X-Men: Apocalypse 2016

I had a lot of fun with "X-Men: Apocalypse" and I expected to. The fun I had is the sole purpose for rating it as highly as I have. It would be unfair to knock it down because of what it is, another supposedly high-stakes, end-of-the-world story where you just know that there is absolutely no danger at all. The mutants, just like the Avengers in 2016's "Captain America: Civil War", have nothing to fear. Nothing permanent will befall any of the superheroes. They all just beat the crap out of everything and each other and then grimace and quip after every punch, shock and explosion.

Every hero has their moment. Their moment of peril. Their moment of glory. It's all to service the fanboys and to keep the actors happy and paid.

Their needs to be risk and real danger. If studios want to keep making money on these superhero movies, they are going to have to stray from the comic books and kill off a hero every now and then. Superman died in "Batman V Superman", but we all know they can't kill him off. But hey, why not have X-Men terminate Storm or Cyclops or someone? And for the love of Silver Surfer, can we be done with Wolverine for a while?!? I'm not buying him as even a marginally lethal mutant. Not with Jean Grey and Quicksilver around.

This is it for me. It's stake in the ground time. I am no longer rating superhero movies this highly just for being above average Action movies with eye candy effects. There's going to have to be some real danger with risks and consequences for actions.

Yet again the stakes are raised and world-ending plot developments are brought to the fore, all the while seemingly forgetting that the best X-Men films have been those that focus on the core dynamic between the central characters amidst all the CGI mayhem. It is certainly not as disappointing as The Last Stand - the film is enjoyable to watch, and the interplay between the different X-Men is what Singer excels at, notwithstanding the absence of Wolverine to the main story. And yet as the second half of the film kicks into gear, Oscar Isaac’s central villain is largely wasted and both his motivation and powers are rather vague. It doesn’t help that yet again we have a film content to unleash citywide destruction with little context as to the impact and consequences that result. With Fassbender’s far more interesting Magneto also effectively relegated to the villain’s sidekick after a strong start, it’s left largely to the central heroes to hold our attention. McAvoy, Lawrence and Hoult are by now comfortable in their roles and by and large the other actors playing younger versions of characters from previous films acquit themselves well, though Turner will have to do a lot more in the future to convince as Jean Grey. Once again the star of the show turns out to be Peters’ Quicksilver, given more to do here beyond another fun display of his powers. It all adds up to a solid enough entertaining film, but after the fantastic Days of Future Past and with Singer’s involvement, this can’t help but feel like a step backwards.

This movie's biggest problem was the script. Considering that it follows up DOFP (that managed to have an amazing script even with a complicated plot), it becomes obvious how this wasn't as good. All we got was cliché after cliché.

The first half is better than the second. From the opening sequence they were able to set up the mood pretty well. Unfortunately, they wasted Oscar Isaac, who we know can deliver brilliant acting. Apocalypse is a laughable character, we don't fully get what his purpose is (it keeps shifting?) and, really, the only reason he got his four horsemen was because of the terrible individual pain they are going through.

James McAvoy and Sophie Turner did a terrific job though. Their acting was spot on and Professor and Jean managed to be the best characters in this movie. Jennifer Lawrence was unable to sell us Mystique's love for Magneto (or Mystique at all, for that matter). Whatever feelings they have for each other--and that actually seemed platonic--are ineffective at making us care for them. We still suffer more with Charles and Erik's turbulent relationship.

Rose Byrne (as Moira MacTaggert), Nicholas Hoult (as Beast) and Tye Sheridan (as Cyclops) were fine. Lucas Till (Havok) had a smaller part but played it great. Alexandra Shipp (Storm) couldn't do much with the horrendous script. Olivia Munn's Psylocke wasn't bad at all, just subtle. Ben Hardy's Angel felt disposable, like Lana Condor's Jubilee, what is terribly sad.
Kodi Smit-McPhee (Nightcrawler) and Evan Peters (QuickSilver) are great comic relief.

It does have an exciting ending. I believe it sets the future movie well--which I expect to be their best one of so far. They just need to stay away from trying to make every line the most important one and also not combine all of them with a close-up.

