X-Men: Apocalypse - review: It's pretty damn good

Rating: 6/10 (29 May 2016)

I'm not a huge fan of the X-Men movies, but I love X2, First Class, DOFP, and I liked Apocalypse.
The opening action sequence was pretty breathe taking. When I first saw Apocalypse on screen, I thought he looked pretty scary, I thought his scrawny creepy old man look was scary, you could tell he was ancient, and I think it would've been interesting if Bryan Singer had kept the old scrawny look for the entirety of the movie; I just really preferred Apocalypse's old man look verse what he ended up looking like after the transference.
The musical score is what really got me into the opening sequence. Once the music started playing, I was hooked. The action during the opening sequence was good also, it's pretty reminiscent of DOFP's opening, but I'll say that I prefer Apocalypse's opening just a tad bit more, and I think that's because the musical score was so good (it really set the tone). The only negative thing about the opening was its CGI; The CGI was so bad that it kind of took me out of the sequence, it also kind of took me out of the movie.
The CGI basically ruins this movie, it makes me think, where did the budget go, and DOFP had better CGI than this; Honestly, the CGI looks so bad that its laughable. Maybe this movie was way too big for its britches? Studio's have this belief that the sequel always needs to be bigger than its predecessor, I however don't believe that. I ultimately don't care about the scope of a movie, I care about the story, and I care about the characters. If your movie can hook me with the story and characters alone, than you've already won the battle. The scope of your movie doesn't always need to be grander in scale, you can create something small, and you can make it seem larger than life without having to over do it. Yes, I know this is an X-Men movie, and its characters are larger than life, but the movie doesn't have to sacrifice its concept for an abundance of special effects. Frankly speaking, if you don't have the budget for it, than create something smaller, you can execute the same idea, but you'll just have to find a different approach for it.
The ending action sequence was pretty dull and boring. The only exciting element during the ending battle was when Apocalypse tried to control Professor Xavier. Mcavoy's performance during that ending transference scene was edge of the seat suspense, I was legitimately concerned for the well-being of his character, and Apocalypse's rage/whinny baby reaction after the transference had failed was stellar.
The only action scenes I liked where the opening and Ouicksliver scene, everything else was forgettable.
A majority of the actors delivered good performances, yes this includes Jennifer Lawrence. I don't mind JLaw as Mystique, I just hate the fact that she's in the spotlight. When Rebecca Romijn played Mystique, she had her moments to shine, and she delivered, but she was never the focal point. The only reason Mystique is at the center of attention is because she's played by JLaw, in my opinion, that's catering to the actor. JLaw's Mystique is the perfect example of the actor revolving around the character and not the other way around.
Ben Hardy (Angel/Arc-Angel) and Olivia Munn (Psylocke) are completely underutilized, their stories are insignificant and inefficient.
Alexandra Shipp (Storm) was slightly underutilized, Singer should've given her more character to chew on, but she did a good job with what she had to work with, she ran with it, and it was pretty cool.
Josh Helman (Stryker) didn't need to be in this movie, he just pops in out of nowhere, his appearance is warranted, but he's just there to set- up Wolverine's entrance.
Lana Condor (Jubilee) is barely in the movie, but that's okay because the actor did what she could, she was great in the role, and I hope I see more of her in future X-Men movies. I think Jubilee had more dialog than Arc-Angel and Psylocke combined.
Oscar Isaac (Apocalypse) was great, I was immersed in the character, and the actor's portrayal was spot on.
Magneto has more to do here than any other character (besides Xavier & Apocalypse). I felt for Magneto when his family died, I understood his reasoning for wanting to join the horsemen, and I liked that he went fully bad in this movie (sort of). By the end of the movie, Magneto betrays Apocalypse because he feels that he has betrayed his fellow X- Men or Charles, he thinks back to the events of First Class, and he has the realization that he has been hurting them or him all along. I liked that Magneto had his little moment at the end, but damn he surly does change sides fast. I thought Magneto changing sides happened way to prematurely, it really didn't hold any emotional weight for me, and I think it would've been better if he had died fighting Apocalypse or the X-Men. Honestly, where on earth can this character go from here, he shouldn't get a pass just because he saved the world, he also had a hand in destroying it, and him turning fully good doesn't fit the character's arc at all.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie, and I had fun with it. Is it better than DOFP, no. Is it the worst X-Men movie, no. Does it have problems, yes. Would I add this to my good X-Men movie collection, yes because I think this movie is pretty good. X-Men: Apocalypse is definitely in my top five favorite X-Men movies, but yes this movie could've been so much better. If you're a fan of the X-Men movies, check it out because it's fun, and nothing more.