X-Men: Apocalypse - May 27, 2016

[Finger Cookin]

I haven't been reading any reviews or detailed impressions online before seeing the movie this morning, so forgive me if I'm rehashing things that have already been said.

It was OK.

There were some really good moments throughout the movie, but they were buried under a movie that was overstuffed with characters and storylines. I'm mildly positive about the movie because of those moments, but somehow with everything else on the screen it all adds up to a movie that is less than the sum of its parts.

If X-Men: The Last Stand was made up of 4 movies smashed together where maybe half of one of them was OK, X-Men Apocalypse is made up of 4 movies smashed together where maybe 2 of them were OK. Add in some bias from me as a lifelong X-Men fan, and I would rate this 3/5.

Spoiler details below:

Spoiler!

Mystique wasn't featured nearly as prominently in the movie as the trailers made her out to be. Mind you, no one could be featured prominently when there are 16 main characters.

The introductions and re-introductions of characters were mostly OK, though some of them felt unnecessary. I'm not sure why we needed to see Scott pre-Xaiver's, for example, when nearly everyone else was at the school. The exception to that being Nightcrawler, and his weird cage match with Angel.

Sophie Turner as Jean Grey is fantastic. She should be the centerpiece of the franchise going forward. The other new actors were also good. Storm should have been used more, hopefully her role increases next time out. Nightcrawler got some good funny moments, though the whole movie could have used a bit more levity. The XCU's version of Caliban was unexpected but pretty cool nevertheless.

Quicksilver's scene set to "Sweet Dreams" by The Eurythmics once again absolutely steals the show. The last two movies, with all their pros and cons, were worth it simply for Quicksilver's scenes. They are delightful.

The segue to Stryker and the Weapon X facility (including the after credits scene) was pointless and completely unnecessary.

I wasn't a fan of the weird dissolving-turn-everything-to-dust-and-debris effects of all the devastation and destruction around the world. They felt cartoony and didn't really give any sense of the high stakes they were probably intended to convey.

EDIT: Oh yeah! Good job getting in a dig on Brett Ratner and The Last Stand as the kids were leaving Return of the Jedi in the mall.

[TheScorpion]

I found the Brett Ratner jab funny, seeing how as of the three 'new' X-Men movies with the new cast (McAvoy, Fassbender, Lawrence, etc.) the third one was, again, the worst.

[Finger Cookin]

You're not wrong. The Last Stand was a much, much more precipitous drop from its first two movies though.

[underGRADFlame]

I love me some Olivia Munn! Best part of the movie was Psylocke.

That being said I thought it was a pretty good popcorn movie.

[Looch City]

Went in with low expectations and was pleasantly entertained.

That doesn't say much about the movie either though haha.

There weren't crazy stupid BvS moments that made me shake my head. Good popcorn flick overall!

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

I enjoyed it. I thought most of the characterizations were good, save Apocalypse. I think he needed more grandeur. He was generally motionless and too soft spoken. Maybe it's because they stuffed the actor in what looked to be a pretty awkward costume.

Also didn't understand Psylocke's change if heart at the end.

Definitely pales in comparison to DoFP (which is on Netflix, which we immediately watched after). Nonetheless solid popcorn movie. I would definitely put it right in the middle of Civil War and BvS.

[Finger Cookin]

Psylocke didn't have a change of heart at the end.

[Looch City]

Spoiler!

The one wtf moment for me was when they take the METAL ship right to the base of the pyramid while Magneto is wrecking havoc. Then they fly around and land perfectly fine....Shouldn't the ship be affected by the magnetism?

[peter12]

I really liked it. Great show. Apocalypse looked goofy though.

[Coach]

Watched it yesterday. Thought it was fun to watch. I would put it last in this continuity's movies, but that's not really a bad thing and puts it 4th for all XMen films.

I think I just like these characters way more than the first versions. The first XMen had a more subdued plot and focused on the stories of the characters, which was great, but having those stories gives these versions more freedom to explore deeper things (like the Phoenix, properly).

