‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ is here and it was not worth the wait. The previous two movies in the ‘X-Men: First Class’ trilogy built so much positive momentum I had high hopes that the mojo would carry over into this film. This film, like in many comic book stories, fell victim in trying to outdo itself in spectacle. The result was excessive style over substance and a whimpering last chapter to this story arc. I’m not going to say this film was bad, just unfulfilling. When will directors and producers learn that just because you stuff more super heroes and special effects into a 2 hour period doesn’t mean you will make it better? The success of ‘Captain America: Civil War’ is that it did not fall into this trap. No matter how much ‘Civil War’ added, story and character came first. We are introduced to so many new characters in ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’, yet we did not get to know any of them. We were re-introduced to previous characters from the original trilogy, but none of the chemistry was developed. Lots of special effects designed to make us say ‘coooollll’ with mediocre at best CGI and a story line designed to glue together these endless fight scenes.
I think the most disappointing part of the film was the how they turned one of the X-Men’s greatest foes into a generic omnipotent villain who wants to destroy the world (still not exactly sure why). In fairness, Apocalypse (played by the normally phenomenal Oscar Issac) was always going to be a difficult character to bring to the screen. He was a larger than life character in the pages of the comic book and it would be a challenge for any director to bring such omnipotence to the big screen. Apocalypse, or En Sabah Nur, is a 5,000 year old Egyptian, believed to be the first mutant. His ability to absorb other mutants powers over the millennia have transformed him into a god like creature. When he is awoken from his millennia long slumber, his first assessment is that the world is run by the weak and must be ‘cleansed’. In order to do so, he recruits what he considers four of the most powerful mutants on earth and he super charges their powers to be his henchmen. The lineup consists of Magneto, a young Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), and Angel (Ben Hardy). This is where they lose a comic fan like me (and many others). Magneto I can possibly see, even a case can be made for Storm, but Psylocke and Angel? Not exactly recruiting from the upper echelon. This omnipotent being is recruiting beings he would probably consider in need of cleansing.
The main purpose of this film is to round out the trilogy and introduce the original movie X-Men as their younger selves so they can continue the franchise. It felt like Jennifer Lawrence was just in it because they had her under contract. She looked like she was just going through the motions and, in fact, rarely appeared in her supposed natural blue form (when you are a huge star, you don’t have to go through the hours of grueling make-up). The highlight of the film for me was Micheal Fassbender’s Magneto. Of course I’m biased as he is one of my favorite actors, but he delivered some of the most profound and poignant moments in the film. Then of course there is Xavier (James McAvoy) where they were just looking for a story angle to transform him into the bald version all fans love. Overall, I felt he was vastly underutilized.
Like the third installment of most trilogies there is reflection on the previous in the form of clip flashbacks. Combine that with some gratuitous cameos by other X-Men favorites and it was worth the price of admission, but not necessarily gratifying. Director Brian Singer tries to insert some self deprecating humor in one scene where a group of students see ‘The Revenge of the Jedi’ and note that the third movie in a trilogy is always the worse, but it comes off less funny and more irritatingly factual to a person who just plunked down $10 for a ticket would like to hear (not even counting popcorn and drink). The new kid versions of the team are uninspiringly cast and never truly developed. Spoiler Alert: The introduction of Jean Grey’s Phoenix powers come far too early in her career and should not have been introduced this time around.
I can’t say I didn’t enjoy this film. There were many things that kept me entertained. It’s just that the previous two films, plus the recent exceptional experiences of both Captain America and Deadpool, set the bar so high that I can’t give this film a fair shot. We have gotten to a point where we yawn at omnipotent villains because it always follows the same storyline: ‘no one can match the villain until all seems lost then someone manages to use a plot twist to defeat him’. I’ve seen it and know when it will happen. Predictability and formula is death in an action film. Still, go see this film just to round out the trilogy, but leave hoping that the next series of films in the franchise will learn something from Marvel Studios about how to make a super hero film.
I give this film ** stars
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