Solidly good

Rating: 10/10 (30 May 2018)

The latest X-Men movie (excluding Logan) sees the new recruits (and some old friends) playing for high stakes. In the darkest X-men film yet we meet new villain Apocalypse, who is actually the oldest villain of all.
In pre-Biblical Egypt, despotic mutant En Sabah Nur (who derives life and powers by parasitically transferring himself into new bodies from time to time) is betrayed during a transfer and buried alive, though dormant, for nearly 6,000 years. Reawoken in 1983, he needs to find powerful mutants to act as his henchmen: this coincides with Charles Xavier starting to use Cerebro to find pupils for his school, Mystique looking to rescue persecuted mutants, and Magneto enjoying family life.
I was a little worried before going to see this, because I had heard suggestions that it wasn't that good. I've enjoyed all the previous X-Men films (yes, even the Wolverine origin one), and I've read a fair number of X-Men comics, so I was predisposed towards enjoyment but, still, you worry, don't you?
I loved it. It's full of action, the plot is easy enough to follow but dense enough to satisfy, there are sufficient returning cast members to give a sense of continuity, and the new characters (and recast younger versions of characters from the first 3 films) all do well.
All is not 100% wonderful, though - it is much darker than previous X-men films, for instance. There are deaths which are emotionally effective (by which I mean upsetting), and there is some imagery which, even in a 12A certificate film, could be regarded as a little disturbing. This is not an exciting family adventure movie (although it is exciting, Xavier's children are a family, and the whole thing is an adventure): it's a bit strong for the young and sensitive. And although the film runs two and a half hours, one wonders if there might be material left on the cutting room floor because, for instance, poor Olivia Munn as Psylocke gets fairly short shrift in what amounts to an underwritten cameo, despite looking exactly like her comics counterpart ie. seriously hot.
But there is far more good than bad. Quicksilver's set piece steals the film again, much as it did in X-Men: Days Of Future Past. And there are two points - one of them hinted at in the trailer - which are cause for serious fangasms. Seriously. The unexpected one choked me up: I couldn't believe what I was seeing on screen.
Which begs a question as to whether it is possible to enjoy the film if you haven't seen the previous X-Men movies or read any of the comics? Well, I spoke to someone who had just seen it, but hadn't seen any of the previous films, and he said that he thoroughly enjoyed it. So that's two points of view for the price of one.
My verdict: as an established X-Men fan, both comics and movies, I would give this a full 10 out of 10.