I do feel that director Bryan Singer does not get the credit that he deserves. He has given us so many enjoyable films within this franchise and most importantly, he cast Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and pretty much broke him into the movie business. I find it hard to believe that some groups of film fans want this to be owned by Marvel instead of Fox.
I was definitely nervous going into this due to the high amount of characters involved. As we all know, the history of superhero films with too many characters does not fare well. However, there are some good ones out there, and I would add this one to that list.
The first half was slow, but was still building up nicely with some nice moments. But as the longer the film went, the higher my enjoyment levels were and by the end of it I was having a lot of fun like you should have with any summer blockbuster.
It has some ambition and risk to its story which the X-Men films have done in the past. But I think on the whole, it worked for me and I think it will with the fans of the franchise.
I think it goes without saying that if you have not caught up with the X-Men films or do not care for them, then do not bother wasting your money on this.
I'm saying this as there are some scenes in the final act that may alienate the general audience. But for people who have seen all the films within this franchise and have a basic understanding of this world, then it will be an entertaining climax.
There are issues with it. The story-telling can get slow, scattered and does feel it like we have missed some development as our characters seem to have changed dramatically since the last time we saw them on screen. Also, it does seem unsure about the main story that we have to concentrate on. It seems in the end to be a whole of bunch of sub-plots. That has been a minor problem in past X-Men films. There is a lot of ground to cover. But I feel the film would feel more held together if they concentrated more on one idea and maybe hint at some others, instead of trying to cram everything in to get its point across.
The performances overall definitely exceeded by expectations. There is a lot to get through, so bare with me. James McAvoy was great as always as Charles Xavier. He brings so much to the role and I believed in his character all the way through.
Michael Fassbender is gives great moments in the first half and seemed side-lined in the second half which I was fine with, due to the high amount of characters. When he was in the centre of the moment, Fassbender is as great as we know he can be.
Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse was a mixed bag for me. It does take a while to warm to his character. But eventually you really feel his threat and the added pitch on his voice sounds really sinister.
I am not sure what to make of Jennifer Lawrence's character. She did not really feature that heavily in the story and her character in this seemed more like her role from The Hunger Games.
Evan Peters as Quicksilver gives great comedic moments and has another fantastic scene-stealing moment. I did not think that they would manage to top that scene from Days Of Future Past. But they definitely kick it up a notch and it was great to watch. Props to the team that constructed that moment.
There are so many minor roles to speak of. They all did a great job, especially the newbies such as Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler and Alexandra Shipp as Storm, who is looking like a better cast choice than Halle Berry. I would have liked to have seen more of Ben Hardy as Angel and Lana Condor as Jubilee. As for Olivia Munn as Psylocke. It was nice to see that character. But Munn was rightly given very little to say and did what she really is, be eye-candy.
Despite some narrative problems, I had so much fun with this. It is one of the those few films that I felt got better the longer it went. Most films usually peak too soon and it comes to a disappointing final act. This managed to peak at the right times. So if you feel you are not enjoying the opening 30 mins or so. I ask you to be patient, give it time and I reckon you will have a fun time by the end of it. I was enjoying it pretty much all the way through. But I was definitely getting into it a lot by the end of it.
It is probably the most action filled X-Men film. When you think about it, you do forget that these films do like to talk about its ideas rather than resort to everyone fighting at the end like most action films do. Doing that keeps them focused on the story at hand, instead of them throwing it out the window and do some visual eye-candy to sell the film to the casual movie-goers.
A good comparison would be that a lot of this film reminded me of Avengers: Age Of Ultron, but in a better light. A lot of characters with a big villain from the comics that does not quite get the development that it needed for the general audience to fully understand. But X-Men: Apocalypse managed to be more entertaining and the villain seemed almost as threatening as he does in the comics.
I like the tie-ins they made to try and connect all the other X-Men films that Singer has made in the past, along with Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class. But I know that when you properly break it down, there are a stupid amount of plot holes. But if you enjoy watching these. Then you can let a few minor faults go, as it still entertains you.
People my generation would probably remember watching a lot of the animated series. I am happy to say that there are definitely parts of the film that had a look of the animated series. If that is purposefully done, then I cannot wait to see what they do next. This is because apparently it will be set in the 90's, which is when the animated series was released. I would love it if they gave us a bit of that awesome animated theme in the score somewhere.
Speaking of the score, John Ottman is as good as ever. I'll never forget that feeling of joy in Days Of Future Past when we finally got to hear the original X-Men theme again, and Apocalypse does it again.
As usual with these types of films, I intentionally did not watch any of the trailers. I have heard that some trailers give a lot a way in terms of the story and big action set-pieces. I am so happy that I have been doing this as that reaction of seeing it for the first time in a theatre is the best possible feeling to have. Not seeing it on a computer, laptop or phone as part of a trailer. You shouldn't go into it already knowing that scene is coming up and the reaction will down-grade your overall enjoyment of the film.
I am surprised at the early mixed reviews on a whole from critics and fans alike. If you are not caught up or don't care for these films, then I can see it being slated. But even if that is the case, this still feels like a fun summer blockbuster. It might not challenge the art of story-telling. But Singer and his team have given us another well-made fun action packed superhero film that I would rank fairly high compared to the other X-Men films. To be precise, I would rank it fourth behind X-Men 2, Deadpool and X-Men: First Class.
There is a post-credits scene. It hints at something that I vaguely remember from the animated series. It will be interesting to see how they set that up in Gambit and The Wolverine 3 before the next X-Men extravaganza.
Rating: 7/10
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