4) Quicksilver
As a viewer, there’s an element of escapism to be expected when it comes to a film like X-Men: Days of Future Past. After all, it’s a movie about mutants with powers far beyond the realms of reality. Whether it be Wolverine’s claws or Mystique’s shape-shifting, we cannot help but feel envious (not to mention jealous) of the gifts these fictitious characters wield. That being said, while they’re brought to life on the big-screen with dazzling special effects work, we very rarely get a real taste of what it’s actually like to be them.
That is until a mutant like Quicksilver comes along. In what is perhaps one of the best-filmed – and genuinely funny – action scenes of the year (or, indeed, recent years), we finally get the chance to slip into the skin of one of these larger-than-life heroes, as Quicksilver leads a lightning-fast prison break.
Filmed in a special format of 3600 frames per second (which makes Quicksilver 150 times faster than you or I), X-Men: Days of Future Past bends the laws of physics as Evan Peters (who is at the top of his game here) zips around a room filled with security guards and, literally faster than a bullet, neutralizes them all with a prod of his finger. It’s a scene that is lent a fair amount of humour thanks to the actor’s performance, but one that captures the feel of a character in a way that hasn’t been featured in the franchise since Nightcrawler’s opening sequence in X2.
There’d been a lot of scepticism around the internet when the first images of Quicksilver where released, but X-Men: Days of Future Past nailed the character in what was a well-executed, light-hearted segment that lifted the mood in a rather heavy narrative. The only question that remains is whether Aaron Taylor-Johnson can play the character with as much conviction and gusto as Evan Peters.