I actually liked Apocalypse's look. But a story can only go so far with an all-powerful, world-dominating villian, and so it is predictable.

I think what will be interesting is dealing with the fallout of the story. Like 100s of millions of people must have died. Cities torn apart. I think the next one will really be able to flush out the whole "saving people that hate them" thing. At the end of First Class they were a myth. After DOFP, they introduced themselves in a big way, but people were divided. After Apocalypse, you have to think humanity is going to have a pretty harsh reaction, and the XMen are going to have to save them despite that.

[peter12]

Yeah, Magneto executes a plan that is in essence the same as the Holocaust but with an exponentially larger number of casualties, but his conscience is clear?

[Hockey_Ninja]

Originally Posted by peter12

I really liked it. Great show. Apocalypse looked goofy though.

Wow. peter12 actually liked something. Now I really need to watch it.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by peter12

Yeah, Magneto executes a plan that is in essence the same as the Holocaust but with an exponentially larger number of casualties, but his conscience is clear?

That's always been the Magneto character though. Survives the holocaust and feels like the same is going to happen to Mutants so his plan is to slaughter how ever many he has to to avoid it?

But there's no camps and they're not a minority so it's not the same thing...?

Wat?

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

Psylocke didn't have a change of heart at the end.

So she accidentally slit Apocalypse in the throat? Did I just misinterpret that part somehow?

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Teh_Bandwagoner

So she accidentally slit Apocalypse in the throat? Did I just misinterpret that part somehow?

That was Mystique.

[Coach]

A couple more things ***spoilers, obviously***:

What was they purple orb the horsemen used to travel around? It seemed like Psylocke's power, but as far as I know, neither she nor Apocalypse can teleport.

Wolverine's cameo I thought was hilarious. Show up, kill a bunch of people, run naked into the snowy woods. I laughed so hard.

I wish Quicksilver had told Magneto. It would have made Magneto's turn make more sense IMO.

Psylocke's whip goes through concrete, but not Beast's neck? Stuff like that bothers me (although I didn't even think about the jet flying into the magnetic vortex).

I thin Beast is the most underutilized XMen so far. He had one great scene in X3 where he actually did "Beast things" other than that he's been pretty underwhelming, (although the character of Hank is one of the better ones).

[Finger Cookin]

Apocalypse can do whatever the plot demands of him.

[WhiteTiger]

I just saw it, and I feel kinda...'meh' about it. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't a grand slam, either. Not really sure, but it just didn't resonate for me. Probably part of it was that Psylocke and Archangel are two of my favorite XMen, and they were barely used and bad.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Just got back. I liked it quite a bit all things considered.

Only real complaints echo those I've heard already. Too many characters, not enough development, villain with a non existent plan. Seriously, why was Jubilee in this movie?

I liked the Stryker stuff and the Wolverine cameo but I thought the destruction of the mansion seemed weird and the reason for the Stryker appearance wasn't explained at all. The content was fine but the context was lacking.

Just to add to the comparisons of the other comic book movies recently...lacked the emotional attachment and character development of Civil War. But to compare it to BvS, not even close. With all due respect to whomever said BvS was better on the last page but that's mind blowing. To each his own but wow, I thought is was way, way better.

Full disclosure, I am a bit of an xmen comic geek. Xmen/wolverine is about 1/3 of my total collection so maybe I'm a tad biased.

[d_phaneuf]

Quicksilver not telling Magneto made no sense to me at all, it was the perfect spot for it

wouldn't have been forced in etc. just seems so strange not to use it, and it's not like the next film everyone will be waiting for him to tell him, just a weird thing

I liked the movie though, maybe low expectations helped, still frustrating how Singer can do so well by some characters and Cyclops just sucks in every movie

if the next one really is in the 90s and they don't get A. the costumes and B. Rogue and Jubilee right, then dont bother making them