A Great X-Men Movie

Rating: 10/10 (31 May 2016)

I've always had a problem with Bryan Singer's X-Men movies. Not a complete problem, but the first two movies he did, while being good, are rather...dumb. But then he seemed to realize what he did wrong and corrected them in X-Men: Days of Future Past. And in X-Men: Apocalypse, he continues the trend of making the X-Men truly great.
Grade: 10/10
9.8/10
98/100
A+
Plot: 10/10 Apocalypse arises in the 80s, a bit confused as to where he is after a really long sleep, but he realizes the world is screwed up and he just wants to make it simple again--with him ruling EVERYTHING. So he gathers some followers and starts his quest to take over. Simple, straight, and to the point. There's no mucking around in this movie. You have a bad guy and good guys who have to stop the bad guy. It's so simple that it actually works. But the story is so much deeper than it seems, which really makes the movie shine.
Character Development: 10/10 A lot of old characters are re-introduced in the new world created by X-Men: Days of Future Past, but a lot of old friends show up, too. They are all giving enough screen time so we don't feel like anyone is shoe-horned in (ala Wonder Woman), and they're all given enough personality that we do become attached to them. The writers did a good job here.
Direction: 10/10 Bryan Singer did a good job bringing this movie to life and I'm glad to have seen the movie in theaters. One thing I was worried about was how they portrayed Apocalypse in the trailers, with him claiming to be all these different gods, including Yahweh, but Singer actually did the smart thing and took that line out of the movie, making sure he offended no one. I was very happy for this, for while I can appreciate the fact that Apocalypse thought himself all the gods of the world, there was a minor thing about calling people who do believe morons that I felt the trailer said very heavy-handedly. But the movie chose to ignore this other than a passing reference. So if you are a Christian and think the movie is offending you, I can assure you that it actually does not. Nor does it offend any other religions, for those who might be interested.
Casting: 10/10 I was worried most about the casting, especially Sophie Turner, but I was surprised when everyone turned in a really tremendous performance--especially Sophie Turner. Still, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender were the best performers, and Oscar Isaac actually kinda stole the show.
Acting: 10/10 See above. Acting was just as great as the casting--and I don't mean that in a disparaging way.
Cinematography: 10/10 The film was visually stunning, and the destruction-porn was actually far less than I was expecting from the trailers. It was handled masterfully.
Music: 10/10 Great score that accompanied the movie well but did not overwhelm it.
Pacing: 9/10 I'll admit that the movie did move a little slow at times. It wasn't completely noticeable, but there was a time I was beginning to wonder if the final battle was ever going to get there. A few moments later, it did.
Sets and Costumes: 10/10 All the costumes in the movie were great, especially Psylocke's. Whoever created her outfit needs to win some kind of award because it was perfect--just what I wanted her outfit to look like. The other costumes were great, too, but Psylocke's was really spot-on.
Re-watchability: 9/10 While being a great movie, like most X-Men movies, it has a great re-watch factor but it's not perfect. I can't wait to own this movie, but chances are I probably won't see it in theaters again. Nothing against the movie--just have to save my money for awhile.
X-Men: Apocalypse is definitely worth seeing in the theater if you're an X-Men fan or even if you just like the X-Men movies. Go see it. You might be surprised.