More Thoughts on Days of Future Past (spoilers)

I wanted to be able to share my thoughts on the new X-Men movie that I couldn't in my review because I promised it would be spoiler-free. So please be aware. SPOILERS FOLLOW.

I definitely loved the movie. It doesn't topple X2 as the best X-film to me but it is a very close second.

What I Loved
1. Cyclops is alive! I hated how Cyke was dispatched in Last Stand. This movie remedies that and also puts the status quo back with Jean and Scott as the major couple not Logan.
2. The four horsemen - just exciting to see the young En Sabah Nur and his horsemen. Can't wait for the next movie.
3. Magneto's speech about joining his brotherhood gave me chills. And his confrontation with Charles on the plane was also equally great.
4. Bishop was well realized and very close to the comics. I wish they could have done more with him.

What I Didn't Love
1. Trask was a very weak villain. After having Stryker and Senator Kelly being so charismatic and villains that you love to hate, Trask was too cerebral and underplayed which is a pity since you have the Imp playing him.
2. Continuity issues - it's obvious that Singer and Kinberg have no love for either Wolverine movies or Last Stand. They never explain why Xavier is alive and well in the future after having died in X3. Stryker doesn't remember Wolverine in 1973 even though he met him in Vietnam? Or how does Wolverine have metal claws in the future? Didn't he lose them in the last Wolverine movie?
3. Not enough of the iconic Sentinels. While I liked the Borg/T1000 Sentinels of the future, I wanted to see some of the classic Sentinels flying, talking, and pretty much blasting mutants. I understand they're not quite at the level of blast rays and things but still would have been nice.

Another thing that occurred to me is that Singer is great at shooting small scale action. The Nightcrawler sequence from X2? Awesome. The Quicksilver sequence in this movie? Amazing. He has yet to shoot a large scale action scene like the final act in Avengers and I'm not so sure that he can shift focus between multiple characters over a large landscape while maintaining the dynamic nature of their powers. I'm thinking of a Storm that flies around rather than just floats and maybe a fastball special. I don't know if he can do it. Which makes me worried about the next film. If Kinberg is to be believed, Apocalypse is going to be like a disaster film. If Singer does sign on to direct, he really has to step up his visuals.