X-Men: Apocalypse - movie review
X-Men: Apocalypse
Plot: With the emergence of the world's first mutant, Apocalypse, the X-Men must unite to defeat his extinction level plan.
Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence
Director: Bryan Singer
Rating: 12A
Runtime: 2hrs 24 mins
Release Date: Wednesday 18th May 2016
With Spider-Man now in the hands of the MCU and Fantastic Four seemingly failing in everything they do, the X-Men films are the only Marvel property succeeding outside the world of The Avengers. After the absolute perfection that was Deadpool, 20th Century Fox must've been riding on a high, as was I. So imagine my shock when reviews came flooding in giving X-Men: Apocalypse mixed responses. Because of this, I entered with some trepidation and subsequently left feeling that this was a very strong entry into the X-Men franchise despite having issues during the third act and not reaching the levels of its predecessors (Days Of Future Past, First Class).
Patrick Stewart will always be the perfect iteration of Charles Xavier in my eyes but that doesn't stop James McAvoy doing all that he can to pay his respect to Stewart. We finally see McAvoy don the bald head that Xavier is recognised for and much like his previous outings in the role, McAvoy is wonderful. He obviously cares about the film that he is making and Xavier certainly has a lot to do and not once does McAvoy falter in his performance. With Xavier we must have Magneto and Michael Fassbender returns as Erik lives a secluded life in Poland until tragedy strikes for him causing to join Apocalypse. This is the best Fassbender has been in the entire series and possibly the best we have ever seen the character of Magneto. His character arc is so emotive and and moving that he no longer feels like a stereotypical villain but a fully realised troubled individual. Fassbender is my favourite part of X-Men: Apocalypse and easily my favourite of the Four Horsemen. To put this into context, I actually think that Fassbender is now a better Magneto than Sir Ian McKellen after this performance. Definitely one of the most emotionally driven arcs in any superhero movie to this date. Speaking of phenomenal stardom, Jennifer Lawrence comes back as Mystique who now doesn't like to be called Mystique even though she preached about being 'mutant and proud' in First Class. Confused? It gets even more baffling when you begin to realise that the character of Mystique was never a lead character. Nor was she on the side of good. From my experience with the comics, the cartoons and the original films, Mystique was always a minor supporting character. It is only through the popularity of Jennifer Lawrence that she is given such a prominent role than usual. Taking all of that into account, I thought Lawrence was okay in the role. My worry would be that after wearing the blue makeup/lycra suit twice, she would begin to be tired of the role and simply mail her performance in. There are elements of that especially in the film's opening, but as the film progressed, Lawrence improved and seemed to ease back into the role. All that I ask is that when the next film is made, either remove Mystique completely or reduce her role significantly. This isn't because I hate Jennifer Lawrence (I think she's incredible), I just want Mystique treated as she should be. If we need a female lead, Jean Grey is a suitable candidate. Nicholas Hoult also returns as Beast. He's absolutely fine but nothing special in comparison to some others. The same can be said for Rose Byrne as Moira McTaggart. Having skipped Days Of Future Past, Byrne has no trouble returning to the role but she isn't given anything major to do apart from supply some exposition for Apocalypse.
