There have been six X-Men movies, and two (with a third upcoming) Wolverine movies that tie into the franchise. That’s a considerable amount of X-Men. I can say that I am a fan of the X-Men films, and I own a Blu-Ray set that features most of the films. Of all of the X-Men movies though, my favorite has to be Days of Future Past. That movie just felt so raw, so emotionally charged, and left me feeling like I had experienced a whole new side to the X-Men (on film at least). 2016 gave us the sequel to Days of Future Past; X-Men Apocalypse. Does Apocalypse hold up to the standard that Days of Future Past gave us?
In short, no. But that is not to say its a bad movie. I thoroughly enjoyed X-Men Apocalypse. Set a decade after Days of Future Past, Apocalypse features the rise of ancient X-Men baddy En-Sabah-Nur, or Apocalypse. Awaking in modern day and gathering his Horsemen (comprised of classic X-Men Storm and Angel, Psylocke, and Magneto), Apocalypse sets off to take over the world. The X-Men of course oppose him, and with the help of new students Jean Grey (Phoenix), Scott Summers (Cyclops), and Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler), they rage a crazy, special-effects laden battle.
The plot was not as coherent or deep as Days of Future Past, though it certainly tries to be. As expected with an X-Men story, there are comments about acceptance, being different, etc., but nothing more intense or thought-provoking than what we’ve already seen.
The ‘new’ characters really were my favorite part of the film however. Seeing these characters appear on screen again (some for the first time) was great fun, as it usually is. Cyclops was fun, and I think the movie did a really nice job of capturing Jean’s Phoenix powers. Nightcrawler was cool and had some silly moments, but he kinda felt like a plot device at times. Angel was cool but underdeveloped, as well as Storm. Psylocke had a lot of emphasis put on her scenes that made her out to be way more important than she actually was, and her character honestly falls flat by not really doing anything. Quicksilver was my personal favorite in the film; he received more development than his previous appearance in Days of Future Past, but I once again feel like there were some missed opportunities with him.
The film’s biggest downfall however was trying to cram so much into what seemed a relatively short plot. There were so many strange jumps from serious scenes to goofy scenes back to serious things. At times, it felt as if the film wasn’t sure what kind of tone it was going for.
X-Men Apocalypse is rated PG-13 for violence, destruction, and some strong language. While not the best of the X-Franchise, I can still recommend this movie to fans of the series. Outside of that, if you want to introduce a friend to the X-Men films, consider saving this one for later on down the line. X-Men Apocalypse is now available on DVD (Insert-Amazon-Link-Here) and many video-on-demand services. If you’ve got some time, and like the X-Men films, you might consider checking this one out! But compared to its predecessor, Apocalypse doesn’t come close.
See you next time!!
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