X-Men: Apocalypse, the latest installment in the X-Men movie franchise that is set 10 years after the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past, has been getting mixed reviews. Some are saying that it is the best X-Men movie to date, but more are saying that the movie is a step back from its predecessor.
While the criticisms against the movie are understandable, the fact remains that X-Men: Apocalypse is one for the true fans of the franchise's roots.
Points Against The Movie
One of the more common criticisms against the film is that there seems to be nothing new with it. The action scenes and the story progression that it used have been seen in other superhero movies, so it would have been an industry-defining movie if it was released years ago. I also think that the trailers for the movie have revealed too much of the plot and its twists, including the cameo by everyone's favorite adamantium-enhanced Weapon X.
Another criticism against X-Men: Apocalypse is a seeming over-reliance on CGI in crafting the movie, which I honestly fail to see as a weakness. I went in to the movie theater expecting mutants battle it out using the full array of their powers, and I don't see that happening to the extent that the movie achieved without such a heavy usage of CGI.
The Twists Of The Plot
As mentioned, the trailers for X-Men: Apocalypse seem to have revealed too much of the movie's story and its twists but nowhere near all of them. I still found the plot of the movie a fairly captivating one, though I would have preferred an even deeper look into the psyche of Apocalypse. There were a few awkward scene changes as the movie progressed to keep the spotlight moving across the film's many characters, but the story was still fairly easy to understand.
Before the trailer of Wolverine's appearance in the film was revealed, many did not expect him to be involved in X-Men: Apocalypse. It might have been a better call to have kept his part in the movie away from trailers, but Wolverine's rampage is not the only surprise in store for moviegoers.
Familiar Faces And New Blood
The return of James McAvoy as Professor X, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Nicholas Hoult as the Beast and Evan Peters as Quicksilver, among other familiar faces, continued the build-up of their characters in the franchise, further endearing them to X-Men movie fans.
Joined by new blood including Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler, Alexandra Shipp as Storm and Olivia Munn as Psylocke, all the characters were able to leave their mark on the movie. As with any superhero film featuring a critical mass of characters, it was a tough act to balance the screen time among all of them, but that did not seem to be that big of a problem in X-Men: Apocalypse.
Quicksilver
Yes, he gets his own section. Quicksilver's scenes in the movie provided a dose of playfulness within the overall gloomy tone of the film, and it was expected that he would be given a larger role in X-Men: Apocalypse given his massively popular action scene in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
While his character could be part of the criticism of the movie featuring nothing new, there really is nothing else that Quicksilver can do aside from moving really, really fast. He does a lot more of that in X-Men: Apocalypse than in X-Men: Days of Future Past, which should be a delight of those looking forward to see more of Quicksilver.
For The Fans
The appreciation for the movie increases depending on how entrenched the viewer is in the X-Men franchise. While critics will see a lot of faults with the movie, fans of the rebooted X-Men films, which began with X-Men: First Class, will welcome the return of the mutants on the big screen.
However, for those who have read the X-Men comics and have watched the X-Men cartoons in the '90s (you know, the one with the catchy opening theme), X-Men: Apocalypse is a blast to watch, with enough references to X-Men lore that will have fans looking forward to the next installment.
