Film Review: X- Men Apocalypse Is A Film For Fans!
X-Men Apocalypse will be released Friday, and you are probably wondering if this epic film is worth the night out. Truthfully…… it depends. I have always loved the X-men series, so this film fit in quite nicely with the others ones, and I would dare say it is next to the best one: First Class. Thus,
X-men Apocalypse is really for the fans.
Of all the major comic book film series, X-Men has been one of the longest and most successful. Nowadays, when you think Comic Book Films, you think Marvel, but X-Men was a major launching pad into bringing said films. At its time, X-Men was one of the first big-budget comic book movies to use such eye-catching effects and vulnerable storytelling. It did not feel cliche or “superhero-y”. It felt oddly human, and has continued that sentiment in its latest installment.
X-Men changed the landscape of comic-books transitioning into blockbusters through its thorough look into humanity’s capacity to love and fear. Apocalypse magnifies this dilemma by having the X-Men face their most dangerous villain, En Sabah Nur. Oscar Isaac proves his Julliard degree was not in vain, by the depth he gives to a character and look that could have seemed laughable on film. His deep voice and inner distress help to quell the oddly paced/ awkward recruitment scenes. Any X-Men fan knows that plot-holes and pacing are two of the series ‘Achilles’ heels, but with near two decades of films, we are used to it. We know the film will have slow, boring points with amazing rushes of adrenaline in between.We buy the tickets because X-men never fails to be fun and makes us feel big.
When you see the mutants gather to fight against Apocalypse or the nagging agent Stryker, you will most definitely “fangirl”. Comicbook films have decades of following that make it inevitable not to smile at seeing Wolverine, yes he’s in it, and Quicksilver rock the big screen. Ugh, what Evan Peters has done with Quicksilver is so delicious. The character is rambunctious and irreverent, which makes you miss him when he is not on. Once again, he is given a show-stopping, scene-stealing moment that rivals Days of Future Past, which we all thought was not possible. Moreover, Peters is allowed to give Quicksilver more humanity and sweetness through his struggles to reach his father, Magneto.
Michael Fassbender never fails as Magneto, but he cannot when there is a story standard to his role. Magneto is always going to go dark out of some feeling of loss. X-men has a set formula to how the plot-line and characters work. 1) Charles’ school is threatened because no one knows whether to embrace or rebuke mutants. 2) It ends up being destoryed somehow, with all the teenage mutants and their hormones running around trying to save their favorite professor/ world from annihilation. 3) In the last 30 minutes, the whole gang manages to destroy a cosmically powered being or a rich guy with a complex by the skin of their feet. 4) Charles gives a rousingly optimistic speech as the school is being rebuilt for its 50th time. I need to get on his housing insurance. BOOM! Every film in 4 steps. For those that complain X-Men never freshens its substance, I see your point, but still don’t care. X-Men is to have a good time, and get lost in this fantasy world that is oddly poignant to our own.
X-Men’s approach to relevant, societal themes is as prevalent as ever. While, its visual effects are mind-blowing compared to previous films, you watch to see how these mutants try to fit in as outcasts. Nearly every X-Men fan knows the feeling of alienation and is appealed by the series discussion of it. Its human to feel alone, and these mutants feel very alone in their world. The cast is strong in turning performances that could have felt minute in the scope of the X-Men Universe had it not been for their heart-filled portrayals. Yet, the unsung hero in this film. as in the previous films. is James McAvoy’s Charles. He is so endearingly positive and hopeful that you wish you had his cell number for every life-hiccup. He has and always will make sure that you remember for all the destruction on this earth, there will always be creation.
