X-Men: Apocalypse Review

X-Men: Apocalypse has high ambitions, but falls flat due to a dull execution of the narrative and not enough development for any one character.

Could it be? Could the X-Men franchise be stuck in some sort of curse where the third film in any one trilogy set will always be the worst? What’s coincidentally hilarious and meta is that at one point in the movie—where our young band of mutants exit out of a disappointing showing of Return of the Jedi—Jean Grey actually makes the statement, “At least we can all agree the third one is always the worst.” Wow! Though the movie was bad, that line was rather uncanny (pun intended), especially coming from a character known for her prophetic visions.

WARNING: Potential spoilers ahead

Starting off in Ancient Egypt—we’re not shown Apocalypse’s … ahem … I mean En Sabah Nur’s origins—we see the titular bad guy at the height of his power, ready to embrace immortality by transferring his consciousness from a dying decrepit body into another mutant who has accelerated healing abilities (think Wolverine).

Just as our villain is at his weakest (the transferring state leaves Apocalypse unconscious), a band of assassins attempt to take him out. This is basically the writers hiding the exposition of Apocalypse being a very cruel ruler—playing the role of a mighty god.

The assassination is semi-successful. Apocalypse, protected by his then Four Horseman, is buried alive and placed in a state of hibernation. After thousands of years pass, a cult raises him from his long slumber when his ancient tomb is exposed to the sun. From here, it’s Apocalypse accruing his army and doing his best tyrannical monologue of how mutants are more superior than humans.

The initial scenes of X-Men: Apocalypse whisks the audience to and from 1980s suburbia, modern third-world ravaged Egypt, and countryside Poland. The film tries to give a backstory to the characters in the hopes of eliciting some sort of emotional attachment and impact: Scott Summers is bullied; Jean Grey has nightmares about the end of the world; Nightcrawler is labeled a freak and grew up in the circus; and Magneto has a loving family that means the world to him.

All of this is fine and dandy except for the fact that we never stay with any one character long enough to care. It’s a rather strange feeling. All the characters are likeable, but they lack a certain spark to make the audience really root for them. There was also the lack of a central protagonist. Was this Charles Xavier’s story? Jean Grey’s? Was it about Magneto’s redemption? Or were we supposed to feel both sympathy and empathy for Apocalypse?—“Humans weak! Mutants strong and worthy!”

In various interviews, writer and producer Simon Kinberg stated that X-Men: Apocalypse was the final installment in a trilogy that was composed of X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past. It certainly didn’t feel like a great end cap. First Class was about Xavier’s rise and his optimism in creating an understanding between humans and mutants. Days of Future Past was Xavier at his darkest—seeing nothing but despair and an end to any sort of peace between humankind and mutantkind.

If we were to follow this natural evolution of character, shouldn’t the third installment be about Xavier’s coming into greatness? The first half of the film shows all the good stuff that the professor has accomplished. But when things go from bad to worse, it’s his students who bail him and the world out. True, he does his best “Mr. Miyagi” and guide them through it, but there’s little in the way of character development for him. That’s why this trilogy feels incomplete.

Complaints aside, the film does have a few moments that succeed with the audience. Quicksilver’s speed gimmick from the first movie is repeated here in a dramatic rescue that pairs MacGyver-level creativity with humor and wit. And the final scene (no, not the proverbial post-credits scene, but the film’s official ending) has the X-Men looking like their mutant selves from the comics, and a trial run with the newly built Danger Room.

X-Men: Apocalypse is a movie that only serves to entertain with a few great set pieces and homages to the comics, but it fails at what the previous movies have done—create a compelling world deeply rooted in emotion and character drive. It seems that this third installment mutated away from its predecessors and became a lackluster entry.

Next: X-Men: Apocalypse Post-Credits Scene Explained

Official Synopsis: Worshiped as a god since the dawn of civilization, the immortal Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) becomes the first and most powerful mutant. Awakening after thousands of years, he recruits the disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and other mutants to create a new world order. As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Professor X (James McAvoy) and Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) lead a team of young X-Men to stop their seemingly invincible nemesis from destroying mankind.

X-Men: Apocalypse was released in the United States on May 27, 2016 and is directed by Bryan Singer and written by Simon Kinberg, Dan Harris, and Michael Dougherty, and stars James McAvoy as Charles Xavier / Professor X, Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellan as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkhölme, Nicholas Hout as Hank McCoy / Beast, Evan Peters as Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver, Oscar Isaac as En Sabah Nur / Apocalypse, Alexandra Shipp as Ororo Munroe / Storm, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Tye Sheridan as Scott Summers / Cyclops, Rose Burne as Moira MacTaggert, Kodi Smit-McPhee as Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler, Lana Condor as Jubilation Lee, Ben Hardy as Warren Worthington III / Angel, Olivia Munn as Betsy Braddock / Psylocke, and Lucas Till as Alex Summers / Havok.

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