Sunday, 22 May 2016

X-MEN APOCALYPSE REVIEW

This was supposed to be a new beginning, effectively after Wolverine had travelled back in time to change the course of events in Days of Future Past. So, this was one movie that had evoked more curiosity than any of the other recent superhero movie; it was the X-Men story being rewritten all over again. We are taken to a point, about 8 years after the point where Days of Future Past left off. Professor is running his school, mutants in the outside world are still having a tough time, Magneto has been unheard of since the last event, Raven is out there somewhere.

Into this mix arrives the first mutant ever born, who has slept through the ages. He wants the world to
be ‘better’, to belong to the ‘strong’, and you know the Professor does not like anything that involves destruction, and neither do any of the people at his school. So, we return to a familiar premise, mutants separated by ideology going against each other. One side is headed by the Professor as always, but the other, more radical side, is not led by Magneto but by a greater mutant.

X-Men Apocalypse starts off slow after the pretty well made pre-title portion about the first ever mutant and the pains taken to keep him safe through the ages. We are shown Raven in the wilderness doing her bit to keep mutants safe, we are shown the Professor who is doing his good work with kids with the same optimism, and we are shown Magneto who is doing a normal day job as just anyone else. But great power cannot be hidden for too long as Magneto finds out, and his faith in humanity is shaken again. It might be a bit of a spoiler, but one cannot help say that the portion is way too similar to the fate Wolverine had to face in the Origins movie. Much of the first hour, even more, is spent on showing how the two sides get together. The great mutant gets his four horsemen together and the Professor is gathering his people, they both know that a confrontation is not far off. Even we know that, but it does take a mighty long time coming.

Quite a lot of time is taken up in the ‘recruitment’ process as the great mutant imbues his horsemen with amazing powers. That process just takes a lot of time and by the time we get to Auschwitz to harness all the rage that was suffered by Eric aka Magneto, we are tired, even through the scene where the concentration camp is blown to pieces, which must have been supposed to be a breath taking spectacle. For an X-Men movie, Apocalypse has too few confrontations, in fact there are just two, the rest is just dreary drama, which really doesn’t excite. The only other time we are excited is during the superfast movements of Quicksilver during a blast. Otherwise we are left to hear about the great ambitions of Apocalypse, the troubled mind of Jean, the grieving of Magneto and diplomacy of Professor. There are good moments in between, like the Moira McTaggort scene, but they are few and far in between.

By the time all the mutants gather in one place for the final face off, the audience is slightly
disinterested, and the movie has an uphill task of providing a climax that is worth the wait. Try as they may, it just doesn’t reach that level. The final confrontation is not anything that we have not seen before, again the most enjoyable moment here comes courtesy Quicksilver’s speed.

In the midst of all this the script manages to find time for Colonel Stryker to appear and where Stryker appears we know who else will. That is the biggest moment of the film, the Wolverine moment. Every X-Men fan loves when the Wolverine arrives and it never fails to excite us, but it is too small to lift the overall mood of the film.

In spite of the overall slow nature of the script, a first hour that just doesn’t let anything happen, X-Men Apocalypse sets a good premise for the new X-Men story to move forward. Michael Fassebender’s intensity as Magneto, James Mc Avoy’s finesse as Professor and the reliable Jennifer Lawrence as Raven keep Apocalypse watchable. And don’t miss the post-credit part, which give us a clue about how Wolverine might go forward.

Slow, meandering, but watchable!
2.5/5

  

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