X-Men Apocalypse

The X-Men movies have an interesting history under the production of 20th Century Fox. At the time when superhero movies couldn't be taken seriously, studios were determined to make them as realistic and dark as possible for the cynical audiences and for the most part people enjoyed them. With their rise of popularity with X2: X-Men United (2003), followed by critical bombs with X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), to eventually becoming beloved again with X-Men: First Class (2011) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). Now because of how comic book movies has been on a rise with praise with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Fox is hoping to cash off of that trend to make more references to their source material with X-Men Apocalypse (2016). Would the mutants be able to rise up as their own successful franchise again or would this film be the sign that they either need to stop or be sold back to Marvel?

Years ago in ancient Egypt, a being named En Sabah Nur, also known as Apocalypse played by Oscar Issac, was believed to be the first mutant ever born so he ruled over the land as their God. Until one day he was betrayed by a rebellion and put into sleep by his safeguards until years later. He rises up in 1983 to see how much humanity has changed, believing them to be weak without his presence, Apocalypse intends to destroy the modern world and remake it in his own image.

Set during the time of the X-Men's younger days since the events of Days of Future Past, Charles Xavier, played by James McAvoy, recruits the newest members to his group which consists of Scott Summers, played by Tye Sheridan, and Jean Grey, played by Sophie Turner. Meanwhile Mystique, played by Jennifer Lawrence, rescues two mutants from being prisoners in a fight match with one of them unfortunately recruited by En Sabah Nur himself to become one of his four horsemen of Apocalypse. 

With the two sides being formed, Erik Lehnsherr, played by Micheal Fassbender, lives a secluded life in alias with his wife and daughter in Poland in peace, until he used his magnetic powers to save a co-worker that he was discovered as Magneto and loses his family as a result. Erik's grief earned the attention of Apocalypse himself who recruits him after helping advance Magneto's power.

Apocalypse eventually discovers Xavier's psychic powers and attempts to use that said power to prevent interference from nuclear weapons, have his horsemen to spread destruction across the globe and plans to transfer his consciousness into Xavier's body and use his new power to enslave the minds of the survivors. So it is a race against time for the X-Men to rescue their friends, the other mutants and stop Apocalypse from his mad desire for world domination.

X-Men Apocalypse left me with mixed results when seeing the film. On the one hand you see the characters looking much closer to their comic book counterparts than before, also the action is great and easy to follow. But the story goes ALL over the place and some of the actors felt like they were just phoning it in, especially Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique. Since First Class, her character was much more interesting as she was sympathetic but also tragic, but in Apocalypse, Lawrence's performance felt like she was just there for her paycheck. As a result her character didn't feel like it had much importance compared to Days of Future Past. But her sub par acting is actually an example of the biggest problem with the film.

While the actors did their best with what they had to work with, the film's story just wasn't that engaging. The problem to me was its tone; it felt too dull and repetitive for a story that was building up to what was supposed to be the end of the world. It repeats a lot of the common complains about the past X-Men films when they started back in 1999, you get that you're supposed to feel for the mutants since they are a target for prejudice from everyone else. But the problem is that we've seen that so many times that it felt like the franchise hasn't moved on. It is like the people at Fox believe we've never seen any of the past X-Men films before this one.

Two other problems held X-Men Apocalypse back as well, one is that there is lack of tension. Apocalypse is supposed to be an all powerful being who is like a God and the personification of Doomsday, but the slow pace and average performances doesn't pull the audience in to the looming threat. Days of Future Past worked since we saw what became of the world in the future and how the X-Men are trying to avert it, every move counts as you feel time is against them. With Apocalypse it feels like the film is on auto pilot. The other problem is a minor one but completely pointless to the film where we see a fight sequence of Hugh Jackman reprising his role as Wolverine. His character served no purpose to the film but to advertise the next Wolverine movie. It ruins the pace of the film when they're trying to advertise another film right in the middle of the action.

Despite my problems with the film, X-Men Apocalypse certainly did have great moments that I enjoyed. While most of the acting is average, two of the biggest scene stealers belong to Magneto and Quicksilver. Fassbender once again delivers a powerful performance as the Master of Magnetism as you feel his sorrow and anger within the story. While not as significant as in Days of Future Past, Fassbender gives all that he has to show why Magneto is a tragic figure but also a powerful threat. With the film going back and forth from being either dull or dreary, Quicksilver's character is the saving grace to bring some smiles to the audience. There is an entire sequence where he saves the inhabitants of the Mutant Academy that is hilariously delightful. Set to the tone of Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics, the entire sequence with how Quicksilver saves everyone but also provides goofy moments on one hand feels so out of place that you're not sure if its appropriate, but it serves to see how an effective superhero he is that it was just fun to watch.

In the end I can't say that I regretted seeing X-Men Apocalypse, as there are moments I enjoyed, but the flaws of the film keep it from being an excellent movie. Thankfully its no where near as bad as The Last Stand or as boring as Origins: Wolverine, if anything, this film is just average in the end. Its good but it could've been much better too. I can recommend this for die hard X-Men fans, but for the causal movie goers, give it a watch at least once and come to your own conclusion.