Movie Review : X-Men Apocalypse

Someone once asked me if I watch any reviews before watching a movie on the big screen. I told them that I just get a feel of what critics are saying about the movie and go in blind. The reason why I do this is because sometimes a film will split critics and casual moviegoers in half.

This happens to be the case for X-Men Apocalypse. For the life of me, I have no idea why critics have given such scathing reviews for, what is in my opinion, a really good film. I loved X-Men Apocalypse. It does have its fair share of flaws, but what I love most about the movie is that it builds to the climax. It is a movie which expects the viewer to be patient, and if you are the payoff you get in the end is well worth the wait.

Story and Writing:

I’m sure anybody who has seen the trailers for this movie knows the basic plot of X-Men Apocalypse. An age old mutant rises, reigning apocalypse on the earth and it is up to the new X-Men to stop them. Before I go any further I just want to say that the plot is not as complex as X-Men Days of Future Past. That being said, the complexity that Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg, the writer, have managed to weave into this simple concept is amazing.

When I returned from a night screening of this movie at around 1:45 AM my biggest gripe about the film was the pacing. But when I went to bed the time was 2:50 AM, and within this one hour it dawned on me what a genius Bryan Singer was. He has crafted a movie where the pace builds momentum as the story moves forward. Each scene leads into the next and with each scene the tension and pace increases.

Many superhero movies are set at a breakneck pace, moving from action sequence to exposition to action sequence in a span of minutes. One of the things I loved about Captain America: Civil War was its consistent, fast paced, storytelling. What I love about X-Men Apocalypse is that it takes the time to set up its characters.

That being said, I do have a few problems with the writing. A few of the characters felt a bit underdeveloped and a bit rushed. While I loved the new mutants, there were some which I really didn’t care much for. The ones in question are Angel and Cyclops and, surprisingly even Storm to an extent.

Another gripe I have with the writing is that as nuanced as Oscar Issac’s performance as Apocalypse was, somehow the threat to the world never seemed credible to me. While I feared for the safety for the X- Men on screen, I oddly felt nothing for the world getting wrecked.

Acting:

The acting in this movie, save for a few sore spots, is phenomenal. James Mcavoy is a gem of an actor, and while Sir Patrick Stewart is, in my mind at least, the perfect Xavier, Mcavoy comes really close. Michael Fassbender is a really good actor, period. In the first half of the movie, the emotional weight comes from, surprisingly, Magneto. Jennifer Lawrence, while not at her Oscar winning best, still brings a lot to the screen as Mystique, although she appears to have taken a back seat in the action scenes. And as I mentioned earlier, even though caked with makeup and prosthetics, Oscar Issac shines as Apocalypse.

But in all of this, my favorite performances were Sophie Turner (On a side note I am bingeing Game of Thrones so that I can catch up to season six) as Jean Grey and Evan Peters as Quicksilver. The scenes involving Quicksilver are the highlights of the film.

Olivia Munn as Psylocke, while not fully developed, brings the necessary physicality to the screen and Alexandra Shipp, who is one of my favorite up and coming actresses, is serviceable as Storm. Maybe their roles in the future will expand them further.

But in all this, there were two people who I could never buy in their roles. Maybe it was the writing, maybe it was the acting, I’m not really sure but Lucas Till as Cyclops and Ben Hardy as Angel stuck out like a sore thumb. While they stood their own in action scenes I never felt anything for them as characters.

Cinematography, Editing and Visual Effects:

While Bryan Singer is not particularly known to be a visually striking director, his visuals are nothing less than what is expected. Most of the scenes are shot and edited on point. The only scene I had a problem with was the cage fight between Angel and Nightcrawler, which was edited in a really choppy manner.

The visual effects game was on point for the most part, but in a movie like this I think the problem is that when we see the destruction of the world it is through CGI, and however brilliant it is, I still felt a disconnect. One of the things which I really have to appreciate is the costume designing and 

Makeup, especially on Apocalypse and his four Horsemen.

The greatest achievement of this film is every scene involving Quicksilver and it is worth watching in 3D just for those.

As I mentioned Earlier in the review, the editing suits the pacing of the movie and it works wonders. Probably the one gripe I have about the visuals is that some of the wire work, especially on beast, looked a bit odd just in a few scenes.

Music:

At this point in time, the X-Men theme has become sort of an icon and John Ottman yet again delivers on his promise of a solid soundtrack. The music swells when it needs to and stops when it has to and unlike certain other superhero films the music, however great, knows it has to take second place to the visuals *cough* Batman V Superman *Cough*.

Final Thoughts:

After watching this film, something I found really interesting was that while it shares the same run time with Captain America Civil War it handles its pacing in such a different manner. X-Men Apocalypse in a way surprised me with the risks it took, and to me it paid off. Many people may not agree with me and this all boils down to one small word pacing. I am a person who likes movies which maintain their pace and movies which build up to the finale. X-Men Apocalypse is the latter.

To really understand and appreciate X-Men Apocalypse to its fullest I think as moviegoers and fans we need to have patience. In a way, I think, we have been spoilt by consistently fast-paced Marvel films. Not to take any praise away from Marvel but I give full credit to Bryan Singer and his team of writers for making a movie which does not move at a breakneck speed.

I still think Civil War is the better movie of the two. X-Men Apocalypse has a few problems of its own and while Civil War rises above its problems in blazing glory, X-Men Apocalypse just manages to struggle out of the rubble.

There have been rumors that this is Bryan Singer’s Last X-Men movie. If that is the case, X-Men Apocalypse is a fitting Swan song to a director who assembled a team of super heroes on the big screen twelve years before the first Avengers Film.

Before I give my conclusion I need to acknowledge Wolverines Cameo. Hugh Jackman still embodies the role, and if this film is a taste of what is to come in his final outing as Logan, I’m waiting to see what they can do with an R rating.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, X-Men Apocalypse is not by any means the best X-Men movie I have seen. It does have flaws. But despite the flaws, this team of ragtag superheroes has a special place in my heart. Most of the actors have been replaced or recast, but Bryan Singer managed to make me care about most of them once again.

If you are a fan of well written movies, you will not be disappointed with X-Men Apocalypse. The first twenty minutes may seem like a drag, but the rest is worth the wait.

I give X-Men Apocalypse an  8 out of 10

The movie does have an end credits scene, but you will get the reference only if you are a fan of the comics. I hope that this is not Bryan Singer's final X-Men but I am happy nonetheless.

I’ll be back tomorrow with another post, so until then:

Peace!!!