Why X-Men Is My Guilty Pleasure…
Yesterday I was finally able to view a movie that I’ve been waiting to see for months, X-Men: Apocalypse. Despite some of the less than stellar reviews about the film that had been coming out, I was still eagerly excited to see my favorite team of superheroes band together again, and by the end of the film I was not disappointed.
As a film critic and enthusiast, I most certainly could see some of the faults that led some critics to speak negatively of the film (“Apocalypse” being an underwhelming villain, recycled plots/themes, convoluted story telling, etc.), but as a X-Men fan, I was definitely left satisfied. In my opinion, many things separate the X-Men film franchise (or “Cinematic Universe,” if you will) from those of “other” superhero films, and that is a significant aspect to why I love the X-Men team so much. These characters seem to have so much more depth to them and relatability than those of the Avengers or Justice League heroes. Most “X-Men” (with the exception of Charles Xavier) are average, middle-class, insignificant people, who have been blessed (or cursed, depending how you look at it) with “mutations” that give them extraordinary powers. This, in comparison to being billionaire playboys or scientists who make their own powers through expensive weaponized suits, allows the audience to feel more for these characters.
On top of the relatability, director and original creator of the X-Men film franchise, Bryan Singer, has brought so much depth to the characters that he adapted over the course of all these films, that many of us feel like we’ve truly grown with these characters. Though some may argue that you can say the same for the characters created in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I personally feel that many of the marvel characters are one-dimensional, resulting in films were you already know what will happen at the end (and if you say that you genuinely thought Iron Man or Captain America would kill each other in Civil War then you are WAY too naive for your own good). This isn’t to say that I don’t still enjoy the MCU films, but I find that more seems to be at stake personally for each character in the X-Men films, resulting in more intimate involvement with the characters and stories.
Now, as I said earlier, X-Men: Apocalypse did have its faults, but to me they seemed more superficial, and the good far outweighed the bad. X-Men: The Last Stand and the ATROCITY that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine were definitely worse off films than the Apocalypse addition, by a long shot. Many people complained that this film had too many characters again, a similar problem for X-Men: The Last Stand, but I feel that this was to appeal to long time comic fans who actually could understand the significance of each character either being introduced or brought back. Seeing Nightcrawler again, or meeting Jubilee, or even Blobs cameo and the pseudo-easter egg of Magnetos daughter, was definitely worthwhile to those of us who know who all of these characters are, regardless what other critics may say. Adding to this, I felt that the story was actually much less convoluted than early reviews made it out to be. As long as you had enough of an attention span to actually WATCH the movie and think for two and a half hours, you should be able to understand who each character is and why they are doing what they do to progress the story line.
In the end, I for one feel that this is a fine addition the the X-Men universe, a universe that, even with its faults, is still one I hold dear to my heart. I hope that Bryan Singer doesn’t allow detractors to dissuade him from making another X-Men film, because I believe that he has the best envisionment for the series, even if it isn’t always true to the comics.
One last thing…if you have yet to see the movie, be sure to stay for the post-credits scene. It may not seem like much, but a simple use of “Google” can really explain the significance of what is shown!
