X-Men: Apocalypse

The word "apocalypse" brings to mind an end-of-the world event of biblical proportions. X- MEN APOCALYPSE brings to mind some Japanese anime and a yearning for the better X- men movies of the past. The third in this "new trilogy" that began with X-MEN FIRST CLASS, the franchise reached its high point in the epic X-MEN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST but now tips back down to a rather typical tale of good vs evil intertwined with the usual hero's journey. Thankfully the masterful execution of dialogue and acting chops saves this film from sinking into mediocrity.

There are lot of plot threads to follow. Fortunately or unfortunately it does not require much inferring or complex thinking to follow the story. It is very simple and it is in its simplicity that it loses out on the richness of character than past xmen movies had. Our characters are all reduced to two dimensional archetypes each with familiar story arcs. So familiar in fact that the whole movie is a pastiche of plot points taken from past xmen movies. Eric is the grief stricken blood knight who goes evil with vengeance when tragedy strikes, again. Scott jean and Kurt are the inexperienced loners who have to work together to overcome their challenges, a little like pyro, Bobby drake (ice man) and kitty pryde (shadow cat) in X-men 2. Mystique replaces wolverine as the badass wanderer who is thrown into a leadership position to guide our young loners. Xavier is once again captured and the X-men's home base is compromised, again like X-MEN 2. Powerful mutant with delusions of godhood and a gang of loyal followers is Apocalypse this time replacing magneto's role in the first 3 xmen movies. Call it homage or call it cliché, I feel that this story manages to toe the line between familiar and fresh. The familiar elements gives us a sense of the revolving nature of conflict, that history repeats despite the best intentions. The fresh elements of course add new facets to a film which could have otherwise been a complete bore, thanks to the slow burn nature of the plot which mostly sees both good guys and bad guys gathering their key players for the final showdown. Those who can appreciate a slow build up would love this while those who need their immediate action fix would be left disappointed.

Divisive might be the best word to describe this movie. When the action does come, it is a special effects spectacle of mutant powers on display where everyone.......pretty much stands around shooting things at each other. Oh look, the villain is getting the upper hand! Let's shoot more! Where physical stunts and fights come, they are a thrill to behold except the dated wire work which feels artificial. Interspersed between these divisive battles are particular scenes of movie magic. Quicksilver (last see in DAYS OF FUTURE PAST) returns and we get to see the full extent of his powers once again only on a larger scale. And at least this time he has a purpose in the story other than being a just a miraculous attempt. But as mentioned earlier his motivations are touched on but not explored. His character is simplified into yet another archetype.

Beneath the visual spectacle, the movie under utilises its cast of characters. Ty Sheridan's Scott Summers could have been great as the new audience surrogate, going from meek bullied loser to taking his first steps as confident leader of the X-Men. Instead he is also shoved into the background after his introduction. Kodi-smith mcfee's more feline looking Nightcrawler is also another intriguing character sidelined. Instead we get more Charles Xavier and more Eric playing out their character drama like star crossed lovers. Don't get me wrong, they are fantastic actors, especially Michael Fassbender completely nailing the tragedy of Eric's character arc. But their story came to a decent close in the last movie and this one just feels like more of the same.

Apocalypse himself is a villain that is as equally divisive as the movie itself. On one hand, it seemed that the creators were going for the "all powerful but frail" type of villain ala emperor Palpatine of Star Wars. The snake-like menace that Oscar Isaac exudes through his sinister delivery is betrayed by a design that borders on corny. Oversized platform boots, plastic looking Armour and an ill defined set of powers all downplay the threatening presence of the villain. His motivations could have been much deeper. A commentary on modern commercialism replacing the religions of old perhaps as the new "cult following"? Or a criticism of humanity's arrogance and self glorifying nature? Maybe even a critique on how common folk are quick to idolise mortal "false gods" of the influential and powerful? No, no and no. None of that thematic depth here. Apocalypse is merely your Saturday morning cartoon variety villain who wants to destroy the world to rebuild in his image.

It is not a bad movie per se. Visually stunning, an easy-to-follow plot and well cast characters set to a script filled with witty dialogue that does not overdo the comedy. The acting is professional and the music by John Ottman is a grand thematic continuation of But for a grand finale it pales in comparison to films like X-MEN 2 by glossing over its deeper themes of social commentary especially, in the treatment of mutants as an allegory to prejudice against social minorities. It lacks the urgency, high stakes tension and emotional depth of DAYS OF FUTURE PAST and the chemistry among the cast is no where near XMEN FIRST CLASS. I would place it as a middling entry into the X-men franchise that succeeds in opening the doors to a whole new generation of X-men movies.