UPDATE: Forgot to say that, even though it is a beautiful movie, its CGI isn't the best and the 3D is absolutely unnecessary.

The problem with big tentpole pictures like this one is expectation. People already build up a picture of the film in their heads thanks to the trailers and all the hype surrounding the film. I, myself, was hyped up for this film following the exciting trailer.

The critics have not been happy and many people have dusted down their computers to criticise the film. Again, the problem I am sure was expectation. This film is good, sometimes excellent. Oscar Isaac is fearsome as Apocalypse, though I felt the character could have been more apocalyptic. The action is great and once again Quicksilver steals the show, in terms of story and lightness of tone.

I was disappointed so see one character die - why do they always have to die? - will there be a Days of Future Past 2 to bring him/her back? - no, but can't we just have a little but of fun instead of creating dramatic tension by killing somebody?

The film is flabby at times, a little off with the pacing during the first hour, and needs a serious injection of adrenalin at times. However, the film does kick up a gear and there are many crowd pleasing moments before the films end. There are a lot of characters in the film but that isn't a bad thing. Most are used well, others are merely cameos - hello, the Blob!

So what if this isn't even the best X-Men movie, although arguably it comes a close second or third. Its not the end of the world if it isn't the best superhero movie this year. Civil War comes out on top and Batman V Superman wasn't as awful as people made out. The film is very good and on reflection will be seen as one of the best movies of the summer, I am sure. I hold no hope for the Turtles film, am not sure on the new Ghostbusters, and Warcraft and Assassins Creed are an unknown property to film (though they both look ace - I'm just trying not to get carried away with hype).

Enjoy the film for the spectacle it is and remember a time not too long ago when superhero films were looked down upon by Hollywood execs.

[8.2/10] I am, like most folks, a fan of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, and the way he uses the genre trappings in a gritty, semi-real setting to give Batman and his allies and enemies character stakes and social commentary. I’m also a big fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, which employ some strong world-building and character-focused arcs for each protagonist that blend into great interpersonal dynamics whenever the disparate characters cross paths.
But I also really enjoy movies like X-Men: Apocalypse, which don’t follow either tack but still manage to be exciting, fun, and unique.

XM:A is not at all realistic. It is grandiose and full of wild, sometimes poorly-defined powers that get by on how cool they are, in isolation and in conjunction with one another. It’s a colorful movie, filled with diverse characters in crazy guises who use any number of crazy energy blasts or creative powers on one another. It is bonkers and comic book-y in that regard, and it’s a ton of fun.

But it’s also not really interested in world-building or character dynamics in the same way either. There’s a little of that, mostly in the form of echoes from the prior films, but the film is more interested in introducing new characters (well, kind of old characters, kind of new characters) throwing them into crazy situations, and letting the sparks fly.

That’s both a bug and a feature. To some degree, X-Men: Apocalypse is overstuffed. There’s a team of five bad guys, a team of five returning good guys, a trio of new good guys, and quick scenes and cameos from tons of other players in the franchise’s past, present, and future. That can leave the film feeling a little disjointed, with jumps around the world, visions of the distant beginning of the villain’s rise and portentous dreams of a terrible end. There is a lot going on here, and sometimes it’s difficult to keep it all straight.

Still, it also means that X-Men: Apocalypse feels nimble even as it gets a bit unwieldy in places. If you’re not enjoying one particular subplot or character, you can rest assured that the movie will zip on over to another that might be more your speed. In that sense, the movie keeps up its momentum, introducing characters on the fly, having them jump into the fray pretty immediately, and then eventually bringing everyone together, either as compatriots or antagonists, for the big finale. In that way, X-Men: Apocalypse feels like an entire season of a television show condensed down to one 2 ½ hour movie, with all the good that comes with that, but also the sense of story whiplash and packed-in feeling that comes with it too.

That’s pretty much the story of XM:A from a critical standpoint, where it does a number of interesting things and engages in solid storytelling, but tries to do so much of it that the results can seem glancing at times. Almost every character in the film has an arc, from the most prominent (Magneto finding the good in himself after tragedy…again, Mystique realizing she is an inspirational symbol to young mutants everywhere) to the brief (Jean and Cyclops being worried about their powers as a curse but learning to use them when the time is right) to the baffling (Professor X dealing with his mindwipe crush on Moira, Quicksilver waffling on whether to tell Magneto he’s his father).

