Visually spectacular but underwhelming

Rating: 6/10 (29 May 2016)

The trailer for this latest instalment of the X-Men reboot/prequel franchise, X-Men: Apocalypse had my quite excited. I thoroughly enjoyed both X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days Of Future Past so I figured this third film in the series is sure to deliver.
I won't go as far as saying that I didn't enjoy this film, because I did. The effects were flawless, the action sequences were amazing and it was great to see a little bit more about the history of the X-Men. However, the movie left me feeling slightly underwhelmed.
Played by the always engaging Oscar Isaac, the main villain in the film lacked motivation for me. I found that whilst I knew what his aim was, I didn't truly connect with what his motivations were. I also felt like there was a huge amount of 'filler' scenes in the lead up to the climax, which had me a little bored. Not only this, but being a stickler for consistency and details, there were two things that bothered me which may not have even registered to any other (sane) human being.
Firstly, Sophie Turner plays a younger version of Jean Grey who you may remember from quite a few of the previous X-Men films (played by Famke Janssen). Granted I haven't seen the previous films in a while but I can't really see the resemblance there – this was particularly bothersome to me when all other characters' prequel counterparts were cast so well. It may be a little nit-picky but I can't change the fact that pathetic things like this annoy me.
Secondly, we come to be introduced to an early incarnation of the character Storm. I won't spoil the film for you but all I will say is that she is meant to originate from Egypt yet miraculously when we come to the 'modern day' X-Men, Storm (played by Halle Berry at the time), has a pretty clean cut American accent. You may recall my previous qualms regarding Marvel and the astounding evolving of accents at super- speed in my review for Captain America: Civil War. Again, something that most people won't bat an eyelid at but it's the details that are overlooked which disappoints me. It gives off a vibe that the filmmakers just didn't care enough, and in turn, why should I care about this movie and the characters that reside within it's realm?
Other than these small intricacies, I will still maintain that it is an enjoyable film and I do anticipate what's in store for the mutants in films to come. I just hope they at least get their accents right in the next one
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