Official Site 

Director: Bryan Singer

Writers: Simon Kinberg (screenplay), Bryan Singer (story)

Runtime: 2hr 23 min

Main Cast:

• James McAvoy as Professor Charles Xavier
• Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
• Jennifer Lawrence as Raven / Mystique
• Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy / Beast
• Oscar Isaac as En Sabah Nur / Apocalypse
• Rose Byrne as Moira Mactaggert
• Evan Peters as Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver
• Sophie Turner as Jean Grey
• Tye Sheridan as Scott Summers / Cyclops
• Lucas Till as Alex Summers / Havok
• Kodi Smit-McPhee as Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler
• Ben Hardy as Angel
• Alexandra Shipp as Ororo Munroe / Storm
• Lana Condor as Jubilee

Review: by Sam

The next installment of Bryan Singer's X-Men movies is here...yay?

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When I watch comic book movies something I like to do is take the plot/story of the movie and think about if I would have enjoyed reading it as a comic book. Or graphic novel I then think about if the film brought things from the comic in away that I would expect. When I think about X-men: Apocalypse, I’d say it feels like a 2-hour movie that covers 1 issue of something like an 8-part comic book series.

That is to say, I enjoyed the idea of this film, but the execution left me wanting for more- MUCH more- but more on that later.

What I Liked:

The plot of the film is one that I have to place as both a like and dislike. I enjoyed that the movie took elements of the X-men and crafted a story based on series instead of taking an existing comic storyline and simply recreating it for the big screen. Not that taking direct storylines are bad at all (I mean, have you seen Captain America: Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War?), but a movie taking characters and telling a semi-original tale that I have not already read is a good thing in my opinion, when it’s done well. Apocalypse- the biggest and baddest mutant there is has finally introduced himself to the X-Men. The original mutant has returned after spending millennia buried underneath the sands of Egypt and is NOT happy with what has become of the world he once ruled with an iron fist so he decides to change it. To that end, he recruits mutants to become his 4 Horsemen to aid him in ”cleansing” the planet. The 4 horsemen of Apocalypse are a HUGE deal in the comic books, and their roster is ever-changing with Apocalypse replacing the four at his side constantly. The roster the movie chose is an original one not from the comics which includes Angel, Psylocke, Storm, and the master of magnetism Magneto. Those 4- THOSE FOUR joined forces with Apocalypse, and only the mutants of Charles Xavier can stop them. The comic geek in me is giddy looking at this story as it seems to be a big screen showdown among some the most powerful characters Marvel has to offer.  And, the movie did its job setting the stage and getting you excited for the action.

A big problem many and I have had with these X-Men films is that they didn’t seem to make much sense at all when it came to timelines. Mutants that should be certain ages are either far younger or older than they should be. It seems as if each film, Bryan Singer just throws in whichever mutants he can have fun with regardless of it makes sense based on the comics or even based on his own Universe (more that later).

However, I enjoyed this group of X-men. I think putting the young X-men of Scott, Jean, Kurt, and Jubilee (though she had might have said two words) was a good move. I enjoyed the actors in these roles. I thought they LOOKED exactly as I would expect them to; and, they did a good job bringing what life they could to the characters despite a script that limited their lines.

Honestly, most of the performances in the film were top notch. No matter what people feel about the film, there is no denying the cast did its job. Three movies in, you know What McAvoy and Fassbender offer- they are as good as ever. Oscar Isaac, underneath the less than perfect makeup, was a commanding and believable Apocalypse. Of course, OF COURSE, Evan Peters’ Quicksilver once again stole the show. His scenes were easily the best (again), and his portrayal of the character brings about 50% of the fun to the movie.

In fact, the “weakest” performance may have been J-Law as Mystique, and she wasn’t awful at all.

It’s been announced that next film will take place in the 90s, and if I get the classic X-men as the focus of the movie with the addition of Quicksilver to the team, I am excited for the future of X-Men.

What I Didn’t Like:

So above you may have noticed all I enjoyed was mostly based on potential and pieces being set that I believe have put the film on the right track. But the movie has its flaws and there were numerous.

Let’s get this out the way. The special effects in this movie were not bad- they just were not AT ALL what anyone would expect from a Hollywood blockbuster. I mean, CW’s Arrow and The Flash are TV shows that have effects comparable to this movie. Psylocke was the clearest example of this- her powers looked like they belonged on the small screen. It may be why she was hardly in the movie and as my favorite X-man I am personally upset.

I mean I really have to wonder in most of Singer’s $200+ Million budget was spent on paying the cast. That may explain why hardly any of the X-men had their powers on display- with the lone exception of Nightcrawler. Magneto spent much of the final act floating the air off-screen, Mystique and Beast remained in human form almost the whole movie. I had actually forgotten Storm was a horseman because she used her power ONLY to call lightning about three times in two hours. Oh, and if you liked Jubilee, be prepared to see ZERO fireworks.

I said I liked and disliked the story. The sell and setup were well done, but the execution was unforgivable. I haven’t said it outright but I will now- the characters HAD NOTHING TO DO. I mean my lord- three of the four horsemen had maybe 30 lines among them- most of which belonged to Angel who was also in the first act of the movie as a cage fighter- though that still didn’t do much to develop his character. Storm, Psylocke, and Angel had zero development. The actors did their jobs but they had very little of a job to do.

The only horseman who had any real impact was Magneto, and if I hadn’t had two movies prior, I would have so many questions about him because this film did not do him any favors.
Of the young X-men introduced (Scott, Jean, Jubilee, and Kurt), Jean had the most development, but again not much. As stated earlier, Jubilee may have said two words but I’m not even sure about that- unforgivable. Scott and Kurt played important roles but at the same time, it felt like they were just there to be there.

Speaking of there to be there, Wolverine has a scene in this movie that I am 100% sure was thrown in post-production simply for fanfare. His scene had no reason to be there at all- AT ALL!
That’s the big problem with this film. What is the focal point? What should I care about? There are so many potentially great storylines that stumble out of the gate and never fully get back up. Scott, Jean, and the young X-men can’t control their powers; Magneto has lost himself and is going through a dark time; The horsemen have put their faith in Apocalypse in hopes of building a new world where their kind will be accepted and reign supreme. All of these are great character building ideas that just never take off in the movie. At the end of the day, you just want to know more- more about the characters, more about the decisions, more about the choices they made off screen, which influence what they do on-screen.

Images Courtesy of IMDB