Review: X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

X-Men: Apocalypse

Rating

Director

Bryan Singer

Screenplay

Simon Kinberg

Length

144 min.

Starring

James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Oscar Isaacn, Rose Byrne, Evan Peters, Josh Helman, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Lucas Till, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ben Hardy, Alexandra Shipp, Lana Condor, Olivia Munn

MPAA Rating

PG-13 for sequences of violence, action and destruction, brief strong language and some suggestive images

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Review

After 16 years and only nine features, the X-Men franchise remains one of the most steadfastly entertaining and engaging superhero properties. With X-Men: Apocalypse, the series finally re-introduces a handful of the core founding members of the original comic franchise and uses them to strong effect against one of the most nefarious and dangerous villains in the Marvel universe.

Set ten years after Days of Future Past, Charles Xavier’s (James McAvoy) school for mutants has become something of a success. Filled to the brim with impressionable youngsters each wanting to learn to control that which is called a curse by many and a gift by a few, the school is about to recruit one of its future leaders: Scott Summers (Tye Sheridan), whose eye beam is incredibly destructive.

Yet, the real potential danger at the school is Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), who is in many ways Xavier’s telepathic equal and sometimes superior. Her disturbing nightmares presage a horrid future where a powerful evil will destroy everything and enslave the human race. This vision is clearly tied to the reemergence of an ancient mutant called En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac), the titular evil that will soon run amok in the film: Apocalypse.

One of the defining elements of the X-Men series has been its team-based adventures. While the stand alone films X-Men Origins: Wolverine (and its sequel The Wolverine), and this year’s other X-release Deadpool have focused in on single characters with a few minor characters in support, the series is largely comprised of team-ups where the skills of the many work together to protect the weak. This means there are a ton of characters to introduce, but with the help of the prior films, we already know the vast majority of them. Apart from Apocalypse himself, Psylocke (Olivia Munn) and the brief appearance of Jubilee (Lana Condor) are the lone new introductions.

Jean Grey, Scott Summers’ Cyclops, Nightcrawler (here played by Kodi-Smit McPhee), Angel (Ben Hardy), and Storm (Alexandra Shipp) each appeared in all or part of the original trilogy. This enables Snyder to skip the long-winded character backgrounds that have most recently plagued the Avengers films. While it does require you to have seen the prior films, the likelihood that someone sitting down to this film wouldn’t is slim.

At a dense two hours and twenty-four minutes, the film is a bit long winded. The first third is devoted to setup while the rest revolves largely around wanton destruction. While the introduction of the horsemen was notably tight, the corralling of the rest of the team is a bit more tricky. That said, one would be hard-pressed to find elements of the film that are easy to cut out without undermining the rest of the film. A few snips here or there and a quicker Quicksilver segment (no offense, it’s another fantastic segment, but it takes a teensy bit too long to finish off) might have given it a more fleet footing.

Trying to find adequate villains for such a strong group of youngsters to fight is a daunting task. Apocalypse, with his seemingly limited mutant powers, might not seem to the layman like an suitable target, but Snyder does a fine job establishing the character and his motivations as well as explaining his capabilities. The threat of Apocalypse is that he’s capable of convincing confused, conflicted or angry mutants to accept his gift, a bolster to their already formidable powers. They become his Horsemen. This allows him to wreak havoc in his approach and weaken the enemy enough for him to wage a victorious assault.

The problem there is that apart from the forgivably bountiful part Magneto (Michael Fassbender) plays in the film and the bounteous destruction he leaves in his wake, the other horsemen aren’t made nearly as strong as they should be. Psylocke’s capabilities aren’t well fleshed out, the film presents her merely as someone with the ability to create a sword out of psychic energy and use it. Angel is turned into Archangel with the gift of metal wings which he uses once while the rest of his unexplained powers are left alone.

Then there’s Storm, a mutant who has the capability of controlling the weather to such a powerful degree that, in a fit of rage and sorrow in the comics, nearly reaches the point where she could rip the world apart with it. She restrains herself, but can you imagine that kind of power if it had been bolstered by Apocalypse? It would have put Magneto’s antics in the film to shame. Instead, she’s given one brief burst of electricity for an attack and then she’s left conflicted as her new mentor tries to kill her old idol.

In terms of performance, Oscar Isaac does a fine job convincing us that his maniacal world view can be accomplished if he can just convince everyone it’s best for them, a task he achieves with his horsemen and could do more with if it weren’t for those pesky X-Men and their big ol’ Beast (Nicholas Hoult) too. For their part, the new actors taking on prior incarnations, Smit-McPhee, Sheridan, Turner, and Shipp, are all perfectly cast. They have a touch of naivete mixed with a subtle understanding of the destructiveness of their own capabilities. They are fearful, yet strongly influenced by those around them. They make fine additions to the cast and will be more than competent teammates in the near future.

X-Men: Apocalypse may have a few structural problems, feel a bit stretched, and leave a few narrative holes, but it is still an exciting and engaging entry in the franchise. For the future, it is imperative to step back and allow the team introduced in the film’s closing moments some room to improve. If the producers continue to expand the roster film after film and not expand their catalog into other films, the modest bloat of this film will become even more exaggerated. If The Avengers can release two or three films a year to success, Fox can do so as well rather than waiting another two years to destroy the marketplace. There are myriad possibilities and, while the end result isn’t perfect, there’s no reason the audience won’t want to discover what happens next.