It's hard to believe that the X-Men franchise kicked off 16 years ago with the original "X-Men." Since then, we've had sequels, reboots and spin-offs galore, all of which have had varying levels of critical success. Personally, I prefer the entries in the prequel series, with "First Class" and "Days of Future Past," to the original series, with the only spin-off living up to the standard of these movies being "Deadpool" this year. "X-Men: Apocalypse" is the next part of this series. Just as "First Class" was set in the 1960s, and "Days of Future Past" in the 70s, "Apocalypse" sees the X-Men is the 80s and they are faced with tackling an ancient being with seemingly unlimited power. Don't expect to see the team being part of any historical events this time round though. Besides some fashion choices, the only major signpost of the period is when the young X-Men go to see "Return of the Jedi" in the cinema. When discussing the movie afterwards, Jean Grey says that "at least we can all agree one thing: the third one is always the worst." However, what may have been intended as a jab at "X-Men: The Last Stand" unfortunately refers to this movie as well. Make no mistake, "X-Men: Apocalypse" isn't a bad movie, but it is faced with a number of problems which make it weaker than both of the other prequel movies.
As I just said, the plot of this movie revolves around the X-Men of the last few movies coming together, along with some younger versions of some mutants from the original movies, to take on a new threat in the form of Apocalypse, the world's first mutant. This would appear to be a credible threat but the plot strangely feels much smaller in scale to "Days of Future Past." In that movie, the problem and danger felt real after seeing the devastation brought by the Sentinels in the future. In this movie, we see very little of Apocalypse's powers which set him apart from other villains in the franchise. The plot of the movie is quite messy throughout, particularly at the beginning with lots of different scenes around the world being shown. Additionally, there is one particularly lengthy filler sequence in the middle of the movie set on a military base which seems to be in the movie for little reason other than to implement a certain cameo unfortunately spoiled by the final trailer into the movie. Thankfully, these scenes are well-written and very well acted nonetheless.
As I just said, the actors in the movie all do a fantastic job, and their characters are very well developed over the course of the movie. There are a few characters in the movie who do not go through much of an arc, such as Nightcrawler, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee, who is mainly in the movie to provide some silly comic relief at certain points. Additionally, other characters feel completely pointless and inconsequential, like Havoc (played by Lucas Till), who is only there to introduce Cyclops into the plot, and Moira McTaggert (played by Rose Byrne), returning from First Class and only present here to act as a love interest for Professor X. The best returning characters are Hank McCoy/ Beast (played by Nicholas Hoult), Mystique (played by Jennifer Lawrence), although these two characters go through the same tired will they/won't they love story from the last two movies, and the aforementioned Professor, who is once again played brilliantly by James McAvoy. The new cast members generally fare well. Besides Nightcrawler, we also see young versions of Cyclops and Jean Grey, played by Tye Sheridan and Sophie Turner respectively. We once again see these two characters go through the love story they were a part of in the original movies. Although this is a tired subplot, thankfully not too much time is spent on it, and the two characters are better developed separately, with Sheridan delivering an emotional performance as the character first discovers his abilities, while Turner does an excellent job of showing Jean to be just as tortured and hurt as she is in the comics.
The villains of the movies, on the other hand, do not fare quite as well as the heroes. Apocalypse (or En Sabah Nur) is played very well by Oscar Isaac, who manages to make the character just as intimidating as he is in the comics. The same cannot be said for his power level, as he lacks a number of powers possessed by his comic book counterpart, which does not make his appear to be the god who stands far above these other mutants. And what is going on with his voice? I have no problem with an ancient mutant sounding otherworldly, but is it too much to ask for some consistency. Isaac goes from quiet whispering to a tuned voice to a strange English accent to shouting as loud as he can. The better villain of the movie is Magneto, played once again by Michael Fassbender. The character is much more motivated than any other character in the movie, and Fasssbender delivers a powerful, emotional performance, particularly in some of the movie's earlier sequences in Poland. However, if you are a comic book fan going to this movie excited to see Apocalypse's Four Horsemen, you are going to be mortified. Besides Magneto, Apocalypse's other followers (Storm, Psylocke, and Angel) are terribly developed and are ultimately little more than an afterthought. Storm is literally the first person Apocalypse picks off the street, Angel has a good fight sequence and transformation early on before practically never speaking again, and the only thing Psylocke's got going for her is that her costume is pretty much an exact replica from the comics. Which doesn't even make sense when the other Horsemen have got tactical armour.
Excellent action has always been a staple of the X-Men franchise, and thankfully that is continued over into this movie. Many of the early sequences presented here are fantastic, particularly the ultra-violent military base scene featuring that certain cameo I mentioned before and the Quicksilver sequence, which once again steals the show. However, the finale is an issue that has to be addressed. With so many different characters involved and fighting, many characters have very little to do, and the scene feels extremely long and boring. One fight in particular feels like a retread of the same fight from much earlier in the movie. It's unfortunate that this sequence feels so bloated, especially when we've seen from other X-Men movies that Bryan Singer can do much better in his finales.
One of the aspects of the movie that had to be spot on was the visual effects, and this is an area where the filmmakers have succeeded. With so many mutant powers in play throughout the movie, it is incredible that almost nothing in the movie looks fake at any point. The only scenes which could raise some eyebrows are during the finale, particularly with regards Magneto and a couple of fights involving Beast. However, the section of the movie where the visuals will cause jaws to drop is the aforementioned Quicksilver scene once again. The slow motion effects on display are phenomenal and also shows off the excellent cinematography as the camera accurately follows Quicksilver's face and the environment around him while keeping every bit of detail in the scene clear. In fact, every technical aspect of the movie is on point and deserves to be commended.
Ultimately, "X-Men: Apocalypse" is a mixed bag. There's plenty of good filmmaking on show here, with great performances from all of the cast members and spectacular action and visual effects. However, all of this is countered by the weaknesses of he villains and a severe lack of development, while the finale (and quite a few other scenes for that matter) is a messy affair. If you are going to see this movie for a very well-written story with no major plot holes, then you may be disappointed. However, if you are more forgiving of these errors, and are able to enjoy some great action, then you'll be able to have a good time watching this movie. Let's just hope the next movie keeps this action, but improves on the writing and direction. Also, since the next movie is supposedly set in the 1990s, let's hope for the return of the incredible theme song from the old cartoon.
Pros
- Performances around the board (especially Fassbender)
- The Quicksilver sequence
- Visual effects
- Cinematography and editing
Cons
- Development of the Horsemen (besides Magneto)
- Bloated finale
- What is going on with Apocalypse's voice?
Rating: 7/10
Release Date: 29th April, 2016
Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Evan Peters, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Olivia Munn, Ben Hardy, Josh Helman, and Hugh Jackman
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