So it sounds like the future X-men basically have to fight off an army of Nimrods. That is amazing.
At least in theory.
That's a good observation. The corporate viral video added just the right amount of creepiness to hint that it eventually becomes this walking nightmare.
What's interesting about the future model is that in some ways it's more human-looking when you take into account its new body proportions, probable range of movement, and even hands with fingers. Pretty Uncanny Valley-ish: the more 'human' it becomes, the more inhuman it is. With that in mind I'm not surprised that Evangelion came up a few times in this thread; I doubt it's intentional, but the Sentinels give off a very Eva-sort of vibe. Like the Sentinels, the Eva units have this corporate machine-like facade-- a lean, rigid stance from robots meant to protect humanity-- which eventually gives way to become something more disturbingly similar to humans. Like that one scene
later in the series when Eva-01 devours its enemy, the Eva unit sprouts this human-looking arm that just adds to an already creepy scene. Ew.
("Naked Eva" fanart source
^ I love this type of transformation in fiction. There's a lot of potential for some great horror scenes here, if Singer handles it right.
From a thematic standpoint the Eva units are twisted because they are supposed to represent gods made in man's image. The Sentinels on the other hand are twisted because, as humanoid robots, they sort of represent man's idea of proper, untainted man (as opposed to being 'defective' like mutants). So naturally the image gets distorted, because it's based on a flawed idea of what humanity should be like.
I always liked this bit of irony from the 90's animated series- the Sentinels understand what some humans refuse to see, that mutants are human:
Made to look like humans, then made to think like humans-- and ultimately Sentinels end up being this grotesque parody of humanity. Neato. It'll be interesting to see if/how certain themes are portrayed in DOFP.