MOVIE: X-Men – Apocalypse (2016)

X-Men: Apocalypse
Year: 2016
Rating: PG-13
Length: 144 minutes / 2.4 hours

I’ll admit that I was excited for this film, mostly because I was somewhat familiar with its premise. I grew up on the X-Men: Evolution TV show, so I knew that the defining arc of that series was none other than the Apocalypse arc. This may have actually spoiled the movie for me, because it wasn’t quite in line with the plot I knew. Sure, Bryan Singer returned to direct this penultimate piece of the X-Men franchise, but there were just a few things that bugged me about this movie.

First off, one of the elements of the previous prequel films I liked and appreciated was the inclusion of historical events and people into the storyline. This way it felt like an alternate reality not so far removed from our own. While there were loose elements of this present, it wasn’t nearly as integrated as it had been done in the past. Add to this the atrocious fashion and styles of the 1980’s, and I was more distracted by what people were wearing than what they were doing. Secondly, I felt some of the new characters, most of all Psylocke (Olivia Munn), were underdeveloped and included only because they were part of the source material’s plot.

Now, that’s not to say this was a bad movie, because it wasn’t. Since it filled the gap between the other prequels and the first X-Men movie, there were certain developments which were exciting to watch. Some of the other character introductions, like Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) and Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), were also important, knowing what happens in the rest of the films. Once again, Quicksilver (Evan Peters) steals the show with his slow-motion sequence and witty banter. I may have to see this film again with a different perspective (i.e. not using the animated show as my background) to really appreciate it for what it is.

A solid end to a beloved franchise, I give X-Men: Apocalypse 4.0 stars out of 5.