"Everything they've built will fall! And from the ashes of their world, we'll build a better one!"
Filmology Rating: 2.8 out of 4
The title of the newest iteration of the X-Men franchise may lead you to believe that this will be the greatest and most impactful film in the series history. Serving as the newest film in the reboot trilogy that began with 2011’s excellent X-Men First Class, X-Men: Apocalypse serves as the weakest film in the new trilogy, and one of the weaker films in a series that has spanned over a decade.
Contained within X-Men: Apocalypse are all the necessary elements needed to make an above average blockbuster. X-Men: Apocalypse has an immensely large budget, impressive CGI, plenty of talented actors, and a series that is both established and popular. So why does Apocalypse fail? A good deal of the blame falls on director Bryan Singer, and writer Simon Kinberg. Back in 2011 director Mathew Vaughn reinvigorated the stagnant X-Men franchise with First Class. First Class recast the trio of important characters from the original series as their younger selves with James McAvoy playing Charles Xavier (Professor X), Michael Fassbender playing Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto), and Jennifer Lawrence playing Raven (Mystique). Vaughn essentially created a Cold War spy thriller where the main characters were also mutants. First Class was not only an entertaining X-Men film, but also a more personal film that cared about its many characters and their backstories. Director Bryan Singer returned to direct the follow-up Days of Future Past which combined the characters and stories of the original trilogy and the new trilogy into a film that was both entertaining and inventive. Although Days of Future Past paid less attention to its characters than First Class, the film cleverly incorporated and played on the 1970s time period while also displaying a greater deal of mutants and their fantastic powers. It is only apparent now that the changes in direction between First Class and Days of Future Past were a signal of the poor changes to come.
X-Men Apocalypse begins by giving us the backstory of the new villain Apocalypse. We learn quickly that Apocalypse is the first mutant who used his powers to preserve and enhance his powers over thousands of years. Apocalypse used his power to create followers that would help him control the entire world. Apocalypse is buried and the world is left to develop into the world of today. The movie picks up again in the 1980s where we are introduced to a Professor X that is managing a school for mutants, a Magneto that is leaving a peaceful life in hiding, and a Mystique that is doing all she can to save mutants from harm. Events transpire and Apocalypse returns to control the world he believes is rightfully his.
One thing X-Men: Apocalypse does have is a generous amount of superhuman abilities on display. Some audience members who were taken aback by the lack of action in X-Men: First Class will be happy to find that Apocalypse is filled with action scenes. Whether they are of the same level of quality as previous films is up for debate. Newcomers to the series including Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, and Kodi Smit-McPhee turn in good performances as the younger mutants, but the script gives them very little to do. Nicholas Hoult also returns as Beast, and Evan Peters returns as the wildly comical Quicksilver. Quicksilver plays a more prominent role in Apocalypse and gives us another standout scene showcasing his powers that is reminiscent of his scene in Days of Future Past. One noticeable shortcoming of Apocalypse is the villain himself. Played by Oscar Isaac, Apocalypse seems like a character that neither the director nor the writer knew how to handle. While Oscar Isaac is one of my favorite actors working today, he is given almost no free reign to contribute his talent to the character of Apocalypse. The extensive makeup stifles the character and the randomized voice enhancements make the character even less intimidating. Poor handling of a villain of this much importance serve to make the film far less effective than it could have been. A distinct lack of care for the villain is mirrored in the handling of all of the cast members. While events in the film should be incredibly impactful, the lack of focus on the characters weakens the film to a point where I cannot wholeheartedly recommend.
Is Apocalypse a terrible movie? It is not. The action scenes and the actors alone make this film worth a viewing. But, the slow drift away from characters in favor of action and entertainment are weakening a series that was just beginning to get back on its feet. I can only hope that a new director and a more delicate touch can save the X-Men series from going down that path it’s currently on.
Rating: See It
-Tyler
The first mutant has been woken up and is not happy with how the world is being run by humans and a weaker species of man. He sets out to recruit 4 strong leaders to join him and together, destroy the world and rebuild a world with mutants in control. Together, the X-Men must work together to take on a seemingly invincible and all powerful mutant and his 4 followers and save mankind.
X-Men: Apocalypse has been getting a lot of hate by movie critics and a lot of normal viewers but for me…. I actually really enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun with this movie. While I can see the issues and flaws that this movie has, I was still able to overcome those flaws and still have a lot of fun with the movie. While it doesn’t quite reach the level of the previous two films in the most recent trilogy, First Class and Days of Future Past, I still think that this was good film.
Now I’ll get the flaws out of the way really quick. I think that the villain Apocalypse with all the powers and abilities that came with him, wasn’t quite intimidating or dynamic enough. Oscar Isaac is a phenomenal actor but I just don't think they gave enough powerful lines or emotion enough to really grab the audience and to really feel his immense power. He is a little to monotone with his deep almost hushed voice effect but it never showed emotion till the very end and by then it was too late. Also, this movie incorporates a lot of prior characters and details that sometimes go back to the very beginning films. While I really thought this was a cool idea and created some fun revelations, it forces the viewer to recall a lot of different information throughout the 16 years they have been making X-Men movies. Now with the bringing off these old characters back into this most recent trilogy, it had a feeling like they were trying to progress into the future while still looking to the past and trying to bring that up to speed. While this was not an issue for me, in fact I enjoyed it, I can see how many might see this as an issue.
When it comes to the characters such as Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), and Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), I thought that they did an excellent job. Magneto or Erik Lensherr goes through a very traumatic event that once again pushes him over the edge of that fine line of being a good guy or bad guy. It was an incredibly powerful scene that leads to an emotional speech a little later. Fassbender is an incredible talent and someone that really nails all the deep trauma and emotion that comes with Magneto. He rides this fine line of good an evil so well. James McAvoy has always been fantastic as both a badass leader and also a gentle mentor to the young mutants who are fearful of what they are capable of. In the finale, he has an epic fight with Apocalypse that really appealed to the inner nerd in me. Now Mystique is something that a lot of people have issues with but I saw it as being far from that. At the end of X-Men First Class, she really accepts who she is and accepts the majestic blue creature she is. Then, she loses her way in Days of Future Past and almost went through with an assassination but after a changing of heart and some other factors, was deemed a hero. However, after what she had done, she feels far from that and hides who she really is (her disguise being Jennifer Lawrence). Mystique is struggling to once again accept herself but this time as a hero and a leader. Alongside the main three, there were a lot of good characters and good acting between the group. Even Peters as Quicksilver was awesome again and even improved on the hilarious slow motion scene that was in Days of Future Past by giving us 2 slow motion scenes, both of which were a lot of fun!
Along with the great acting and emotional appeal that X-Men Apocalypse delivers, it also brings a lot of great visual effects as well. Director Bryan Singer has sometimes been known for bringing great visuals to the screen but falling short when it comes to movies having emotional depth and a strong plot. This was not the case with this film which was a pleasant surprise! I thought the plot was really engaging and even though the character of Apocalypse wasn’t the best, I was interested in his background. I found the idea of the first mutant centuries ago was looked to as a “god” both interesting and also realistic. To a primitive culture, a man with superhuman abilities was godlike.
So for me, the plot, the visuals, the action, the characters, the emotion, and the comedic relief at times all added up to be an entertaining movie. It’s not perfect by any means but it is at least enjoyable.
Rating: See It
-Nick