None of these arcs are especially deep. The breakneck pace of the film sort of requires that everyone’s development be told in thumbnail sketches in character quirks. But everyone has something to do, a role to play in the narrative and some way to grow and change, that makes their presence seem like it has a purpose. While some of the mutants at the edge of the narrative (mostly the bad guy coterie) feel underserved, they can get by on cool looks and popcorn combat.

The best of these arcs are Magneto’s and Mystiques. While much of the plotting of XM:A feels slight, you just can’t put Michael Fassbender on screen and not feel the well of pain and anger and trauma he breathes into Magneto. It’s well-trodden ground for the character, but Fassbender nails it an elevates the material from the word go. By the same token, the notion of Mystique feeling like her stunt from the last film didn’t make humans like mutants anymore, just making them hide their prejudice, only to realize that regardless of the humans, it inspired a generation of young mutants, is pretty standard stuff. But it’s also a tidy little story, and Jennifer Lawrence sells the epiphany well.

Apocalypse himself gets something of the short shrift. Oscar Isaac is nigh-unrecognizable under all that prosthesis, and his prodigious talents are mostly used in service of functional but unremarkable big bad dialogue. Still, the production team does a good amount of the work in making him an imposing villain. The sound design on his voice, the disintegration powers he uses in creative ways, and even the somewhat ominous, regal bearing the demigod carries with him make Apocalypse a compelling enough, if not particularly well-rounded villain.

The production side of the film brings a great deal to the table all around. Again, this is a colorful film, with the final scene in particular a beautiful if sometimes dizzying cacophony of blasts and quakes and explosions. The film also gets oddly but impressively arty at times, with shots of a good guy and bad guy walking toward one another in the real world, bathed in flames and energy beams and other magical detritus, at the same time they’re confronting one another in another realm at the same time. There’s also another brilliant Quicksilver sequence, which uses the “Fry on 1,000 cups of coffee” vibe from Futurama to hilarious and inventive effect, with a kickin’ soundtrack to boot.

While X-Men Apocalypse is never going to be a critical favorite like Nolan’s bat-films, or have the sort of synergistic thrills and deep character treatment of the MCU movies, it works as a feature-length thrill ride. Some of it feels disposable and thin, but it makes up for that by being a full-on, committed bit of comic book grandiosity and weirdness. Sometimes its reach exceeds its grasp, but the film offers another flavor of superhero adventures on the silver screen, and I, for one, heartily enjoyed it.

"I tried your way, Charles.
I tried to be like them.
Live like them.
But it always ends the same way"

The abusive relationship between Professor X and Magneto continues to bring strong intrigue to when they will meet next and what they will be in the middle of.

At first my fear was Jean Grey had been miscast, instead following the "she has the same hair color it is fine" formula but after that steady start by the end of the film she came into her own and i am looking forward to seeing her again. Scott and Kodi i loved though, with Storm and Quicksilver moving in, i am looking forward to the next generation! With more Jubilee!

The only character i was really down on as most have also said, Mystique. Mystique's actions are fine but it is Jennifer's delivery that leave a lot to be desired. Especially in the scene where Quicksilver is revealing that secret to her. I think old high school friends in drama class could of made me more convinced in their reaction.

Those last few minutes gave my inner child a squeal. It might be seen as a step down but it is still as fun as the previous two and the strongest of the X-Men trilogies. Between X-Men, Deadpool and MCU. Marvel properties are hot. -sweeps Fantastic Four under the rug-

By the way, What kind of bullshit shot from the arrow was that to kill the mother and the daughter instantly and at the same time?! I suppose tragedy is drive for Magneto but i could of blinked

This movie was hilarious, one giant disappointing joke. I went in with very little expectations and was actually pleasantly surprised with the beginning of the movie. Apocalypse's "origin story" was interesting and filmed in a very captivating way. That part of the movie was the only part that could really pull me in and it was simply an introduction to a character. Sadly after that it all went downhill extremely fast.

