You guys I am so disappointed. Going to see X-Men Apocalypse I had heard the negative reviews but as a big X-Men fan I was hoping they were being too hard on it. After seeing it I actually think they are being kind. It’s current 47% on Rotten Tomatoes is a lot higher than I would give it. I liked it less than Batman v Superman and that is saying something…
I almost don’t know where to begin. Let’s start with what I want out of an X-Men movie. At their best X-Men movies say something about class and the way we treat those that are different. Unlike most franchises where bad guys and good guys are more one-note X-Men characters feel well-rounded when they are done right. Magneto, for instance, is a villain but only because he has given up on humanity. There’s a hopelessness about his villainy that can actually be quite moving.
X-Men Apocalypse had a few moments showing Magneto being conflicted and once again losing something dear to him (evidently the Holocaust isn’t enough of a motivator. They have to keep piling it on for the poor man). Unfortunately the film keeps moving away from Magneto for long stretches and gives us instead Apocalypse who I thought was power rangers worthy bad guy and spouting the Bible to sound important which was just annoying.
The biggest problem with X-Men Apocalypse is that it is completely fragmented. Days of Future Past had a lot of characters but it was focused on 2- Wolverine and Mystique. Everyone else was peppered in where needed. They also had a clear goal, to get Mystique to change her mind. This is muddled. Sometimes it is Scott’s story, sometimes Magnetos, sometimes Charles, sometimes Mystique, the list goes on. None of them are executed in a satisfactory way and none of them really matter in defeating Apocalypse. They all kind of throw stuff at him hoping it will work.
This leads to a lot of epic shouting and destruction with no momentum or sense that anything was being accomplished. You just knew they would find a way out of it because more movies are coming. Honestly I thought it was shouty, self-important, annoying and insufferable.
The female characters that I love in X-Men are all underused especially Storm and Psylocke. There is a fun scene when Quicksilver does his thing but since it’s a copy of what we saw in Days of Future Past I won’t give it too much credit.
The final battle has a few good moments and all the actors try but I really didn’t like it. The broader metaphors aren’t really there so it is at best a dopey 90s style superhero movie. Sorry, it was my third most anticipated movie of the year and it really let me down. And people are criticizing Jennifer Lawrence for her performance but that was the least of this movies problems.
Oh and Wolverine shows up for like 3 minutes just to remind us of all the better movies he is in.
I know other people liked it but I’m sorry it really didn’t work for me.
Overall Grade- D+
It’s also very violent and there is some profanity so I would not recommend it for kids.
My youtube review and rant
Power Rangers worthy bad guy – good one!
I agree with your points, except that I would still take this over Batman v Superman. Did you ever watch the animated series – I remember Apocalypse being better done there.
It’s tough because they are bad in different ways. I guess I’ve never been that high on Batman and so this let me down. I hated the ending of BvS more than this. This was more consistently disappointing from start to finish
I’ve seen a little of the animated series but need to binge it sometime
Of course I liked it (a little bit more than most), but yeah it had have it problems.
Nice, i was also disappointed with this, i am getting too annoyed with the timelines now, the film kept referencing earlier films even though they keep making a point they never happened and i just got a headache, i think they should just make a Quicksilver magneto and we will be happy.
Headache inducing is a good way to describe it
This movie has gotten a lot of hate from critics. Audiences have been kinder (A- Cinemascore) and I’m surprised to actually side with them this time. I too walked in prepared for the worst, but what I got was one of the better films in the X-Men franchise. I think several of the films in this particular superhero series have problems. There are 9 and I’d place this at #4. No it’s not the best, but it’s far from the worst. [X-Men Origins (2009) and The Wolverine (2013) are unwatchable.]
I hear your frustrations, but I liked seeing each member of the cast get an opportunity to shine. I mean the cast they assemble is absolutely incredible. I just love seeing these actors. They can make average material seem better. Plus amazing action set pieces are the mark of a good superhero film. Apocalypse presents several that are outstanding. Check out my review because I go into more detail about which ones. The production wasn’t deep but it was fun and I was never bored. 😀