Formula superhero movie

Rating: 7/10 (11 June 2016)

I know, right? Who would have thought it? A superhero movie where the heroes discover a great threat to humanity and then overcome it.
So, yes, this is pretty much a by-the-numbers effort from all involved in the X-Men franchise. There is nothing here to really make you go wow, or gasp in surprise. The reason being that you have already seen the action scenes in countless other superhero movies and any twists there might have been are entirely blanked out by the hero mantra that "good must always win the day".
So is there anything to recommend this film? Well, it isn't Batman vs Superman, or Fantastic 4, so it is immediately not the worst superhero movie ever. But it is very generic. I honestly don't see the need for the hundreds of superheroes when they all are essentially the same character, just with different powers.
If there is any bright spot to this movie, it is that the complete and utter lack of imagination throughout most of its running time is entirely thrown into sharp focus by the scenes involving Quicksilver. Unlike the rest of the movie, where standard mayhem and violence ensue with the kind of gleeful (yet boring) world destroying force we have all come to expect, Quicksilver's scenes at what could have been.
The imagination and fun that clearly went into devising his scenes of inhumanly fast movement shine like a beacon in an otherwise rather dimly-lit movie. It is hard not to like this character, who is able to effectively move so fast the rest of the world seems to stand still. The fun they have with his one big scene is clear, and harks back to an era when superheros could be fun and not scowl-faced gritty impersonations of themselves. Quicksilver, in his way, is the less-sweary cousin to Deadpool. There is an irreverence to him that I hope they don't ruin with "character development" and, of all the myriad of heroes getting their own movies, one starring him would be the only one I would be interested in seeing.
However, beyond Quicksilver, there isn't much to really draw you into the film. The rest of the X-Men get decent enough screen time, though I kind of wish they'd just be done with the origins stories and get on with the group as a team. And, I'm sorry, but James McAvoy's school for mutants is increasingly starting to seem more like Hogwarts than it is a place for mutants to come into their own.
The movie, as I said, is capably done, but it isn't anything you haven't seen before (excepting Quicksilver) and leaves you feeling "Meh!" more than anything else.
There is the obligatory Staneo and, for no reason other than fan-service, Wolverine makes a brief appearance as a kind of Maguffin to get the students out of a tough spot. His appearance is entirely unnecessary but just done so that they can say he is in the movie.
All in all, this is a formula movie with no surprises.
SUMMARY: Formula hero flick with nothing particular to recommend it. Not awful, but just more of the same you've now seen countless times before.