X-Men Apocalypse is the latest film in the long running X-Men franchise, but is it something you should go out and see though? I’d say you definitely should, especially if you’re a fan of previous X-Men films or are one of those comic book film lovers, but if you’re one of those people you’ll probably watch it anyway no matter what I say.
I’ve always loved these X-Men films and at times I’m not sure if I like them better than what Marvel puts out or if I don’t, but when films from this franchise are done well, they are a joy to go and see and this one is one of those. I do tend to prefer the new cast of actors more than I do the original cast and in this film they all shine bright, particularly James McAvoy who I think had his best X-Men film with Apocalypse.
Director Bryan Singer who you may know as the director of a whole lot of X-Men films returns yet again with Apocalypse. He does well to balance the tone throughout this one, with most of it being fairly serious, but with a few funny moments slotted in as well. Singer worked with Simon Kinberg on the screenplay and what they come up with here is fairly decent.
For those going in to see some big action scenes and some big superhero level fights, you get that here and the ensemble of characters is well balanced. I believe the fights are on a similar scale to what we got in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but Captain America’s film maybe was just a bit bigger as far as these things go, but Apocalypse isn’t far behind.
Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) is the villain in this film and he’s basically a super over powered mutant that can take on pretty much everyone, it’s up to our favourite X-Men to stop him. I wouldn’t say he’s the best villain you’ll ever see, he’s just super powerful. But he kept me interested enough during the big action scenes, he doesn’t really talk much though.
Standout cast members were James McAcvoy who I think is an excellent Professor X, I think he really nails the “good guy” part of the professor and the character does develop throughout the film, although I won’t spoil what goes on with him. Michael Fassbender’s Magneto also has a few interesting character developments while Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey made an impressive début in amongst the mostly established cast members in this series. There’s one thing I love about these latest X-Men films and it’s the cast, I love this cast and I would happily watch countless films with them all in there. I hope we do get many more in the future.
Overall I have no real complaints about this film at all. I found the story to be decent, it’s got a great cast of actors that I love to watch play the X-Men on screen and it’s got enough special effects and fight scenes to justify the ticket purchase price. I’m not sure at the moment where I’ll place it in my list of favourite superhero films of 2016, but it’s definitely in my top 3 with Deadpool and Captain America: Civil War, I just don’t know what place yet in that top 3 to put it. Go see it if you can and I do hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.
P.S. I would recommend watching the previous few films or at least the last one before watching this one as I think it relies quite heavily on you knowing what happened before.