It started with characterization. It's not because people are familiar with the characters because of previous movies (or comics) that you can just slack off on writing proper characters. In X-Men Apocalypse they apparently decided that instead of giving a decent character arc to a couple of major characters they would rather give a lot of characters a very shitty and underdeveloped arc. Wonderful. Really. A character arc isn't supposed to just be "well let us show you a difficulty for this character in the start and then we'll suddenly get back to that at the end with it all being fixed", show us some evolution in your characters throughout the movie, and maybe we'd manage to actually care about them. So point one: poorly written.

Point two: DEAR GOD THIS WAS WRITTEN SO BADLY. The dialogue sounded so forced and unnatural it took me out of the movie and made me laugh at what should have been very serious moments.

Which brings me to my next point: x-men reeeeaaaally takes itself way too seriously. You've got really smart characters here, trying to cope with a very shitty world, make them witty, make them funny. It CAN WORK, humor would not have been out of place here, at all. Characters coping with humor is very common. They wouldn't have had to do it all the time, just a witty response to something here and there. It would have improved the dialogue situation and it would have taken my mind off of the (very disappointing) plot. Quicksilver is the only comic relief we get, and he didn't get nearly enough scenes.

Sure, the effects were great, hey even the first couple of scenes showing Apocalypse's origins were very promising, but that was overshadowed by a terrible script and horrible directing. The movie was a clusterfuck.

Awful, it’s almost impressive how little this achieves compared to Days of Future Past. It’s way too preoccupied with exposition and setting up new characters instead of telling a good story. It strips away the cerebral edge of the best X-men films and attempts a more straightforward plot, yet it doesn’t feel like much has happened by the end of it. Magneto has an arc but it’s the same one we’ve seen time and time again (not to mention that the final turn that completes his arc is especially clunky this time around), while everyone else is fighting for screen time. Singer cuts corners at every turn to awkwardly introduce new characters as quickly as possible, but I still don't know what to make of Scott, Jean, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Storm, Angel or Jubilee. The villain, besides an interesting motivation, conveniently shows up wherever the plot needs him to. Oscar Isaac tries his best with the performance, but he can't elevate the comical design of the character and terrible lines given by the script. It just constantly fails to build things organically. The script's trying to keep things simple but it never feels harmonious. Two of its best scenes (eurythmics scene & Wolverine cameo) feel like they come from different films altogether. The sets, make-up and effects look schlocky, some of the acting is straight up bad (Jennifer Lawrence & Sophie Turner) and there’s almost no excitement or fun. The third act is the kind of boring CGI sludge this franchise had managed to mostly avoid until this point, it feels more like something from the DCEU or MCU playbook. All things considered, it’s really McAvoy and Fassbender that keep this thing watchable, and thankfully it sprinkles in a few good moments with those characters (e.g. forest scene). Everything else feels half-assed.

3.5/10

"You follow blind leaders."

While X-Men: Apocalypse isn't quite as strong as 'Days of Future Past', with the storytelling and it's twist & turns, but it's still a solid entry in the saga. I have to admit, I was surprisingly entertained with this movie which I didn't expect going in, since I wasn't expecting much with this movie. I had more fun with this than 'Civil War', and yes, I just said that and I'm not taking it back. The movie has it's flaws but at least I never bored watching the movie.

James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner and all of the other supporting cast were all great in their roles. I felt the emotion, the depth and the unexpected humor from the characters. Now when I think about it, all of the X-men characters in this and the past movies feel like actual characters to really care for. The movies themselves feel like actual movies and not just superhero films.

Oscar Isaac is such a terrific actor and I will always look forward to his next movie. In this film, Isaac plays Apocalypse (main villain of the film) and he was a pretty decent villain. He was very menacing with his own presence that actually made him quite treating, even tho he's motivates of destroying the world has been done before many times with other villains. Apocalypse isn't terrible or a weak villain as many critics have said, but I wouldn't rank him as the best one. I mean give Oscar Isaac a break, he had to act in all that make-up on him and he did the best he could, so there's that.

Some of the CGI in the film was very noticeable in a few scenes. But the effect's are not like that all the time, as there are many cool effect's in the film that did make me go "wow".