This is not going to be a long review, i want to summarize my thoughts on the film, now after i just saw it in the cinema.

The movie is absolutely spectacular. The effects, the settings, the pacing, the acting, the music, the direction. It is all very well done, and if the story itself had kept up with the rest, this would be close to one of the best, if not the best, superhero film to date.

But the story is a bit weak, it's hard to take in a few of the twists and turns in this film, but still everything else is so brilliantly crafted, the movie pulls it off anyways, and that makes me feel i got my moneys worth. This is very important to me when i go the cinema. I need to walk out feeling i was entertained.

I'm usually the guy that puts story and script first when it comes to films. Way to often when the story is bad, the script and the acting and all the rest that follows almost always seem half done. This is not the case here.

This movie is like when you bake a cake, and you end up putting in a small amount of salt instead of sugar. You notice you did, but you don't have time to fix your mistake, so you bake the cake to the best of your abilities anyways. At the end it's one hell of a spectacular looking cake you made, but people notice the taste is a bit off, but somehow the added salt contributed to the flavor in a good way, and the cake was very much edible.

This is how i feel after seeing this film. It is really well crafted, and i do recommend people seeing it.

X-Men Apocalypse takes place in the 1980's, 10 years after the events in Days of Future Past. A god-like mutant has awaken and wants to destroy civilization in order to regain his rule. The X-Men must stop him before he becomes to powerful.

I simply didn't find this story to be particularly interesting or believable compared to the other superhero movies in recent years. Apocalypse didn't look or feel all that powerful even though his powers would indicate he was. He was shorter than some of the mutants when in the comics he is a giant and didn't need much assistance. The gathering of the horseman was also kind of sad as he felt like he just picked up the first four mutants that he saw. There was nothing special about them, they each said I will join you but that is about it. Apocalpse is the kind of villain that you make into two movies, like what Disney is doing with Thanos. The first movie could have been used for Apocaplse to acquire his army of followers and the second could have focused on the battle and how the X-Men will respond to the situation. I guess that is why they are not doing that as the two would look similar. I personally don't think we needed another end of the world X-men movie given that we just got one. DoFP just seemed more intense of a situation which also lead to my mediocre interest in this battle.

The scenes that didn't involve Apocalypse were for the most part quite enjoyable. Most notably the Quicksilver scenes as Evan Peters once again steals the show. The new actors also did great in their roles and had good chemistry with one another. Of course, this may be my own personal problem but again I find Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique to be just bland. The lines she spewed just lacked emotion and her one liners fell flat. I am glad that this was her last movie.

I didn't enjoy the movie as a whole but the parts that I did like made up for the fact that it is just rather mediocre. I still recommend seeing it just be warned. 7/10

Suffering from bizarre narrative choices and weak character development, X-Men: Apocalypse is an otherwise passable and occasionally great installment of the franchise, mainly due to the continued strong performances and glorious action set pieces.

X-Men: Apocalypse is the sequel to Days of Future Past and takes place about a decade later in the '80s. This movie entertained me from start to finish and I can't say I was ever bored. But there are a lot of things I was not satisfied with while watching. Starting off with the good, Magneto and Professor X continue to be the best parts of these movies. Michael Fassbender as Magneto is amazing and he has a really emotional scene towards the beginning which got me locked into the film. James McAvoy is also great as Xavier. The internal battles inside Xavier's head were riveting. I really liked the new cast of the younger X-Men, like Jean Grey, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Cyclops. Quicksilver has another awesome scene just like the previous movie. The action is handled very well for the most part. The first half of the movie is terrific, but the second half brings it down. Apocalypse as the villain was OK for me. Some scenes worked well and others didn't. I was always skeptical of Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse and I still don't think he was the best choice. He is just like Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor for me. Apocalypse is also a small mutant compared to the others for some reason and he's just another villain who is obsessed with destroying the world, and his motivations are thin. Jennifer Lawrence was a boring Mystique. She just seems uninspired throughout the run-time and becomes tedious since she uses the personality over and over again to play the character. Some mutants were completely wasted here with Psylocke and Angel. There's an entire sequence in a secret lab and it seemed there for only one reason: the cameo of a specific person. While it was fun to watch, it didn't do much of anything for the story in the long run. The entire thing could have been removed and the movie would have been the same. The final battle felt underwhelming with the whole global extinction. The problem is they don't show any civilians dying; it's just buildings coming apart, making it hard to care about the situation. Overall, X-Men: Apocalypse is a disappointing sequel to First Class and Days of Future Past. But it is not at all a bad movie. Magneto and Professor X are once again great, Apocalypse is a mixed bag, the pacing for the movie is all over the place, and the dull second half just brings the film down from the really good first half. X-Men: Apocalypse gets a B-.