Fun - but not the best superhero movie of the year

Rating: Null/10 (25 May 2016)

It's interesting how from time to time we have two or even three films released close to one another which have essentially the same plot. Think, for instance, of "Armageddon" and "Deep Impact" in 1998 or "White House Down" and "Olympus Has Fallen" in 2013.
So, in the first half of 2016, we have three movies that fundamentally tell the same story: in order of release "Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice", "Captain America: Civil War" and now "X-Men: Apocalypse". In each, we have a superhero production in which superheroes knock the hell out of each other rather than concentrate on an independent bad guy.
Which of the three is the best? For me, it is "Captain America". "Batman v Superman" had too few characters to fill two and a half hours, while "X-Men" had too many characters with insufficient back story on most of them. "Captain America" just about managed its large cast list and was helped by our knowledge of most of the characters from previous movies.
Including "The Wolverine", "Apocalypse" is the eighth outing for the X-Men of the Marvel Comics franchise and Bryan Singer, who helmed the first two and the last one, is back as director for the fourth time, so the work is in good hands.
It looks splendid with yet more destruction of iconic world landmarks - although the apparent death of millions of innocents is totally overlooked in a work that references the Holocaust - but the problem is with the mutants themselves.
The eponymous Apocalypse (an unrecognisable Oscar Isaacs) wants to destroy everything and everybody for no good reason and manages to recruit four aides or horsemen with ridiculous ease and again for no clear reason.
The female actors are especially badly served: Jennifer Lawrence, back as Raven/Mystique, has too few decent lines, while newcomers to the franchise Alexandra Shipp (as Storm) and Olivia Munn (as Psylocke) are terribly underwritten. Best not to think too much about the plot or script and just enjoy the visuals.