2016 has been a big year when it comes to comic book movies. Deadpool wowed everyone back in February while everyone was talking about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in March. Earlier in May we had Captain America: Civil War and now there’s X-Men: Apocalypse.
X-Men: Apocalypse has a tough task to follow the many other comic books movies that have come out before it. Both First Class and Days of Future Past re-ignited people’s interest in the X-Men, however Marvel/Disney still manages to be the king of the genre.
Is Apocalypse a bad movie like other critics have scored it? No, it’s an okay film but there are some questionable choices in regards to the action and how some characters are portrayed. Don’t worry, we’re not giving you any spoilers in this review, but there are some moments that could have been done better.
Basically, the story is about Apocalypse who has been dormant for 1000’s of years until he awakens again in Egypt. He feels humans have lost their way and wants to cleanse the Earth so only the strong survive and he can rule a better world. He does this by recruiting Magneto, Psylocke, Storm and Angel as the Four Horsemen.
The good guys have a few new recruits too as we see young versions of the likes of Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Jean Grey. This trio serves as the “new blood” of the team and have a good amount of screentime, while several other familiar faces return including one famous cameo.
Let’s start off by telling you what’s good about the movie. I am glad to say I was never bored while watching the film even though it lasts for over 144 minutes. The new trio of Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Jean Grey are likeable and have good chemistry with one another. Nightcrawler is the best of the bunch, but the other two aren’t too bad either.
However, the star of the show is Evan Peter’s Quicksilver again. If you loved his famous sequence in Days of Future Past, you’ll be happy to know a similar scene plays out in Apocalypse. Peters is also the funniest person in the movie and always shines when he’s on-screen.
The person with the most character development is Michael Fassbender’s Magneto. Without going into too much detail, let’s just say he has the most emotional scenes in the entire film. Fassbender is able to make the emotional scenes realistic and is the best actor in the entire film.
Now let’s get to the parts of the film that might disappoint other viewers. The main villain, Apocalypse, is a bit of a let-down in my opinion. Oscar Isaac does his best to make the character look menacing, but he’s far from the big badass that he has been portrayed in the cartoons and comics. Not to mention he looks small unlike Marvel’s Thanos who is tall and muscular.
Some fans have also criticized that this film is all about Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique. Well she doesn’t hog the whole movie, comic book fans might think it’s weird that Mystique is portrayed as a role model and hero in this film. This is odd as the character has historically been a villain.
As for the action scenes, they are okay but they’re not epic or creative. I feel apart from one scene, the movie’s action scenes (especially the climax) isn’t as exciting as in other movies I’ve seen recently. Maybe it’s because I’m spoiled for choice thanks to the efforts made from Marvel and DC lately.
Overall, X-Men Apocalypse is watchable and is not horrible. It’s not as good as First Class and Days of Future Past, but it fails to reach the heights of other comic books movies that feature far better action and stronger characters. It’s a 3.5/5 stars from me.
