The X-Men movie
franchise has been a mixed bag up to this point, with nine films that have
ranged from bona fide hits (Deadpool, X-Men: Days of Future Past) to projects
that fans would probably rather forget (X-Men Origins: Wolverine). The
majority, however, rest somewhere between the two extremes, offering a balance
of good and bad that can differ wildly depending on who you ask.
It’s in the
latter category that X-Men: Apocalypse, the latest installment of the
franchise, seems destined to end up.
Directed by
Bryan Singer, who has helmed four of the six films that make up the original
X-Men trilogy and the recent, rebooted trilogy, X-Men: Apocalypse pits the
popular mutant team against one of its greatest foes, En Sabah Nur — a mutant
villain known as “Apocalypse.” Possessing the power of countless other mutants
who sacrificed their bodies and abilities to him ages ago, Apocalypse wakes
from entombment beneath Cairo in the 1980s, and after seeing the world as it
is, decides that it’s time to burn it all down and start over. Bummer.
Cast in the
role of Apocalypse is Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Ex Machina actor Oscar
Isaac, who does a surprisingly good job of being over-the-top sinister without
becoming outright silly, which is no small feat given how easily the character
could slip into the latter. Apocalypse is joined in his destructive crusade by
the master of magnetism, Magneto, played once again by ever-reliable franchise
actor Michael Fassbender. Assisting them are three newcomers to the rebooted
franchise, including The Newsroom actress Olivia Munn in the role of
telekinetic ninja Psylocke, Alexandra Shipp as the weather-controlling Ororo
“Storm” Munroe, and Ben Hardy as the winged mutant Angel.
Apocalypse and
his “Four Horsemen” are opposed by returning franchise characters Charles
Xavier (James McAvoy), Hank “Beast” McCoy (Nicholas Hoult), Raven “Mystique”
Darkholme (Jennifer Lawrence), and Peter “Quicksilver” Maximoff (Evan Peters).
They’re joined by a group of new, young mutants familiar to X-Men fans, with
Tye Sheridan as Scott “Cyclops” Summers, Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner
in the role of Jean Grey, and Kodi Smit-McPhee as the teleporting mutant
Nightcrawler.
X-Men: First
Class actress Rose Byrne also reprises her role as CIA agent (and non-mutant)
Moira MacTaggert.
While the film
takes some dark turns, X-Men: Apocalypse does a nice job of striking a
relatively consistent tone in the sweet spot somewhere between the brighter,
more lighthearted Marvel Studios movies and the dour, dark vibe of Warner
Bros.’ live-action DC Comics universe. It’s a tone that has served the
franchise well so far (with occasional exceptions for spinoff projects like
Deadpool) and allows the films to explore the sort of serious themes the X-Men
comics were known for dealing with — prejudice, civil rights, etc — while
retaining the fantastic elements that make the team’s adventures so
entertaining.
Although
Apocalypse opts to focus on more simple, well-worn themes — revenge and
redemption — it avoids being too heavy-handed, and lets the characters and the
action drive the story forward rather than lecturing the audience.
Of the
newcomers not named Oscar Isaac, Sophie Turner offers the most compelling
performance of the bunch as Jean Grey. Along with shouldering the weight of
what seems to be some big storylines to come, she also holds her own in scenes
that pair her with McAvoy, Lawrence, and some of the other, high-profile cast
members. Sadly, neither Olivia Munn or Ben Hardy do much to elevate their
characters beyond background players, and despite getting plenty of opportunity
to shine, the other newcomers don’t offer a whole lot, though it’s exciting to
think of their potential in future films.
Much like in
X-Men: Days of Future Past, the real standout in Apocalypse is Peters’
fleet-footed mutant Quicksilver, who’s given another memorable sequence that
showcases not just his superhuman ability and sense of humor, but also some
brilliant cinematography and visual-effects work from the film’s
behind-the-camera team. Clearly, Singer set out to up the ante after the clever
“Time in a Bottle” sequence from Days of Future Past received so much praise,
and the result is an even more complicated sequence that begs to be watched a
few times over.
Although
McAvoy, Fassbender, and Lawrence continue to anchor the rebooted franchise (and
do as good a job of it as one would expect from actors that have one Oscar win
and six nominations between them), Apocalypse goes out of its way to indicate
that this might not be the case for long. Even more than it explores themes of
revenge and forgiveness, Apocalypse seems intent on letting its audience know
that the franchise is passing the torch — to the point where it occasionally
doubles back on plot points just to hammer home that there’s a new class of
X-Men.
Of the three
films that make up the rebooted franchise so far, X-Men: Apocalypse manages to
feel like the most self-contained story of the bunch. Still, despite having the
freedom to to take its characters in new directions without the obligation of
supplying origin stories or resolving conflicting continuities, it doesn’t seem
inclined to make any major changes to the status quo beyond adding some new
faces to the team’s roster. When the dust finally settles, it feels as if
narrowly averting the end of the world has simply been business as usual for
the characters.
In this and so
many other ways, Apocalypse feels the most like the comics that inspired it
than any of the X-Men movies so far. The players in the story — good and bad —
are assembled, the conflict ensues, and disaster is only avoided with the help
of some moral heel-turns from conflicted characters and heroes tapping into
reserves they never knew they had. When the villain is finally defeated, all
the pieces of the story reset in preparation for the next adventure.
It’s a
narrative formula that has worked for countless comic-book story arcs over the
years, and when it’s done well — as it
is in Apocalypse — it serves the movies based on them just as successfully.
In a franchise
that has remained reliably entertaining — though not always great — over the
course of the previous eight films, X-Men: Apocalypse does nothing to buck that
trend, offering a compelling story that moves along at a good pace with some
unique, exciting sequences that set it apart from its peers. It doesn’t live up
to the epic, nothing-will-be-the-same promise of its title, but it does right
by the series in giving fans an adventure inspired by the comics in many of (if
not all) the right ways.
Grade - A-