As far as the younger mutants are concerned, I thought they were all fantastic and made the roles their own rather than copying the actors before them. Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Sophie Turner (Jean Grey) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (Nightcrawler) are these younger mutants and their introductions, especially Cyclops, are perfectly transferred to screen. Evan Peters also returns as Quicksilver and much like Days Of Future Past, has an incredible sequence that rivals the kitchen scene. He also has a much larger role than the previous film so it's clear that the studio built off of the audience reception. I now move onto my main issue with the film and that is Apocalypse and his four horsemen excluding Magneto. I just think that they're dreadful. Oscar Isaac, coming off of The Force Awakens as Poe Dameron, is choosing his projects well. But this isn't the Apocalypse that I came to know. In my opinion, Apocalypse was an all powerful being that just existed with the powers of a god and was practically unstoppable. In his feature film debut, Apocalypse was presented as someone who believed they were a good and decided that human beings needed to die. So basically, instead of being the X-Men's most formidable enemy, Apocalypse was a generic clichéd villain with terrible motivations. Isaac was fine but he struggled to salvage a disappointing character. His dedicated followers are just as bad, if not worse. Angel is probably the best of the three horsemen. Ben Hardy (from EastEnders fame) is decent in the role and his character is cool to watch in action, but he doesn't really do anything apart from defend Apocalypse. But Psylocke and Storm are awful. Alexandra Shipp is shockingly terrible as Storm. The explanations for her character make no sense and a specific twist she encounters is unbelievably stupid. I adore the character of Storm but I hate what they've done to her in this film. Olivia Munn plays Psylocke and apart from getting into incredible shape for the role, she really has no impact on the film. Her reasons for siding with Apocalypse are brushed over leaving confusion in its wake and I just didn't get why she was in the film. Psylocke is a popular character but her involvement was misplaced. And finally, as revealed in the final trailer, we are treated to a small scene involving a certain clawed mutant, and that is, without a doubt, one of the best scenes in the film.
A major concern that I had before watching X-Men: Apocalypse was that it might have been a bit of a 'been there, done that' type of situation. That wasn't the case until the third act began to take shape. For the first two thirds of this film, I thought it was flat out mesmerising. I was prepared to praise this film all day long and it was even close to bettering Days Of Future Past, but the final act descended in your basic finale fight scene with each mutant getting a time to shine and then suffer. However, every moment leading up to it was sensational. At the start, we see Apocalypse in Ancient Egyptian times and I loved that piece. I also enjoyed the gradual recap of where all the mutants currently are, and then the introductions of the younger mutants are just as phenomenal to watch. I am a humongous X-Men fan so to see our main group of characters be treated with the care and finesse that Bryan Singer has given in all of his movies, is unbelievable. Not every entry into a series can be perfect, and this installment demonstrates that whilst a film can have flaws, it can still be good enough to keep the series going. And that's what this film is. Not perfect, but bloody good fun. What I also love was that almost every character is given an arc. Some are better than others but at least it means that there is an attempt to flesh out these characters. Magneto's was the most compelling as was Cyclops'. Quicksilver also had a very impressive storyline that I did not expect writers to delve into. This film was glorious until the final thirty minutes or so. It then descended into overblown destruction that didn't have a purpose with every character fighting and then talking and then fighting and then talking and then fighting etc. Civil War showcased how to balance numerous superheroes in one fight scene but Apocalypse struggles with too many mutants to where the focus is drawn away and the story suffers from it. I'm all for noisy and violent action scenes, but in a film like this, give it some needed context.
By far and large, this is the most CGI heavy X-Men film to date. Apart from one sequence, every action scene heavily relies on visual effects almost to a level of overexposure. However, I suppose that with a budget of $234 million, you'd want to make the most of that money. On the whole, the effects are good, not mindblowing but suitable enough. The final confrontation is probably the most noticeable use of CGI and green screen but that is due to the majority of that act being shot on a soundstage rather than on location. The score by frequent Singer collaborator, John Ottman is just a good as ever. His X-Men theme blares out over the title sequence and that immediately put me in safe hands. As for his other pieces, they aren't as memorable with Apocalypse's theme at the start being an exception. The rest of the score is a by the numbers superhero soundtrack. Something that previous X-Men films had trouble nailing were the costumes. The X-Men were never given their original bright yellow uniforms and instead, would often settle for black combat gear. We do get a little hint towards the possibility of these costumes taking form but the look of Apocalypse and his horseman is the most true. Being set in the 80's, they could all be mistaken for a strange metal rock band, but they are mostly accurate. Apocalypse looks a little different but compared to the promotional images released that made him look like a Power Rangers villain, he does look formidable but it's a shame that the writing could advance this any further.
To even equal Days Of Future Past was always going to be a tall order. The Horsemen are wasted potential and Apocalypse and his third act falls into genetic action territory. However, the story leading up to this and everyone else (especially Fassbender) give it their all and the X-Men franchise is safe and secure no matter what some reviews may lead you to believe.
My Verdict: 8/10
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