Don't believe the negativity

Rating: 8/10 (22 May 2016)

This film has received, in my opinion, fairly unjust reviews. Right from the get-go it is set up as a much darker entry to the X-men saga than any other film in the franchise, after just two minutes of run time already we see a man reduced to sack of broken bones, something the franchise would never previously dare to do. Other than the much darker moments there are also some much improved character writing and casting, I feel that Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Sophie Turner and Kodi Smit-McPhee were perfect for their roles and added a much needed depth to the characters that was not present in the previous cast simply didn't have. Also, Michael Fassbender gave an absolutely outstanding performance as Magneto and no trace of his real accent can be heard like in "First Class" and despite the disappointing design of Apocalypse himself, Oscar Isaac's performance shone through the questionable prosthetics as he delivered a truly chilling and menacing performance. I believe that the only things that dragged this film down were the fairly predictable plot and the fact that it was released so soon after the outstanding Civil War possibly resulting in increased expectations.