Film Preview: X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Page Revisions:

(December 13, 2015) Original
(March 20, 2016) New Trailer (#2) / New Posters (#4-#5)
(May 1, 2016) New Trailer (#3) / New Posters (#6-#18)
(May 22, 2016) New Poster (#19)

Release Date:

May 27, 2016

Synopsis:

An ancient enemy surfaces bringing with him his four horsemen intent on destroying the X-Men and installing himself and his faithful with dominion over all mankind.

Poster Rating: C+ / B+ / B / C (2) / C (12) / B / B-

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOW
Review: (#1) Alas poor mutant, I knew thee Apocalypse. I’m sure there’s some connection between the Shakespearean tragedy and this new film, but I’m not quite sure what it is. (#2) A clever artistic representation of the Apocalypsian dream of destroying Xavier and his students. this is richly detailed and compelling. (#3) A satisfying teaser design that perfectly captures the essence of the film’s stakes.

(#4 & #5) One for the good guys. One for the bad guys. Neither for the collector. This pair of poster designs have interesting elements, but the backgrounds are so unexceptional that the designs fade quickly fro memory.

(#6-#17) These character posters are unique enough to deserve some praise, but the lack of rich background details is a disappointment. (#18) This appears to be the final poster and it does quite well while using a fairly common design style.

(#19) Late release poster designs tend to be a more expressive, artistic lot and while this certainly tries to touch on that style, it’s still very much a traditional group poster design with a lot of wasted white space.

Trailer Rating: A / B+ / B

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOW
Review: (#1) A rousing, exciting trailer that will pique the curiosity of many an X-Men fan and make Disney squirm that their Captain America: Civil War trailer didn’t look better than it did. This is the first film I think I’ve gotten incredibly excited about coming in 2016 and this trailer is largely the reason.

(#2) While the trailer features a lot of drama and plenty to pique the interests of many an X-Men fan, the premise gets lost in the execution and the film seems a bit lost as a result, relying almost entirely on eye candy rather than plot.

(#3) Perhaps it’s the lack of excellent background music or a sense of staggering perspective, but this trailer doesn’t seem as compelling or exciting as the prior ones.

Oscar Prospects:

The prior X-Men film became the first in the franchise to score an Oscar nomination. By the look of the trailer, there will be plenty of special effects to dazzle voters and earn it some consideration at the 89th Oscars.