[7.4/10] There is an inherent cool factor to seeing a post-apocalyptic version of the X-Men led by Magneto. Whether it’s the new more rough-and-tumble designs, the smoldering backdrop, or the simple thrills of our heroes as a band of resistance fighters going against mechanized baddies, this one can get by on style alone.
There’s a deeper bit of excitement at the center though. I’ve made my peace with the fact that the time travel rules for this show make no sense. That fact notwithstanding, it’s cool for Bishop and Shard to go back to the present day, to bring Wolverine and Storm back to the 1960s to intervene in an assassination attempt against Professor X. as convoluted as the various setups are, and as confusing as the cold open here is, the simple premise of “We have to fix the past, to save your present, and our future” works as a summation of it.
But there’s some heft here as well. For one, Xavier doesn’t get this whole thing, and doesn’t necessarily want to cooperate. He wants to be a “simple family doctor” in the 1960s, so finding out that the world rests on his shoulders is a lot to take. That provides nice character stakes. And beyond that, the idea that Xavier’s brand of unity and bridge-building is so important that his presence helps save not one but two temporal periods is a tribute to the value of the project we’ve seen through three seasons’ worth of adventures.
Not for nothing, we get our first glimpse of real world prejudice in the show, with Storm and Bishop facing bigotry based on the color of their skin when they travel to the 1960s. It’s a nice headfake to make you think it’s mutant-based hatred, only to find that it’s the sort of real life individuals faced in the 1960s. Helps put the show’s metaphor into context.
It’s a classic setup, but still, I also liked the idea that alt-Logan and alt-Storm were somewhat hesitant about going back to fix the past because in their present, they’re married and together, whereas in the prime timeline, they’re mere colleagues. Storm wanting to do what’s right for the world, while Wolverine is willing to let the whole thing crumble if it means they stay together adds a nice personal element to the time travel exploits.
Overall, this one gets a bit confusing and baroque in places given the timeline madness, but there’s a lot of strong elements at the core that rot the temporal weirdness in understandable character reactions.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-06-20T01:38:55Z
[7.4/10] There is an inherent cool factor to seeing a post-apocalyptic version of the X-Men led by Magneto. Whether it’s the new more rough-and-tumble designs, the smoldering backdrop, or the simple thrills of our heroes as a band of resistance fighters going against mechanized baddies, this one can get by on style alone.
There’s a deeper bit of excitement at the center though. I’ve made my peace with the fact that the time travel rules for this show make no sense. That fact notwithstanding, it’s cool for Bishop and Shard to go back to the present day, to bring Wolverine and Storm back to the 1960s to intervene in an assassination attempt against Professor X. as convoluted as the various setups are, and as confusing as the cold open here is, the simple premise of “We have to fix the past, to save your present, and our future” works as a summation of it.
But there’s some heft here as well. For one, Xavier doesn’t get this whole thing, and doesn’t necessarily want to cooperate. He wants to be a “simple family doctor” in the 1960s, so finding out that the world rests on his shoulders is a lot to take. That provides nice character stakes. And beyond that, the idea that Xavier’s brand of unity and bridge-building is so important that his presence helps save not one but two temporal periods is a tribute to the value of the project we’ve seen through three seasons’ worth of adventures.
Not for nothing, we get our first glimpse of real world prejudice in the show, with Storm and Bishop facing bigotry based on the color of their skin when they travel to the 1960s. It’s a nice headfake to make you think it’s mutant-based hatred, only to find that it’s the sort of real life individuals faced in the 1960s. Helps put the show’s metaphor into context.
It’s a classic setup, but still, I also liked the idea that alt-Logan and alt-Storm were somewhat hesitant about going back to fix the past because in their present, they’re married and together, whereas in the prime timeline, they’re mere colleagues. Storm wanting to do what’s right for the world, while Wolverine is willing to let the whole thing crumble if it means they stay together adds a nice personal element to the time travel exploits.
Overall, this one gets a bit confusing and baroque in places given the timeline madness, but there’s a lot of strong elements at the core that rot the temporal weirdness in understandable character reactions.