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X-Men Apocalypse: The Pros & Cons

xmenX-Men Apocalypse

Release Date: May 27, 2016

Director: Bryan Singer
Screenplay: Simon Kinberg, Bryan Singer
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Oscar Isaac, Rose Byrne, Evan Peters, Sophie Turner
Rated: PG-13

Synopsis: With the emergence of the world’s first mutant, Apocalypse, the X-Men must unite to defeat his extinction level plan.

My rating4 Stars

4 things i loved

deco-chevron-2 The youngsters – Personally, I enjoyed how this movie focused on the X-Men as teenagers. I thought it was a refreshing take on the superhero genre. It’s just interesting to follow the growth of a superhero while they’re young, wanting to be normal teenagers while still trying to control their powers.

deco-chevron-2 Jean Grey – Sophie Turner wasn’t the best, but that could be because I’m so used to her being Sansa Stark. Either way, I do like Jean Grey and she plays a huge role in this film. So much foreshadowing of what’s to come. Also, her eyebrows are ON POINT. Damn girl.

deco-chevron-2 The depth of Magneto’s character – Magneto has been one of my favorite characters in the recent X-Men movies. He goes through the most struggles when trying to figure out right from wrong or choosing the “good” side or “bad” side. And in this movie, they did something with his character that I really loved. This is a spoiler, so I’m hiding it. View Spoiler »

deco-chevron-2 Quicksilver – He’s in it. ‘Nuff said.

4 things i didn’t like all that much

deco-chevron-2 Wolverine’s cameo – I mean, really? It was just so stupid and awfully convenient for Jean Grey & Co.

deco-chevron-2 The pacing – This movie is 2 1/2 hours long, and I felt it. Until about halfway through, the movie takes what feels like forever to set up the plot. It spends the first half setting up the Apocalypse story while also catching you up on who’s who and what they’ve been up to. It could have really been shortened.

boredgif

deco-chevron-2 Jennifer Lawrence – I’m just sick of her character. I know, I know, Mystique is kind of a huge X-Men and J.Law is a popular actress, but her character was kind of pointless in this movie. The writers just gave her the “motivational” lines and called it a day.

deco-chevron-2 More Munn Please – BECAUSE THERE JUST WASN’T ENOUGH OF THIS FINE SPECIMEN

You’re welcome.

overall

Overall, I enjoyed this movie. It wasn’t without its flaws but I still think it was done well. X-Men movies are always a little different from other Marvel movies in that they’re slightly darker with just a bit of humor (while other Marvel movies are usually light and filled with one-liners). This movie stuck to that theme and it was successful. The acting was decent, with Fassbender and McAvoy doing the best in their roles. There is plenty of action and great CGI. I do recommend watching the two earlier films, though. There are a few references to them.

BUT CAN WE JUST POINT OUT THAT THIS ENTIRE MOVIE WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED IF MOIRA DIDN’T REMOVE THE DAMN RUG. WTF MOIRA, YOU KILLED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE BECAUSE OF YOUR CURIOUSITY. CURIOSITY DIDN’T JUST KILL THE CAT, IT KILLED THOUSANDS, MOIRA. THOUSANDS.

 

9 Comments

  • Reply Greg Hill 05/30/2016 at 11:05 am

    I like the teenagers angle too so it’s nice they’re going that way. I’m glad Sophie Turner worked as Jean Grey. Seems like good casting although I was skeptical at first. And it sounds like they’re hinting at a Jean grey/ Phoenix do- over?? Quicksilver was awesome in the last movie… I love that he’s wearing a RUSH shirt i that image. lol

    I’ve never liked what they’ve done with Mystique. She should be a villain through and through so every time I see her I’m like “nope. That’s all wrong.” I can’t help myself. How was Apocalypse? I never liked him and he looked silly in the promos- did he work on screen?

    And Munn as Psylocke? I always like the Psylocke character (I mean psychic knife? Come on, that’s awesome) and I was wondering how they would do with her. Fine specimen is right. Dang lol. And what did Moira do??? Now I’m curious… 🙂

    • Reply Molly 06/01/2016 at 2:27 pm

      Yes, they definitely hint at that. Have you seen this one yet? You should!

      It’s because she’s played by Lawrence so they’ve gotta make her the good guy -_- I’m not really familiar with X-Men comics, so I don’t know what he’s like in any comic, but he’s decent in the film. I like the concept of him. But I’m not a huge Oscar Isaac (is that his name?) fan, so he’s just okay to me.

      They should of had more Munn! She was there to be sex appeal, obviously, but they didn’t even do enough of that to me. & you have to watch it to see what Moira does!

      • Reply Greg Hill 06/01/2016 at 6:35 pm

        I haven’t seen it yet. I may have to break down and go… I’ve always liked Cyke and Jean, and Havok too (he’s always been second tier but I thought his power was cool). They made such a mess of Jean Grey in the earlier movies I’d be curious to see how they do with turner in the role here.

