X-Men: Apocalypse Review
The X-Men franchise is different things to different people. Some naysayers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe bathe in the glories of the Bryan Singer-led franchise and rejoice in the Deadpool phenomenon earlier this spring. Others just don’t care for the series and find the claws of Wolverine and the band of mutants behind him a bore or just too unbelievable. For me, I was in the latter opinion for a long time, that was until X-Men: First Class (2011) came out. Even then I waited until DVD to see it, but when I did it was a pretty good movie, despite me being lost on a couple of concepts. With the previous film in the franchise, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) being a financial and critical success, it seemed that 20th Century Fox could do no wrong going forward with the franchise; the previous errors of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) had been obliterated with a new timeline, and the melding of the First Class characters with the likes of Wolverine and Storm made for one of the best films of the year. Then Fantastic Four (2015) happened, or as it is liked to be called, Fan4stic. With such a gigantic failure financially and especially critically, the future of Marvel’s X-Men and Fantastic Four brands at Fox were uncertain. However Deadpool (2016) seemed to be the best answer possible for the studio, becoming an unprecedented hit for an R-rated superhero film at the box office as well as well-received by critics and die-hard fans.
Still, eyes were on X-Men: Apocalypse to see if the trend continued or if Marvel Studios biggest wish, to get their X-Men characters back in their court, could come true. Well, the reception has been almost a 50/50 split with both fans and critics. Whether or not Mystique will next be seen standing next to Hulk or Thor seems to be answered, though. That answer is no. Despite the mixed reviews, the film is solidly on its way to making the studio a profit, maybe not the same profit they got from Deadpool or Days of Future Past, but it’ll be enough to keep them in the game. So how was the movie?
X-Men: Apocalypse is a mixed bag, indeed. When it hits, it hits hard and well. When it misses, though, it leaves the audience cold and bored. Keeping with the spirit of being mixed or split, that’s how my opinion on the film looks, too. The first half of the film, or so, worked for me. Despite a couple of questionable moments (like why would-be assassin Mystique now is favored upon is beyond me) I got wrapped up in the stories of the mutants and even a little intrigued into the Apocalypse character. We especially get some of the strongest character moments we’ve ever had in the series with Michael Fassbender’s Magneto character. To refrain from spoilers, I won’t mention which scene specifically, but one scene in particular shows just how great Fassbender is as an actor, even in a role that isn’t going to be taken seriously of Oscar consideration. And like Days of Future Past, the character of Quicksilver gets a shining moment where we see his speedy skills on display which is very entertaining.
Then right after the Quicksilver scene we see the return of Stryker, a supporting villain from Days of Future Past who is linked to helping create Wolverine’s adamantium claws. As soon as his little subplot comes in, the film begins to drag significantly and unfortunately nothing in the final hour or so of the film reaches the heights of greatness we had in the first part of the film. This whole subplot where several X-Men get kidnapped by Stryker just seems to be an excuse for Wolverine, or Weapon X as he is in the film, to make a cameo. Literally nothing intriguing or plot-advancing happens with the captured X-Men or Apocalypse. It’s like Apocalypse is just waiting for his enemies to come back to challenge him before he tries to end the world. And yes, we get the now standard world-ending event that needs all the good heroes to join together to stop the bad guy ending right out of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). At least Age of Ultron came to my mind because we have some poor level special effects shown throughout the conclusion, except this time instead of Avengers destroying robots we have Magneto sending a stream of metal in several directions. Yawn. We even get the concluding scene where we see the next line-up of X-Men, including some new characters from this film and some classic characters from the previous entries, again straight outta Ultron.
Several have speculated that from here on, the X-Men franchise will base their films around the new characters introduced in this film: Jean Grey, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Storm to name a few. There may be more that we haven’t been introduced to yet or that I just can’t remember. Sorry, I’m not an X-Men nut so I don’t know every last character by name. As far as how these characters are, none of the new or returning actors bothered me. In fact, the story of Scott Summers/Cyclops and how he gets his powers was one of the best parts of the film, and his introduction to Jean and their budding friendship which could become something more down the line, was well done, too. Of course I’m down for more Quicksilver in the future and the continuing friendship/rivalry between Xavier and Magneto has and will continue to intrigue me and others, too. In fact, thinking back to Days of Future Past again, my favorite scene wasn’t, in fact, the Quicksilver “Time in a Bottle” scene, it was the scene where Magneto tries to crash the plane with Xavier, Beast, and Wolverine in it where Fassbender and McAvoy get into arguments. Just to see the dynamics between the two was wonderful acting and well-written, too. Unfortunately X-Men: Apocalypse never has a scene between these two characters that excited me or stuck with me the way the plane scene in Days of Future Past did.
As you can see, I’m referencing Days of Future Past a lot. I guess after such a terrific movie, the follow-up will always have a high expectation to meet. X-Men: Apocalypse reminds me of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) or even more recently The Dark Knight Rises (2012) where the previous entry, whether it be Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) or The Dark Knight (2008) where the previous entry was just so good that it’s almost impossible to top. This shouldn’t detract from the next film, though. Both Star Trek III and Dark Knight Rises have moments that shine and make them great movies, even if they don’t top the last one. I think Apocalypse fits in with this crowd. While I don’t think it will be remembered as fondly as Days of Future Past, just because it isn’t quite as good doesn’t mean it’s all bad.
My rating: 8/10.