The movie dose take awhile to get going and I don't mean it was slow or anything like that, but I couldn't really care for what's going on in the first 30 minutes. But as the movie went along it started to get going and each scene was better as it went along.

Overall rating: X-men: Apocalypse is a very entertaining superhero movie that has it's pros and cons. I was surprised of how much I enjoyed this movie and how engaging I was. Oh, and Quick Sliver once again steals the show with an amazing slow motion sequence that easily tops 'Days of Future Past' slow mo scene. I can already tell a lot of people are going to be mixed with this movie after seeing the audience reaction (so far), but that's just opinions.

P.S. The film itself is much better then what the critics are making it out to be. Maybe it's because of the endless amount of superhero movies that are coming every week now. 'Civil War' is still being fresh in peoples heads. I mean the movie literally came out a few weeks ago.

Despite the marked increase in bloody violence over the franchise's previous chapters (perhaps a reflection of the similar shift in comics during the '80s) this is possibly the most inoffensive X-Men film yet. It's so stuffed with winks, nods and fan service, lingering in the introduction of each new(ish) character, that at times it can seem like the plot is just an afterthought.

Our story is ultra-light, with a focus on flashy effects, and only occasionally hints at the deeper, more interesting insights we were promised in trailers. Alas, the new villain's history (and the fascinating potential of its influence in a literally biblical sense) is relegated to a fleeting vignette before the opening credits. His plans for the elimination of our society and the construction of a newer, better, model are left frustratingly vague and confusing. Just take our word for it, I guess, that he's a meanie. The problems we experienced in Days of Future Past with Quicksilver's game-breaking powers (and their subsequently convenient writing-out at the climax) are back again, this time joined by several more ultra-powerful mutants. They, too, are conveniently absent or forgetful when push comes to shove, giving the impression that the climactic scene is on rails.

I hate to sound like I'm coming down hard on this film, because there's plenty it does well. Visually, it's as loyal a big screen depiction as we've ever seen of the big Marvel franchise, and there's loads to celebrate in a visual sense. It's loaded with treats for the dedicated fan and generates a fine action scene, but beneath the surface it's nothing special. Not bad, not a waste of time, just... far from extraordinary.

The first time I knew that this film will feature Apocalypse I feel like I've already disappointed: it's not the time yet to feature one of the most ferocious X-Men's supervillain.

What I watched seems to confirm my suspected disappointment.

This IMO film can actually be good, but there are two problems. In the case of supervillain, he mimics the mistake of Avengers Age of Ultron: the super indestructible god-like villain was defeated in the most anticlimactic way.

The villain's introduction was too rushed. The development of the conflict was too rushed. The villain's demise, too, was too rushed.

This is especially so considering Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur) is an ultimate villain who can turn dozens to dust just by flicking their fingers and build a pyramid just by twisting their hands. In the end he just became "just another crazy guy who wants to end the world (like we don't have enough of them, dammit!)."

In terms of the focus of the story, the film also mimics the mistakes of the Captain America Civil War: the title of the movie is not that connected to the focus of the story.

In the Civil War, the issue should've been Sokovia Accords. In Apocalypse, the issue should've been the threat of destruction of the world and fulfillment of Apocalypse's ambition.But the movie don't let us understand why Apocalypse has such a big ambition. We also do not see any kind of motives that led the Four Horsemen (Magneto et al.) to decide in following Apocalypse.

Even for Magneto, who has the most obvious reason, the way they outline the story makes Magneto a character with unstable, undecided personality. All the destruction and threat was subsided anticlimactic-ly with no repercussion at all (seriously, how the hell the world forgives Magneto just like that, when we were shown earlier how he became a fugitive?). This also downplays the impact of Days of Future Past's ending.

This film feels like it's leaning to become some sort of closure to Bryan Singer's X-Men reboot. And just that.

There are inauguration of old characters with new faces: Storm, Cyclops, Jean Gray, Nightcrawler. Alexander Shipp replaced Halle Berry, Tye Sheridan replaced James Marsden, Sophie Turner replaced Famke Janssen, etc. And of course James McAvoy / Patrick Stewart, Michael Fassbender / Ian McKellen.

