Review of X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) by Darian T — 03 Oct 2016

My Rating: 7.5/10.

My taste in films seems to differ from most people. While the last X-movie (Days of Future Past) was near-universally praised, I thought it was pretty awful. This new film has received rather lukewarm reviews, and I went into it with somewhat low expectations...but came out thinking it was one of the better ones in the franchise. The Girlfriend expected to enjoy it more than Civil War (which she thought contained too much boring dialogue)--she wasn't disappointed. At 2.5 hrs, APOCALYPSE is a helluva long movie, but it didn't feel draggy to either of us, and that's saying something.

========================.

Script/Direction: A.

No immediately apparent gaping plotholes (I can only think of 2 minor ones.) Has a large cast but not all of them has their presence felt (unlike in the Captain America movies, where each character had his/her own opportunity to shine, and did so.) I like how all the characters have these cool poses, whether engaged in action or just standing--whilst at the risk of appearing artificial, it enhances the comic-book vibe. One thing that bugged me: there's no mistaking the fact that the writer(s) intended to make some kind of reference or parallel to (the Abrahamic) God in the character of Apocalypse--I thought this was unnecessary, disrespectful, self-serving, and, from the perspective of a Christian, blasphemous.

Cast/Acting: B+.

Some of the cast is relatively young and, suffice to say, they still have plenty of room to grow as actors. Michael Fassbender (Magneto) owns every scene he's in and Oscar Isaac put up a fairly compelling performance as the main villain Apocalypse. I don't like Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique (she tries to act all mature and experienced, but it feels forced.) Hugh Jackman's Wolverine has a fairly substantial cameo, but you can almost see how weary he is of the role already (or maybe it's just me being tired of him.).

Production/Effects: A.

Plenty of CGI as you would expect in a big-budget show like this that involves people with superpowers. Nothing too spectacular or eye-catching however.

Bonus/Other: +5%.

For being much better than the last film (Days of Future Past.).