        I did hear that Psylocke (and all the Horsemen really) weren’t used enough, which is too bad. And I’m not a huge Oscar fan either, he was OK in star Wars though… but with a lot of these roles recast with different actors, I’m curious how they all gel as a team.

        • Reply Molly 06/14/2016 at 11:28 am

          They kind of weren’t used that much (the horsemen) when I think about it. They were just….there. Hm….

  • Reply Jord (Simply Adrift) 05/30/2016 at 12:53 pm

    I really enjoyed this movie! To be honest, one of the last X-Men movie’s (The days of future past one) confused the crap out of me. For some reason I’ve been finding it really hard to follow along with the X-Men timeline and also the characters. I’m glad I was easily able to follow along in this one. Although a few references were lost on me because I wasn’t clear on the last movies.

    I really liked Sophie Turner in this, but at the same time I felt like she wasn’t the strongest Jean Grey. Still, I liked seeing her in something other than GoT and her american accent wasn’t terrible!

    I loved James McAvoy in this! His lines were so good, he has such great comedic timing. I also loved Quicksilver, he was hilarious. Although it was confusing the crap out of me as to why he is in X-Men AND The Avengers and is portrayed by different actors, I just read an article that explained that though – Something to do with both Marvel and Fox having the rights to the character but they needed to be different, different but the same. I also just realised why the actor looked so familiar, he’s in American Horror Story! Of course.

    And Olivia Munn! Her name rings a bell but I don’t know why. The whole movie I couldn’t remember why she looked so familiar, I looked it up and she’s in The Newsroom as Sloan which I think is what I was trying to think of.

    Also, I don’t remember Alex/Havok at all. Like his credit is in the past three movies but I just don’t remember him. I really need to watch the other X-Men movies again! And I just saw that the actor who plays him is going to be MacGyver in the new MacGyver 😮

    All of these character/actor crossover’s though are confusing. It’s like my brain can’t figure it out at all.

    Awesome review!

    Jordon @ Simply Adrift

    • Reply Molly 06/01/2016 at 2:24 pm

      Basically, the last movie kind of erases most of the original storyline xD This movie threw me off a little bit because the actors obviously haven’t aged like their characters are supposed to. Like Magneto is supposed to be in his 50’s in this movie, but Fassbender does not look like he’s in his 50’s. They’re all supposed to be 20 years older than the previous film. That throws me off sometimes >.<

      I agree with that. She wasn't AMAZING, but I still liked seeing her in something because I like Sophie Turner 😀

      Yeah, Marvel doesn't own the rights (or exclusively the rights) to all of their superheroes. Spider-Man is a good example of that, too. Sony technically "lent" him to Marvel for the latest Civil War movie. lol It can all get SO confusing! (& yeah! He's in AHS 🙂 )

      YESYES. Munn is in The Newsroom. She also cosplays and worked for G4 I believe. But she's amazing in The Newsroom, I love her character 😀

      I kind of want to rewatch the earlier films because there were a few references that I didn't remember. Like you, I totally forgot who Havok was. When he showed up on screen for the first time I thought he was just some random person hahah

      • Reply Jord (Simply Adrift) 06/02/2016 at 12:09 am

        Ohhhh right, that makes sense. I wasn’t sure how the whole god thing fit into the original X-Men as adults… You know, I was thinking the same thing! I was so confused at what times all of the movies were set in. Especially because they were teaching kinds in school that everything happened when they were children. Yet all of the X-Men looks the same age. I find it all so confusing lol.

        Ohhhh I didn’t know that, I thought they bought the rights for Spiderman and that’s why there will be no new spiderman with Andrew Garfield (I loved Andrew Garfield as Spiderman!)

        I feel like I want to watch ALL of the X-Men films haha.

        Hahaha I’m glad I wasn’t the only one!!

  • Reply Genesis @ Latte Nights Reviews 06/06/2016 at 9:05 am

    Hahaha that last line of Moira LOL. Yeah, it was all because of her.
    I actually enjoyed the movie a lot. I didn’t feel it long, either. I was so entertained by everything. I agree on Jean Grey! I love her character but I’m used to Sophie being Sansa.
    The Magneto spoiler! Yes! I kept saying to that other character, “Don’t say it. I want to see what he does if you don’t say it.” Haha.
    It was a great movie for me 🙂

    • Reply Molly 06/14/2016 at 11:06 am

      It was! If she hadn’t moved the damn boards, the sun would have never gotten in and powered him up. It’s all her fault! hahaha

      It was a fun movie. I had a few issues, but overall I mostly liked it. Also, while I’m glad he didn’t say it to Magneto, I totally want to know what he will do when he finds out! Hopefully the next movie they reveal it xD

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