Through this film, it looks like Singer is saying that this is the beginning of a reboot of the new world of X-Men. New stories are coming. And for that reason, so many subplots are built here.

Unfortunately, just like what happened in Civil War, this means that the film's initial premise (Apocalypse's threat) can be replaced by any kind of villains which does not change the story at all.

Originally written in 29th May 2016 https://www.facebook.com/xaliber/posts/10153652249883543

Well here we go more superhero-mutant shenanigans and if you, like me, never fell for that as youngster, (I preferred Tales of Terror and Horror comics), and as an adult left it all behind there is immediately a feeling of you are a guest at a club you are not a member of and what’s more the members of said club don’t really care if you join or not.

I was left feeling this was not a ‘pick up and play’ film.

This not to say the adventure of the unlikely human mutants left me cold or confused but I certainly felt there is a knowing wink to the fans and non-fans like me were not catered for quite so much. Even so I delved into the wacky world of the Blue Werewolf, a Teutonic Gremlin, Billy Whizz, Super Trooper Eyes, Katniss Everblue and the rest. Unsurprisingly the list of A-list young actors has increased due to the growing popularity of these movies but ironically it does not seem to have improved the quality of the acting or script.

Exceptions to this rule is Michael Fassbender who just brings a quality to any project his is in and his portrayal of Magneto certainly raises the film above the standard comic-book fare. Unfortunately, he was subjected to more angst and horror for Magneto to deal with and I do feel the human’s wipe out his family and only love motivation is overplayed as this scenario seems to happen to him every story. The second is the humourous and pitch-perfect light relief of Fassbender’s on-screen son Evan Peter or Billy Whizz or Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver his performance and his saving of the kids in the X-Mansion did genuinely make me smile and laugh.

As I said though these are exceptions, Jennifer Lawrence is surprisingly bland and unmemorable and not very mutant-like for most of the long running time and Oscar Issacs plays his big-bad Mr Angry role to the hilt but the villain’s motive is boring and so unoriginal and nonsensical it beggars belief. He wants to wipe out the world and population and make the survivors worship him – why? To what end? All that power and super-powers just so he can lord it over a small group of subservient survivors. Like every super-villain in every other film – why for goodness sake? Why? Once you’ve done that you are going to get very bored very quickly especially when you live forever.

Austen Powers style thousands if not millions of people die during this film some at the hands of Mr Angry others at the hands of ‘he’s really a good guy’ Magneto and others who must have been collateral damage. Concern for these people during the running time? None.

So, all in all, some good CGI, some awful CGI, some nice big soled boots for the ‘not that tall then’ villain and another exploding, fire filled world of ultimate doom saved at the last minute by throw the kitchen sink at the baddie and we’ll win.

This never ending cycle of explody, shouty, bombastic comic-books films will bury us all.

X-Men Apocalypse is typical of what you would expect from a Marvel X-Men movie. Light on story and depth and heavy on special effects and action. In short it is exactly what I, as a Science Fiction and Fantasy geek, would expect as well as hope for.

The X-Men faces a new threat in the form of the worlds first mutant. Naturally said mutant is really a Übermutant vastly more powerful than any “normal” mutant. Equally naturally this Übermutant is set on a path of world destruction and domination. I quite liked this villain. He is a good all evil and powerful bad guy and a worthy adversary. No nonsense about trying to make the villain likable or trying to explain why he turned evil or such like. This guy is evil, he is the bad guy, he needs to be taken down…full stop.

As I wrote the story is not the most elaborate one around but it is a good one within the confines of a Marvel super hero movie. It gets the job done without being overly stupid or silly. It is set in the “prequel” universe created by X-Men First Class. The movie adds a few new X-Men to the ranks of Professor Xaviers team. Some of them thanks to the manipulations of Apocalypse although they start out on the bad side at first.

The movie moves along at a decent enough pace and, as was mentioned, there are quite a few action sequences and special effects thrown at the viewer throughout the movie. Personally I found the special effects to be quite good. Even stunning at times. I am quite a bit of a special effects nerd so of course this pleased me a lot.

The movies ending certainly opens the door to future X-Men movies and I for sure would like to see the franchise continue. I very much enjoyed these almost two and a half hours in front of my TV set.