Another spring/summer weekend, another superhero movie. This time it’s X-Men: Apocalypse, and while it’s no Captain America: Civil War, it lives up to its name and is a hell of a lot of fun.
First Class set the bar high, as it showed us the incredibly interesting and complex motivations that have made these characters who we know them to become. Days of Future Past shook up everything we knew about the X-Men and challenged us to believe in a crazy version of time travel. Apocalypse brings the story full circle as it attempts to give our scattered heroes a chance to find their way back to common ground.
It may not be the strongest movie of the summer, or even the strongest of the comic book genre’s finest fare, but it’s a damn fine trip to the movies and will keep you interested until the last frame.
Strengths
All about that cast
This cast has been a blessing to this trio of X-Men films, as Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, James McAvoy, and Michael Fassbender have continued to knock the unique and entertaining dynamics amongst their characters out of the park.
While Jennifer Lawrence may not have had the meatiest morsels of plot to chew on in this film, McAvoy and Fassbender shone brightly like the stars they are. Fassbender’s portrayal of Erik’s attempts to disappear into normal life are moving and heartbreaking in the film’s first act, and watching Apocalypse manipulate him to his own means wrenches your heart even more as the story goes on.
McAvoy’s acting prowess comes in selling even the most extreme manipulations as totally viable in the world of the X-Men. Much of Xavier’s ability is invisible and requires the most intense dedication to make it feel as potent and powerful as we know it to be. McAvoy has never failed to draw the viewer right into his eyes and sell the psychic’s ability to connect the minds of the world.
Kickass ladies
The ladies in this film bring everything to a higher plane. While Raven’s story was a bit subdued from her previous arcs, Jean Grey, Storm, and even Psylocke pull this film out of murky beginnings to show just how formidable and impressive these ladies can be.
Getting Jean Grey right has been a challenge for the X-Men film franchise, and that challenge is just as great in X-Men: Apocalypse. Watching Jean’s struggle not only to control and master her powers, but to fit in with a school full of children with only a fraction of the power she has at her fingertips makes her a sympathetic and awe-inspiring character in X-Men: Apocalypse. The difference between this film and X-Men: The Last Stand lay in how they went about displaying Jean’s incredible power. While The Last Stand put her squarely in the threat category, Apocalypse found a way to make her the only hero up to the job of stopping a deity-like, almost invincible mutant.
In addition to Jean Grey, we met a young Psylocke and an even younger Storm as they fought side by side with Apocalypse. While Psylocke’s contributions may not have been as influential to the story, it was fun to see her in action and we hope somewhere down the line we may have an opportunity to see her wield her psychic katana again.
The first two films in this series had one glaring omission from the team of mutant fighters: Storm. Even the most casual of fans knows about Storm and her awesome ability to control the weather. It was fascinating to see her origins in X-Men: Apocalypse, and we hope that somewhere down the line we get more of her story.
New Kids on the Block
This film brings a host of new mutants to the forefront. While Magneto, Mystique, Professor X, and Beast are back in all their glory, the new kids make a huge impact on the story as well as the enjoyment factor. Seeing a young Scott Summers come to terms with his ability alongside Jean Grey and Kurt Wagner brings all our favorite X-Men out to play.
To say we are impressed by Alexandra Shipp, Tye Sheridan, and Kodi Smit-McPhee is most definitely an understatement, but Sophie Turner is the real standout. She brings a solid and grounded quality to Jean Grey that makes her incredible abilities seem even more formidable. We can only hope that more X-Men films are in this franchise’s future, because we definitely didn’t get enough of this new batch of heroes.
Flashbacks
Last, but never least, the use of flashbacks to remind how far each of these characters has come from First Class is a stroke of genius. In addition to reminding us where it all began, the flashback montages provided a rich and layered history to this film that was definitely necessary to balance the other-worldly quality of an ancient villain such as Apocalypse.
Weaknesses
Not-so-stellar CGI
It wasn’t downright awful or anything, but there were a few instances in this film in which the CGI left a lot to be desired. It definitely doesn’t detract from the performances of its cast, but unrealistic CGI has a dampening effect on any scene’s excitement. The final battle has some questionable effects choices littered throughout, a few of which involved Psylocke and Angel. Again, it doesn’t hinder the enjoyment of the film as a whole, but it does detract from the film’s initial impact.
Clunky villain
When you have a villain as all-powerful as Apocalypse, it’s hard to bring nuance to the table. Oscar Isaac did a great job of acting through the makeup and prosthetics, but the trappings of Apocalypse seem to harness him rather than unleash everything that makes him intimidating and scary. Close ups on the character did not instill the fear that you hope to feel from an ancient evil as intense as that of En Sabah Nur.
Apocalypse presented the difficult and seemingly insurmountable challenge we hoped he would for our young mutants, but we just think that different aesthetic choices may have made him a more terrifying adversary.
Ultimately
This movie isn’t flawless, but it’s a great example of why comic book movies are just so damn fun. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and reminds us why we keep coming back for more X-Men movie after movie. The inside jokes regarding terrible third films and references to all that has come before only add to the enjoyment factor. Grab a friend, some popcorn, and settle in for two and half hours of non-stop adventure designed to give us a break from the hum-drum-ness of everyday life.
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