X-Men: Apocalypse (3D) - directed by Bryan Singer
Screenplay: Andrew Baldwin & James Watkins
Music Score by: John Ottman
Cinematography: Newton Thomas Sigel
Edited by: Michael Louis Hill & John Ottman
Running Time: 144 minutes
Rated: M - Standard Marvel level superhero violence and language
The X-Men movies hold a special place in my movie loving heart.
Bryan Singer's 2000 "X-Men" is rightfully credited with starting the current boom of quality superhero movies.
With the follow up - 2003's sublime "X-Men 2" he set a standard that has only been reached a handful of times since with the likes of "The Dark Knight", "Spider-Man 2" and "Captain America: The Winter Soldier".
Combining strong themes with terrific performances and gonzo action scenes Singer's X-Men movies proved that superhero movies could be as smart as they are hugely entertaining.
Of course then Singer departed the series and "X-Men 3" happened de-railing the series for a while until the great "X-Men: First Class" from director Matthew Vaughn and then Singer's return with the superb "X-Men: Days of Future Past".
And now we have the third in the latest run and even though Singer is once again in the big chair the fear is that the dreaded third film curse will hit.
The same 'curse' that made "Spider-Man 3", "X-Men 3", "Matrix Revolutions", "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" and many, many more unworthy finales to their prospective trilogy runs.
Some pretty average reviews and a 53% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes cast extra doubt on this movie but since I have liked a host of poorly reviewed over the last few years I tend not to be too concerned.
And in this case I was right not to be.
"X-Men: Apocalypse" is a bunch of fun and I liked it a whole lot.
It is clearly the biggest movie in terms of scope and the special effects budget alone would probably be the envy of a lot of small countries GDP figures.
It is all up there on the screen though with some truly awe inspiring scenes the likes of which I have not seen since Roland Emmerich's ridiculous but fun "2012".
The tone is set early with a stunning ancient Egypt sequence culminating in some pretty decent mass destruction.
Effects are all well and good but without a story and decent characters who cares?
Casting has always been strong in the X-Men movies and this one is no exception.
I have heard claims that Jennifer Lawrence looks bored playing Mystique again but I don't share this view at all.
She spends far more time in her 'human' form than in the blue skinned redhead variant and it givers her more room to inject far more of her own personality into the role.
Michael Fassbender as Magneto is perhaps a tad underused but he owns this role at this point and I like what he did here.
Once again this character is a bad guy and a good guy and Fassbender has the right air about him to pull that off.
Of course the true villain is Oscar Isaac's Apocalypse and he is quite a character.
Perhaps his powers are not a defined as they might be and there are moments when he pulls out a new trick at a convenient time. It left me wondering exactly what he was and was not capable off.
Still- he is intimidating and a decent villain.
Isaac may be almost entirely unrecognisable but he does a good job.
James McAvoy's Charles Xavier gets many of the big character moments but not far behind is the beautiful Sophie Turner as Jean Grey.
I am as big a Famke Janssen fan as you are going to find but even so - I approve of this choice.
Turner is very good and rest assured that should you worry in the first half of the movie that the character has nothing to do all will be revealed in a scene that should give anyone with even a little X-Men knowledge a good idea where the series is going next.
The downside is that there is maybe a little too much fan service and the tendency to fall back on things that have proved popular before.
A lot of links to the previous movies are thrown in including a savagely unsubtle dig at Brett Ratner's X-"Men 3: The Last Stand" which I was not at all ashamed (or alone) at laughing heartily at.
Footage from the last two films is used to pretty good effect and shows that these films all do feel like they belong together - not a claim most superhero trilogies can make.
Wolverine's cameo is great and the culmination of his appearance perfect.
Everyone loved Quicksilver's film stealing slo-mo scene in Days of Future Past and his very similar moment here is obviously an attempt at a 'hey guys - if you loved that check this out' moment but when it is done this well and with this much humour I don't care to be too cynical about its inclusion.
This scene also shows the correct usage of an 80's pop hit!
For a two and a half hour movie I found that "X-Men: Apocalypse" roared by.
It is well paced with liberal moments of humour and action along the way culminating in a huge dust up that is tense, fun and spectacular in equal measure.
The new characters are all good with Olivia Munn's Psylocke a super sexy standout for me.
Every character's powers are well used in the movie and Singer proves yet again how great he is at bringing together a bunch of characters and showing them working together.
Mystique is the defacto leader and it is a blast seeing her and Quicksilver working together while Beast and Nightcrawler take on Psylocke and Storm.
The relationship that we know is coming between Jean and Scott (aka Cyclops) is served really nicely too.
An early encounter brings to mind portions of "X-Men 2" which is never a bad thing.
Yet again I find myself baffled by the poor reviews that a major superhero movies is getting.
It may not be quite as good as Singer's last two times at the helm of an X-Men movie but getting this close to the standards set by those films is plenty good enough for me.
It lacks the strong themes in subtext of the previous films but personally I am fine with this- I don't need it every time. This film is more concerned with being an epic action comic.
There is an abundance of terrific action and the movie very clearly ends with more to come.
Much is set up for future instalments.
I really, really enjoyed this movie.
If you see it it is your call on 3D or 2D - the 3D is neither distracting nor particularly beneficial to the film.
Regardless - don't leave until the very end of the credits - there is one more scene.
And special bonus points for including Ally Sheedy in a small role.
RATING: 82 / 100
CONCLUSION: While it doesn't hit the heights of the best in the series (X2 and Days of Future Past) this is a damned fine X-Men movie and a lot of fun.
