Bryan Singer's latest entry to the X-Men franchise may feel by the numbers but delivers the fun and entertainment expected from the franchise with a few nostalgic nods thrown in.
It's the 1980's and after the events of Days of Future Past, mutants have been exposed to the general public and many go about it in different ways. There are those like Professor Charles Xavier, a mutant pacifist with telepathic powers played by James McAvoy, and Raven a.k.a. Mystique, a shaped shifting mutant played by Jennifer Lawrence, that seek to help and protect mutants and even teach them how to use their powers. On the other end of the spectrum lies those like Erik Lehnsherr a.k.a. "Magneto", a mutant that can control magnetic fields played by Michael Fassbender. He goes into hiding only to be drawn out by the ancient mutant known as Apocalypse. Apocalypse is considered the world's first mutant and has superhuman abilities stronger than any mutant that is played by Oscar Isaac. Apocalypse has awaken after a long slumber and now looks to destroy the Earth so that he can rebuild it in his image with the help of his Four Mutant Horsemen: Magneto, Storm, Psylocke, and Angel, and its up to the X-Men to stop him.
It's a very stuffed plot for sure but its easy to follow. What may confuse some viewers is the re-introducing of characters like Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, and Nightcrawler, all characters we've seen in X-Men movies before. The timeline of the X-Men franchise is confusing given what happened in Days of Future Past. Certain movies like Origins: Wolverine and The Last Stand were removed from continuity given the events of the last movie and now with Deadpool who where the story goes. It's that kind of continuity that holds back the X-Men movies from being a continuous story line. It's not something that can be avoided, as actors age the studio needs to look for younger talent to fill the roles of the old cast. It's easy for a reboot to do that if the previous movies failed but with the X-Men movies hold up pretty well so its hard for some people to adjust to these new characters after we've seen them already.
The characters we do know like Xavier, Mystique, and Magneto are given their time here but most of the movie revolves around Apocalypse and the young students. Apocalypse is a great villain, he is menacing, powerful and threatening. A lot of people criticized his look when they first saw it but he looks fine in the movie. The costuming in this movie is bold and stands out as it gets most of the characters in their iconic look and costumes. But back to the story and characters, where First Class and Days of Future Past focused on the Xavier, Mystique, Magneto relationship, this movie puts that on the side in favor of the young X-Men, which is fine even they can be a bit on the bland side save for Nightcrawler and Quicksilver, who again has another gorgeous scene displaying his speed.
X-Men: Apocalypse is entertaining enough to keep you invested in the story but lacks that special something that was in its previous entries. I hear rumor that this is the last X-Men movie Bryan Singer will direct so it will be interesting to see who he wants to take the helm of director for the franchise and where Fox decides to go from here. Do they continue on in their own universe or be like Sony and lend the characters to Disney to be a part of the M.C.U.? Time(and probably reviews and box office numbers) will tell.
Grade: B
It's the 1980's and after the events of Days of Future Past, mutants have been exposed to the general public and many go about it in different ways. There are those like Professor Charles Xavier, a mutant pacifist with telepathic powers played by James McAvoy, and Raven a.k.a. Mystique, a shaped shifting mutant played by Jennifer Lawrence, that seek to help and protect mutants and even teach them how to use their powers. On the other end of the spectrum lies those like Erik Lehnsherr a.k.a. "Magneto", a mutant that can control magnetic fields played by Michael Fassbender. He goes into hiding only to be drawn out by the ancient mutant known as Apocalypse. Apocalypse is considered the world's first mutant and has superhuman abilities stronger than any mutant that is played by Oscar Isaac. Apocalypse has awaken after a long slumber and now looks to destroy the Earth so that he can rebuild it in his image with the help of his Four Mutant Horsemen: Magneto, Storm, Psylocke, and Angel, and its up to the X-Men to stop him.
It's a very stuffed plot for sure but its easy to follow. What may confuse some viewers is the re-introducing of characters like Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, and Nightcrawler, all characters we've seen in X-Men movies before. The timeline of the X-Men franchise is confusing given what happened in Days of Future Past. Certain movies like Origins: Wolverine and The Last Stand were removed from continuity given the events of the last movie and now with Deadpool who where the story goes. It's that kind of continuity that holds back the X-Men movies from being a continuous story line. It's not something that can be avoided, as actors age the studio needs to look for younger talent to fill the roles of the old cast. It's easy for a reboot to do that if the previous movies failed but with the X-Men movies hold up pretty well so its hard for some people to adjust to these new characters after we've seen them already.
The characters we do know like Xavier, Mystique, and Magneto are given their time here but most of the movie revolves around Apocalypse and the young students. Apocalypse is a great villain, he is menacing, powerful and threatening. A lot of people criticized his look when they first saw it but he looks fine in the movie. The costuming in this movie is bold and stands out as it gets most of the characters in their iconic look and costumes. But back to the story and characters, where First Class and Days of Future Past focused on the Xavier, Mystique, Magneto relationship, this movie puts that on the side in favor of the young X-Men, which is fine even they can be a bit on the bland side save for Nightcrawler and Quicksilver, who again has another gorgeous scene displaying his speed.
X-Men: Apocalypse is entertaining enough to keep you invested in the story but lacks that special something that was in its previous entries. I hear rumor that this is the last X-Men movie Bryan Singer will direct so it will be interesting to see who he wants to take the helm of director for the franchise and where Fox decides to go from here. Do they continue on in their own universe or be like Sony and lend the characters to Disney to be a part of the M.C.U.? Time(and probably reviews and box office numbers) will tell.
Grade: B
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