Review of X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) by Kevin P — 15 Aug 2018

Strengths: One of the things that has made this prequel series so successful is the work of its cast. Michael Fassbender (Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto) and James McAvoy (Charles Xavier/Professor X) have both given strong performances worthy of the great Sir Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart. That continued this go around. Specially for Fassbender when he was given a lot to work with. Jennifer Lawrence (Raven/Mystique) is given a lot to work with, struggling with being looked at as a hero to the mutant at Charles' school. Like in Days of Future Past, Evan Peters (Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver) was a blast. This series nailed how to make this character work, in a way that the MCU couldn't. He was another highlight. The new additions to the cast mostly worked, with Sophie Turner (Jean Grey), Tye Sheridan (Scott Summers/Cyclops), and Kodi Smit-McPhee (Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler) standing out. As usual, the visual effects are great and the thrown in bits of humor are good. The chemistry and dialogue among the characters make for some of the stronger moments. You also must love the Hugh Jackman (Logan/Wolverine) appearance and his character's brief interaction with Jean Grey knowing their futures.

Weaknesses: The glaring issue with this film is the villain. Oscar Isaac (Apocalypse) does a whole lot of nothing. The performance is nothing special and the character should feel like this major deal, yet he doesn't. He recruits his "horsemen" and then kind of just does nothing. Sure, some stuff gets destroyed but it never felt like he was a true threat. That's a problem for this all powerful first ever mutant. Olivia Munn (Psylocke) and Alexandra Shipp (Ororo Munroe/Storm) feel kind of wasted. Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert) felt like she was brought back for no real reason. While she plays well off McAvoy, her character could be removed without changing the plot and nothing changes. She's pointless. As great as Fassbender is as Magneto, the character feels way too inconsistent in this series. I understand that he's battling the good/evil stuff, but if there was anything that should've permanently sent him over, it would be the death of his family. He should've helped stop Apocalypse, but for his own reasons and not to join up with the good guys. The plot feels bloated and everything the mediocre villain tries to do is a cliché or overdone in this kind of film.

Overall: There's no real way to get around it. This is easily the worst part of this X-Men trilogy. However, it's not a bad movie. The work of most of the cast is great and the new additions were mostly welcome. The action and effects are also strong. There's just a bit too much going on and it suffers from a massively disappointing villain.