The X-Men make a surprising but flawed return to the big screen

Rating: 7/10 (27 May 2016)

It's been sixteen years since the debut of the X-Men franchise in 2000, and the series is shown to still be running. Director Bryan Singer has given grace to the franchise, though it has fallen victim to a few disappointments along the way, take 'X-Men: Origins' for example. This ninth installment to the series continues the story after the events of 'Days of Future Past' when our hero Wolverine traveled back in time to save the world from the tyrant robots known as The Sentinels and restored peace, though the peace for the mutants was only temporary. The film opens up in ancient Egypt with the awakening of the most powerful mutant in the world Apocalypse (played by Oscar Isaac), a mutant born thousands of years ago as a god and is capable destroying absolutely everything in this path. When the mutants learn of his return and discover this plan to completely wipe out civilization as we know it while assisted by his four horsemen: Storm (played by Alexander Shippe) Angel (played by Ben Hardy), Psylocke (played by Oliva Munn) and later joining them is Magneto (played by Michael Fassbender). To an grueling effort to save humanity, the mutants band together to defeat Apocalypse once and for all. Joining the mutants is Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), The Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Quiksilver (Evan Peters), along with some newcomers including Nightcrawler (Kodi-Smit McPhee), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), and Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) assisted by Professor Charles Xavier (Jams McAvoy).
This film serves a pleasant continuation to the X-Men storyline, but it's not quite as fresh as it should be, hitting a few flaws along the way. The film begins with a truly compelling premise and introduction of the main villain Apocalypse to kick off the story which follows an antagonist who is portrayed as a god. So yes, the film does seem to implant some biblical symbolism in the story including the four horseman of the Apocalypse which some may be familiar with in the Bible. The execution of the story is strong enough to maintain interest. But if there is a major flaw in the story, it lies within the pacing along with the main villain Apocalypse himself. After a compelling introduction our antagonist, the story journeys through a bloated amount of exposition, moving the plot at an unnecessarily slow pace during the first half. I can't argue that the establishment of Magneto's story and his transformation from an innocent man to a tragic anti-hero, everything else feels a bit confused, at least until the story finally kicks off during the second half. The same goes for Apocalypse. With a villain as powerful and legendary as him, viewers would expect him to be treated with proper development. The part this villain fails at providing a clear motivation as why is trying to destroy the world other than just to destroy it. Without a solid motivation, the result is a villain that feels rather underdeveloped, though he reaches redemption from a decent performance by Oscar Isaac.
While the film may not bless with the most engrossing villain of the franchise, we are fortunately granted with of course, exhilarating visual effects and action sequences to pinnacle our excitement. The action sequences are fun as ever, and given by the impressive CGI, they're quite pulse-pounding to watch. The climatic battle during the final twenty minutes are easily some of the best moments. Like the previous film Days of Future Past, Quik Silver played by Evan Peters earns his time to shine in another of his big "freeze-motion" scene accompanied a classic 80s soundtrack (Haha!). Apocalypse on the other hand, is cool to look at but the CGI and costume design on Oscar Isaac is not too impressive or particularly scary enough to make him look menacing. Even if the visuals effects don't impress you, it's great to see some of our favorite cast members return to the screen along with newcomers like Tye Sheridan and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Cyclops and Nightcrawler. The performances are incredible, especially Michael Fassbender who delivers as captivating, emotionally-driven portrayal of the iconic Magneto. Is his performance Oscar-worthy? No, but it stands truly memorable.
X-Men Apoaclypse may feel like a slight step backwards in the series, but it's solidly entertaining and marks an accomplished opportunity by director Bryan Singer as well as a worthy kickstart to the summer, even if it hits some flaws in the process. This film is worth seeing, especially for X-Men fans and bound to score big riches at the box office, much like every other Marvel-based picture.