X-Men: Apocalypse Review
After First Class revitalized the franchise, and Days of Future Past destroyed the timeline to create anew, Apocalypse had a lot to live up to in terms of old characters, and new, and for the most part this was a very enjoyable film that I think people should go out and see.
Right off the bat the film focuses on the title villain, who is never referred to as Apocalypse, and how he was betrayed and trapped for thousands of years. The scope is epic, and for ancient Egyptian action I have to admit that I was impressed with how these everyday guards were able to trap Apocalypse, the world's oldest and strongest mutant.
For most of the film you are introduced to the new characters. You have Apocalypse's horsemen consisting of Storm, Angel, Psylocke, and Magneto. You have Hank (Beast), Xavier, Havoc, and Mystique either recruiting new mutants or teaching their fellow mutants at Xavier's newly opened school for the gifted. The film also introduces characters like Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, and reintroduces Quicksilver. Already that's thirteen characters that are all trying to have their own moments and character arcs, and for the most part I thought the film did a great job in balancing everybody out.
I think the most impressive part of the X-Men franchise has always been that they were able to balance characters wonderfully. Their cast has always been jam packed, and I never once thought they'd short sighted anyone. Everyone had at least one great moment, and the newer characters had enough about them to show that they have potential. Comic fans will squeal at how may characters they've lifted off the pages, and the final shots of the film, while newer or casual fans will finally get a taste for what makes these characters great. The two characters that really stood out for me was Kodi Smit-PcPhee as Nightcrawler, and Evan Peters as Quicksilver. Both of them just put a giant smile on my face as I watched them Bamf, and run in style. To me, these two actors are the definition of these characters.
The way I saw it, this film has the A-team (all the X-Men character's we've seen in the previous two movies) and the B-team (all the new mutants). Obviously the B-team weren't essential to the movie, but they were in it more than I thought they would be, and in many cases I actually loved what they did with them. The A-team are already masters at their characters. Magneto is very sympathetic in this film, and Charles feels like he's getting closer and closer to his older self in this film. Both actors, McAvoy and Fassbender, bring their A-game to this film. You can feel their emotions through the screen and their chemistry is just off the charts. If there was a character I thought could have been better it was Mystique. It seems like this character has been pushed to the forefront of the X-Men franchise ever since First Class, and with a big star like Jennifer Lawrence I can see why, however, it felt like Jennifer Lawrence was playing herself for most this movie, not Mystique. Her lines felt bored, and most of the time she wanted to blend in with the humans (which almost goes against her character).
As I said before, the scope of this film is epic. You believe that Apocalypse can take down the world, but I will say that he doesn't get much of a character. Witch is a waste since he is played by the great Oscar Isaac! But for what we got, I did like him, I just thought he was more of a generic villain. On the plus side, the action and visuals of this film are wonderful, and if anything this is a great popcorn film.
Overall, I'd say Apocalypse doesn't live up to its potential, but it does balance characters expertly, while always giving you a wider scope to the X-Men universe. It gives you a good taste of the mutants passing the torch as you see Jean, Scott, and Nightcrawler practicing to be the next generation, while also getting more of your favorite characters like Charles Xavier and Magneto. Mystique was definitely the odd one out in this film, mostly because of Jennifer Lawrence. The film is packed with characters and plot, and while it could have been better, it still is a good movie that I think many people would enjoy.
B-