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Oscar Isaac, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Evan Peters, Sophie Turner, Josh Helman, Tye Sheridan, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ben Hardy, Olivia Munn, Lana Condor, Hugh Jackman, Warren Scherer, Rochelle Okoye, Monique Ganderton, Fraser Aitcheson, Ally Sheedy
Screenplay: Andrew Baldwin & James Watkins
Music Score by: John Ottman
Cinematography: Newton Thomas Sigel
Edited by: Michael Louis Hill & John Ottman
Running Time: 144 minutes
Rated: M - Standard Marvel level superhero violence and language
Bryan Singer's 2000 "X-Men" is rightfully credited with starting the current boom of quality superhero movies.
With the follow up - 2003's sublime "X-Men 2" he set a standard that has only been reached a handful of times since with the likes of "The Dark Knight", "Spider-Man 2" and "Captain America: The Winter Soldier".
Combining strong themes with terrific performances and gonzo action scenes Singer's X-Men movies proved that superhero movies could be as smart as they are hugely entertaining.
Of course then Singer departed the series and "X-Men 3" happened de-railing the series for a while until the great "X-Men: First Class" from director Matthew Vaughn and then Singer's return with the superb "X-Men: Days of Future Past".
And now we have the third in the latest run and even though Singer is once again in the big chair the fear is that the dreaded third film curse will hit.
The same 'curse' that made "Spider-Man 3", "X-Men 3", "Matrix Revolutions", "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" and many, many more unworthy finales to their prospective trilogy runs.
 |
| Sophie Turner plays the younger Jean Grey and Jennifer Lawrence returns as Mystique |
And in this case I was right not to be.
"X-Men: Apocalypse" is a bunch of fun and I liked it a whole lot.
It is clearly the biggest movie in terms of scope and the special effects budget alone would probably be the envy of a lot of small countries GDP figures.
It is all up there on the screen though with some truly awe inspiring scenes the likes of which I have not seen since Roland Emmerich's ridiculous but fun "2012".
The tone is set early with a stunning ancient Egypt sequence culminating in some pretty decent mass destruction.
Effects are all well and good but without a story and decent characters who cares?
Casting has always been strong in the X-Men movies and this one is no exception.
I have heard claims that Jennifer Lawrence looks bored playing Mystique again but I don't share this view at all.
She spends far more time in her 'human' form than in the blue skinned redhead variant and it givers her more room to inject far more of her own personality into the role.
Michael Fassbender as Magneto is perhaps a tad underused but he owns this role at this point and I like what he did here.
Once again this character is a bad guy and a good guy and Fassbender has the right air about him to pull that off.
Of course the true villain is Oscar Isaac's Apocalypse and he is quite a character.
Perhaps his powers are not a defined as they might be and there are moments when he pulls out a new trick at a convenient time. It left me wondering exactly what he was and was not capable off.
Still- he is intimidating and a decent villain.
Isaac may be almost entirely unrecognisable but he does a good job.
James McAvoy's Charles Xavier gets many of the big character moments but not far behind is the beautiful Sophie Turner as Jean Grey.
I am as big a Famke Janssen fan as you are going to find but even so - I approve of this choice.
Turner is very good and rest assured that should you worry in the first half of the movie that the character has nothing to do all will be revealed in a scene that should give anyone with even a little X-Men knowledge a good idea where the series is going next.
 |
| This is arguably the darkest X-Men movie to date in tone and often in visual style |
A lot of links to the previous movies are thrown in including a savagely unsubtle dig at Brett Ratner's X-"Men 3: The Last Stand" which I was not at all ashamed (or alone) at laughing heartily at.
Footage from the last two films is used to pretty good effect and shows that these films all do feel like they belong together - not a claim most superhero trilogies can make.
Wolverine's cameo is great and the culmination of his appearance perfect.
Everyone loved Quicksilver's film stealing slo-mo scene in Days of Future Past and his very similar moment here is obviously an attempt at a 'hey guys - if you loved that check this out' moment but when it is done this well and with this much humour I don't care to be too cynical about its inclusion.
This scene also shows the correct usage of an 80's pop hit!
 |
| The villains include Psylocke, Storm, Apocalypse and an old favourite - William Struker |
It is well paced with liberal moments of humour and action along the way culminating in a huge dust up that is tense, fun and spectacular in equal measure.
The new characters are all good with Olivia Munn's Psylocke a super sexy standout for me.
Every character's powers are well used in the movie and Singer proves yet again how great he is at bringing together a bunch of characters and showing them working together.
Mystique is the defacto leader and it is a blast seeing her and Quicksilver working together while Beast and Nightcrawler take on Psylocke and Storm.
The relationship that we know is coming between Jean and Scott (aka Cyclops) is served really nicely too.
An early encounter brings to mind portions of "X-Men 2" which is never a bad thing.
 |
| Visuals are spectacular but the high point is again Quicksilver. Director Singer far right with McAvoy and Fassbender |
It may not be quite as good as Singer's last two times at the helm of an X-Men movie but getting this close to the standards set by those films is plenty good enough for me.
It lacks the strong themes in subtext of the previous films but personally I am fine with this- I don't need it every time. This film is more concerned with being an epic action comic.
There is an abundance of terrific action and the movie very clearly ends with more to come.
Much is set up for future instalments.
I really, really enjoyed this movie.
If you see it it is your call on 3D or 2D - the 3D is neither distracting nor particularly beneficial to the film.
Regardless - don't leave until the very end of the credits - there is one more scene.
And special bonus points for including Ally Sheedy in a small role.
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