Language - English
Director - Bryan Singer
Run Time - 2 hours, 24 minutes
Genre - Action/Drama
Starring - James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Olivia Munn, Sophie Turner, Nicholas Hoult, Oscar Isaac and Rose Byrne
Before watching this movie, I was quite skeptical about the same because of the criticism it received regarding its heavy action and lack of plot development. Although, I was pleasantly surprised as I really liked the movie.
The movie follows the X-Men battling out against Apocalypse, the world's first mutant who has risen to power after spending a couple millennia buried underground.
The movie was shot beautifully, each scene more captivating than the previous. The way all the characters were introduced in the first half of the movie was brilliant, and the action was just as much was required. Some people are saying too many characters ruined the film, but one has to understand that X-men movies have always been this way, with multiple characters, as it's a team and not a one-man show. You had the usual suspects - Professor X, Magneto, Mystique, Beast and Quicksilver with a re-imagination of old school X-Men characters Jean, Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Angel. And yes, Olivia Munn rocked it as Psylocke, although I would have liked her to have more screen time. Fun Fact - She has done all her stunts in the movie herself. Have a look at her badassery below
SPOILER NEXT PARAGRAPH, Proceed with CAUTION.
Apart from her, all other actors also performed wonderfully, with James McAvoy (Professor X), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique) and Nicholas Hoult (Beast) reprising their roles from the previous movies with quite a lot of ease, and newcomers Sophie Turner (Jean), Tye Sheridan (Cyclops) and Alexandra Shipp (Storm) also showing a promising performance. Evan Peters as Quicksilver has to be the most entertaining character, and his scenes always add some well-deserved humor in the X-Men movies. Nightcrawler and Angel were very dull, I feel their characters could have been improved upon.
I do admit that the villain seemed a bit too cliched, and was killed off quite easily too, but what everyone will not get it is that Jean Grey is one of the most powerful mutants in the world, and her using the 'Phoenix Force' to subdue Apocalypse is also in a way the set up for the next film; which shall involve another one of the greatest foes of X-Men, 'Mister Sinister', as hinted in the post-credits scene. Also, I would like to say the destruction could have been curtailed, it seemed to incline more towards a Transformers movie.
One could argue that X-Men franchise is having no continuity at all, but Bryan Singer had earlier mentioned that X-Men: The Last Stand has been removed from continuity, and the current continuity follows more on the lines of First Class, Days of Future Past and now, Apocalypse.
The background score by John Ottman, was spot on, especially during the first couple scenes of 3200 BC when Apocalypse was buried in the rubble by his followers who despised the false God.
The cameo by Wolverine was also brilliant. I am quite sad that Wolverine 3 is going to be Hugh Jackman's last movie as Wolverine. I don't think any of us can imagine Wolverine played by somebody else.
One error in the film that I noticed was there were discrepancies in the voice modulation of Oscar Isaac (Apocalypse). In some scenes, his voice was quite deep, and in some scenes, not so deep. Such a mistake is not acceptable from a giant studio like 20th Century Fox.
In all, I would say it's a really enjoyable film with the right formula of action and drama, and a pinch of humor to top it off. Bryan Singer has again proved himself by taking the X-Men cinematic universe to the next level. Can't wait to see what more he has in store.
My Rating - 8/10
