the very nice, albeit only a few seconds lasting appearances of some beloved characters from the first films.

To be able to understand all the plot elements and allusions in X-Men: Future is the Past, at least parts 2 and 3, as well as First Class should be known. Those who haven't seen those films might have trouble following the action at some points. However, even without this helpful prior knowledge, the comic book adaptation is just plain fun. Singer has set the bar pretty damn high here for superhero movies to come. He's directed top-notch entertainment cinema that has plenty of room for action, great special effects AND an exciting story. Clearly one of the best blockbusters of the past year and therefore also: definitely worth seeing!!!

The Rouge Cut: In addition to the theatrical version, the Blu-ray also includes the new Rouge Cut. This runs about 17 minutes longer than the theatrical version and reinserts an entire plot strand that Bryan Singer had removed from the theatrical version with a heavy heart. This strand revolves around Rouge (Anna Paquin), a mutant so beloved by many fans. This one, while Logan is in the past fighting for the future of humans and mutants, is freed from an all too familiar prison by Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian MacKellen) so that she can still play an important role in the mission. Aside from this plot thread, however, there are other additional or recut scenes. A lengthy sequence between Raven and Hank (a.k.a. Mystique and Beast) is particularly noteworthy here. Overall, this version leaves a more coherent impression in many moments than the already very good theatrical version. Especially fans of the first parts can not pass this version!

Picture + Sound: Anything other than top-notch quality would have been a bitter disappointment with this Blu-ray, of course. But again, the Rouge Cut does not disappoint. The picture is absolutely clean and the colors are very atmospherically mixed. The image sharpness is also at a very high level and allows even the smallest details to come out very well. In addition, the 2D version of the film, which was shot in 3D, also has a pleasant image depth, which comes into its own particularly well during the brilliant finale. The sound mix is also convincing all along the line. Numerous sound effects ensure that the surround channels are almost constantly in use. All in all, there is a deserved here: very good!

Extras: The film disc offers two audio commentaries. Director Bryan Singer and screenwriter Simon Kinberg do the commentary on the theatrical version, while Singer and composer/editor John Ottman do the one on the Rouge Cut. Both commentaries offer quite a few interesting details about the making of the film and are commendably presented with optional subtitles. The first disc also offers a second screen app for interested viewers.

The rest of the bonus material is on the second disc. The centerpiece here is a 9-part making of (approx. 52:41 min.) that goes into detail about the decision to cut Rouge from the theatrical version, in addition to aspects such as the film's score and the path from comic book to film. In addition to this documentary, which is well worth watching, there is also an interesting as well as entertaining roundtable discussion with the cast and filmmakers (approx. 30:11 min.), image galleries and a short preview of the new Fantastic Four movie (approx. 1:49 min.). Good!

Conclusion: X-Men: Future is the Past was already a great superhero movie in the theatrical version. The new Rouge Cut is a more well-rounded and better version of the film for fans, incorporating more additional and alternate scenes into the film in addition to a complete story arc. Of course, those who still prefer the theatrical version will get that here as well. In addition to the two cut versions in very good picture and sound quality, the double Blu-ray also has two audio commentaries and almost 90 minutes of worthwhile extras to offer. Fans have to grab it in any case. Absolutely recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp