X-Men: Apocalypse Review

X-Men: Apocalypse, the latest superhero adventure in a summer full of superhero flicks, and a sort of trilogy conclusion to the X-Men: First Class trilogy of films. Can this next X-Men film stand against the various other superhero films this summer? Well, let's find out!

Directed by: Bryan Singer

Genre: Action, Comic Book, Sci-Fi,

Release Date: May 27, 2016

Running Time: 144 minutes

MMPA rating: PG-13

The Good: Quicksilver's scene is one of the best movie scenes all year, Magneto continues to be the emotional core. Superb performances across the board, Epic cameo, Apocalypse is a unique type of evil, Often quite funny, Impressive kills, Excellent new cast, Great soundtrack, 80s setting and references, Star Wars meta-humor, Revising history, Oscar Isaac nails it, Quicksilver is the best thing ever, Impressive special effects, Interesting world building,

The Bad: Less accessible to those not invested in the franchise, One missed opportunity, Somewhat generic finale,

Plot: 7.2/10- Opening with a scene in ancient Egypt, the film shows how Apocalypse was buried for thousands of years before being resurrected in 1982, the setting of the film. After the events of Days of Future Past, mutants are known by, and in some places, accepted among the general public. The world building is the first thing that stands out. X-Men revisionist history of the 1980s contains many of the familiar pop culture references, which makes the alternate world feel real.

One common criticism is that the first hour of the film is slow, and in some respects, that is valid. Personally, the first hour of collecting Apocalypse's Four Horsemen and the introduction of the new X-Men was entertaining throughout. However, my enjoyment of the buildup might be more so due to my love of the characters and franchise.

Apocalypse's weakest aspect is probably the finale. It's not especially unique compared to other superhero movies, at least narratively speaking. The events that take place are quite different and fun, but the central conflict is ultimately: "Bad guy wants to destroy the world. Good guys try to stop him." For me, it wasn't much of an issue.

X-Men's other weak point is that if you are not invested in the X-Men franchise and remember the previous films, much of the depth is lost. X-Men has been around for 16 years, so the lack of accessibility is certainly an issue. Actually, I have noticed that among younger and new superhero movie fans introduced to the genre during the new MCU era, those fans just do not care about the X-Men. They might go see them in theaters, but the fandom is lacking even half the enthusiasm and voice of the MCU, which is a shame. 

Characterization: 8.2/10- Magneto is a highlight in the film. His scenes have so much weight and pathos thanks to Fassbender and the previous development of the character. There is so much emotion to his scenes during the early parts of the film. Unfortunately, he does not play a major role in the middle portion of the film, and the engaging interaction between him and Professor X is minimal. However, everything about his character works so well, despite limited screen time.

Professor X does not have the powerful character arc of Days of Future Past because, at this point, his character is established and stable as he aids the younger generation. Mystique is.... fine the film. Her role serves its purpose in an interesting way for the plot. Hank McCoy, aka Beast, plays a relatively small part as the teacher guiding his students, much like the comics.

Apocalypse, the film's titular antagonist, portrays an interesting type of villainy. Some complain that he lacks menace, partially due to Oscar Isaac's relatively small stature. However, to me, this take on Apocalypse is more of a cult leader giving off an air of benevolence and almost kindness to his followers. Compared to the typical maniacal villain that's trying to takeover the world, Apocalypse's refreshingly calm presence makes for a strong villain. Unfortunately, the finale with Apocalypse is a bit of a letdown after him being such a powerful figure in the comics.

While the other characters all serve their part well, the true standouts are Quicksilver and the new cast members for Scott, Jean, and Nightcrawler. Quicksilver's role and characterization are greatly expanded upon compared to Days of Future Past. And his main scene is absolutely spectacular, easily the best part of the movie; true show stealing stuff. While you might not be able to tell from his part in the original X-Men trilogy, Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, is actually a cool character, almost like the Captain America of the X-Men, so it was great to see a young version of the character being portrayed so well. Jean Grey is equally as stellar in the film, and the subtle romance between the characters is excellently executed. Nightcrawler has been sorely missed from the X-Men films, so it is also great to see his character reestablished. As an X-Men fan, seeing characters other than Wolverine being the focal point is a true pleasure. Storm is also introduced, although her role is smaller, albeit still well executed. With that said, what the heck happened to Jubilee's screen time!?

Direction: 8.5/10- Bryan Singer really knows how to make an X-Men film, despite his reluctance to commit to the classic costumes. His visual style really works, as the film looks and sounds like the 80s. The action sequences, while expectedly inferior to Captain America: Civil War, are rather impressive. The mutant powers on display are fun to watch as no other superheroes have quite the wide range of power sets that the X-Men possess.

Acting: 9.2/10- X-Men's cast is always a highlight and Apocalypse is no exception. Michael Fassbender shines bright with a performance full of gravitas and weight, even more like Sir Ian McKellen's take on the character. Despite having less to do this time around, James McAvoy continues to give a top notch performance. While "phoning-it-in" is an exaggeration, Jennifer Lawrence does not have the type of screen presence compared to her other recent roles, and Nicholas Hoult is always a joy to watch. Oscar Isaac plays the mix of evil and calm excellently as Apocalypse, even if that is not the type of villain viewers expected. Evan Peters’ charisma and charm continues to be a blast to watch as Quicksilver as he steals every scene. Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Alexandra Shipp all play the younger versions of classic characters superbly with Turner being the standout as Jean Grey. Everyone else in the cast are good as well.

Special effects: 8.8/10- Aside from the occasional bit of noticeable CGI, X-Men: Apocalypse actually manages a lot of CGI heavy scenes incredibly well with the powers providing very colorful and exciting visuals. Of course, Quicksilver's sequence is the highlight as it almost makes you wonder how the heck did they pull it off!? 

Soundtrack: 8.5/10- John Ottman returns to score X-Men: Apocalypse, and his work continues to be high quality and fitting for the film. The use of licensed songs from the 80s added a great sense of fun and familiarity to the period setting.

Humor: 8.7/10- Surprisingly, this is a very funny movie at times. Whether it's Professor X stumbling over his words with MacTaggert or Nightcrawler's clumsiness, the humor is really spot. And again, Quicksilver's scene is brilliant and absolutely hysterical!

Entertainment Value: 9.7/10- As an X-Men fan, X-Men: Apocalypse is a pleasure from beginning to end. The bits of fanservice sprinkled throughout certainly made the film even more fun, especially a certain cameo that was apparently spoiled in a trailer, which I did not see. 

Overall: 8.0/10- Making way for the new generation of characters, X-Men: Apocalypse might suffer from a few nagging narrative issues that bring it down from the instant classic territory of the previous two X-Men films, but its exciting new cast, Magneto's riveting scenes, and stunning display of mutant powers makes it a treat for X-Men fans and a fun superhero flick for everyone else. With that said, if you are not invested in, or familiar with the X-Men franchise, the film's score would probably be more of a mid-sevens, rather than a flat eight.

Closing comments: While definitely weaker than either First Class or Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse is a lot better than the Rotten Tomatoes score gives it credit. Sure, it has flaws, but not every superhero flick can be the masterpiece that is Captain America: Civil War. Below is a review by one of my favorite movie critics and top reviewers on YouTube, Chris Stuckmann, that highlights many of the film's strong points.

Recommended for: X-Men fans, Superhero fans, Action fans,

Click here to check out more of my movie reviews.

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Assassin's Creed 2016 First Look at Michael Fassbender

Assassin's Creed 2016 starring Michael Fassbender finally releases a First Look at Fassbender in the costume. Fassbender will be playing Callum Lynch, an original character never before featured in the AC video games. My first impression of this picture is that it looks fine, but it looks almost too much like a video game and Fassbender is too hard to see behind the hood. The film will be following a new story and characters unrelated to the games' main story, or at least that is what is revealed thus far. While seeing a few of the franchise's great characters would have been fun, the series' structure allows for stories branch off of the main narrative, and if executed correctly, this film could be great. However, just like any adaptation, it could be complete garbage, but let's hope that is not the case. What do you think of this first promotional image? Please comment below and let me know!

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X-Men Retrospective and Guide

With the upcoming release of X-Men: Days of the Future, it seemed like a good time for an X-Men retrospective looking back at all the films in the franchise as well as looking to the future of the franchise. The X-Men side of the Marvel universe is every bit as large as the Avengers; there are literally thousands of mutant along with other non-mutant characters related to the X-Men franchise. Despite a rough patch with Origins and X-Men 3: the Last Stand, the X-Men franchise appears to have finally gotten their stuff together with both First Class and the Wolverine turning out better than expected, and with Bryan Singer back for Days of Future Past, the X-Men's future appears bright. X-Men has to be one of the currently longest running franchises not to have had major recasting, like James Bond, or a complete reboot like Spider-Man. Additionally, if you are relatively new to the franchise, and you want to be ready for the upcoming Days of Future Past, I will explain which movies you need to watch, and what order to watch them in. Without further ado, shall we begin?

X-Men

X-Men, the movie that started it all. Sure, Blade was Marvel’s film big screen movie that did not completely suck, X-Men was the first real superhero movie, and it was a strong first effort. Coming off of the Academy Award winning The Usual Suspects, Bryan Singer finally gave audiences a comic book movie that actually takes itself seriously for the most part. Also, a relatively unknown Australia musical star, Hugh Jackman, was cast in the role of the franchise’s most popular character Wolverine, and it was certainly an excellent choice. While the film certainly has flaws, it still holds up well even today.

X2: X-Men United

After a very solid effort with the first X-Men, Bryan Singer kicks it up to another level by improving every aspect of his film. While the first X-Men was a lot of fun, X2: X-Men United was deeper and more complex in terms of the story and character motivation. We finally got to see a glimpse at Wolverine’s past, and the more anti-hero nature of Magneto is present in the film as well. With the exception of Halle Berry continuing to be the worst possible casting choice for Storm, and James Marsden as Cyclops continuing to get the short end of the stick in terms of development, X2 set the new standard for all comic book movie sequels to come.

X-Men 3: The Last Stand

After the awesomeness of X2, the Last Stand was a complete let down. While I do not hate the movie as much as others do, it still completely butchered one of the most iconic comic book stories of all-time, the Phoenix Sage, and now we will likely never see a good adaptation of the story. The lack in quality is due to Bryan Singer leaving the X-Men franchise to direct the even worse Superman Returns, which left Brett Ratner to ruin the movie in Singer’s absence. Despite its major issues, X-Men 3 is still a fun action movie, and a must watch for those wanting to watch the upcoming Days of Future Past since plot points in the film will likely be mentioned in the new film.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Wolverine's origin is one of the most mysterious and best origins in comics, so what did the team over at Fox decide to do? Overload the film with unnecessary characters, more action movie clichés than you can shake a stick at, and special effects that look like they were done in a low budget fan film (as you can see by the gif). On top of that, the film butchers one of the most popular and fun comic book characters, Deadpool! Yeah, saying X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a disaster is a bit of an understatement. Hugh Jackman is the only movie positive is the only thing the film has going for it unfortunately. Fortunately, much of the film is completely retconned with the subsequent films never really referencing any part of them, therefore watching it is completely unnecessary.

X-Men: First Class 

After a long delay in production, First Class was destined to fail, however Matthew Vaughn turned First Class into the best X-Men film yet and one of the few prequels to actually not suck. With a stronger focus on the characters and the themes of acceptance in society, First Class revitalized the X-Men after several years of disappointing films. In fact, First Class is one of the few comic book films that strays from the source material and actually manages to work. However, the film did confuse some viewers by making changes to the film’s continuity that do not entirely make sense. Hopefully Days of Future Past will clear up the confusion with its time-traveling plot.

 The Wolverine

While not as strong as First Class or X2, The Wolverine finally gave fans a Wolverine movie that actually does the character justice. While smaller in scale than the other films, the Wolverine focuses on exactly who it should, Logan. Aside from Viper, there are no unnecessary and random mutants to take the focus away from Wolverine, and it works very well. Even though the third act fell into a few tropes, James Mangold did a excellent adapting Wolverine’s journey in Japan. The Wolverine is not the most necessary film to watch before Days of Future Past, but if you have the option, most definitely watch it if you can because it continues Logan’s storyline.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Based on one of the more popular X-Men comic book storylines, Days of Future Past has been met with positive reviews citing that it may be the best X-Men film to date! Without spoiling too much, the cast of both the original X-Men films and First Class will be coming together for the film.

To summarize what films you should watch before Days of Future Past, the original X-Men trilogy and X-Men: First Class are all must-watches before seeing the new film, and the Wolverine is highly recommended for both being high quality and continuing Wolverine's story. 

With an X-Force and Apocalypse film upcoming, as well as a possible television series in the works, the X-Men's future looks bright!

What are your favorite X-Men movies? Are you a fan of the franchise? Please comment below and let me know. Now, I leave you with the coolest cartoon opening of all-time that defined my childhood.

  

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X-Men: First Class Review.

X-Men: First Class is a reboot of the franchise that takes place in the 60s.

Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Genre: Action, Comic Book, Sci-Fi
Release Date: June 3, 2011 (2011-06-03)
Running Time: 132 minutes
MMPA rating: PG-13


The Good: Best of the X-Men movies, The action scene at the end is one of the best I have ever seen, Amazing special effects, Fourth best comic movie ever, A lot better than The Dark Knight, Excellent acting by the entire cast, The Azazel(the red guy that looks like Nightcrawler) fight scenes are like the opening Nightcrawler scene of X-Men 2 but longer and better, The 1960s setting of the movie is perfect for it, Magneto is one of the best characters in any movie, One of the best soundtracks ever, The Training Montage was great,

The Bad:




Plot: At a German concentration camp in occupied Poland in 1944, scientist Dr. Schmidt observes young Erik Lensherr bend a metal gate with his mind when the child is separated from his parents.
At a mansion in Westchester County, New York, young telepath Charles Xavier meets homeless young shape-shifter Raven. Overjoyed to meet someone else "different" like him, he invites her to live with his family.
In Schmidt's office, Schmidt orders Lensherr to similarly move a Nazi coin on a desk, and kills his mother when the child cannot. In his grief and anger, Lensherr's magnetic power manifests, killing two guards and destroying the room, to Schmidt's delight.
In 1962 (18 years later), an adult Lensherr is tracking down Schmidt to take revenge. In England, Oxford University graduate Xavier, now living alongside "foster sister" Raven, is publishing his thesis on mutation. In Las Vegas, CIA agent Moira MacTaggert follows U.S. Army Colonel Hendry into the Hellfire Club, where she sees Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, and Azazel. After Shaw threatens Hendry, Azazel disappears with the officer. Moments later, Hendry is in the War Room, advocating that the US install nuclear missiles in Turkey. Shaw later kills Hendry, revealing himself as Schmidt and demonstrating the energy-absorbing mutant power that has prevented his aging.
MacTaggert, seeking Xavier's advice on mutation, convinces him and Raven to join her at the CIA, where they convince Director McCone that mutants exist and Shaw is a threat. The unnamed "Man in Black Suit", another CIA executive, sponsors the mutants and invites them to the CIA's secret "Division X" facility. Xavier locates Shaw, arriving in time to stop Lensherr, who had attacked Shaw, from drowning as Shaw escapes. Xavier brings Lensherr to Division X where they meet young scientist Hank McCoy, a prehensile-footed mutant whom Xavier inadvertently outs as a mutant. McCoy, developing a bond with Raven, promises her he will find a way to normalize their appearance. Xavier uses a mutant-locating device, Cerebro, to find and recruit mutants for training to stop Shaw. He and Lensherr find stripper Angel Salvadore; taxi driver Armando Muñoz, who takes the code name Darwin; Army prisoner Alex Summers, who calls himself Havok,  Raven takes the name Mystique, and Sean Cassidy, who dubs himself Banshee. They try to recruit Wolverine, but he declines. Watch the movie to see what happens next.



Plot: 9.8/10- X-Men: First Class's plot is original and has a new take for a Comic Book movie that is  unique and interesting.


Action: 9.9/10- The action scenes in X-Men: First Class were excellent and possibly the best of any comic book movie including Nightcrawler like fight with the character Azazel and an epic fight scene at the end which lasted around 20 minutes,


Acting: 9.9/10- Michael Fassbender was the stand out best but James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Caleb Landry Jones and the entire cast was excellent.


Special effects: 9.7/10- The special effects were amazing.


Soundtrack: 10/10- X-Men: First Class's soundtrack was one of the best I have ever heard truly excellent.


Comedy: 7.8/10- X-Men: First Class is not a comedy but there were a few humorous monments.


Overall: 9.6/10- Overall X-Men: First Class is a top notch movie improves over the other X-Men movies and makes for a great film.


Closing comments: X-Men: First Class is a action packed comic book movie with an intellgent and thoughtful plot.

Note: While not excessive X-Men: First Class contained more mature content than previous X-Men movies were I watched the first X-Men theaters in 2000 (it was rated PG-13 for violence and mild profanity) when I was around 8 or 9 and my brother was 5 or 6. I would not recommend X-Men: First Class for anyone under the age of 13.

Recommended for: Action movie fans, Comic Book movie fans, Anyone old enough, Sci-Fi movie fans,

If you want a second option  Click here to check out Bryon at PERSONAL Movie Reviews review for X-Men: First Class.