Taking place approximately 10 years after the events of Days Of The Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse finds Charles Xavier's School For the Gifted thriving as a place where mutant kind can feel at peace. All that changes though with the emergence of Apocalypse, the world's first mutant, who awakens from a thousands years slumber only to be disillusioned by the weakness of the world he finds in front of him. Intent on righting this perceived wrong, Apocalypse begins to assemble a team of the most powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto, intent on creating a new world in his image. X-Men: Apocalypse is a film that suffers from the same problems as almost all superhero movies these days, being a film in which the bombastic action and enormous set pieces get in the way of the character development. Introducing a lot of new characters, such as a young Jean Grey and Scott Summers, the character aspects of this film are often compelling, which makes the fact that character development always seems to fall secondary to action all the more frustrating. The action is obviously a essential aspect to the X-Men franchise, but with this film in particular it felt merely tacked on, bombastic, and lazy with the quieter moments centered around these young characters attempting to adjust being by far the most compelling characterizations of the film. I know it's an unrealistic desire, considering the studio system, but X-Men:Apocalypse left me pinning for an indie style storyline with these characters, one where their social struggles to both fit in with society and be comfortable with themselves not feeling second fiddle to cgi porn. To be fair, the action alone isn't to blame either, as the the whole film just feels far too overstuffed, touching on a lot of interesting ideas. I'd argue this could have been a much stronger story if split into two films, which would have given both the action and emotion of the story more time to breath. Humor me here, but one thing that really stood out about X-Men Apocalypse is just how much the main villain resembles the current state of American politics, with Apocalypse's new world order mentality appealing to the disenfranchised mutants who are suffering and in pain, like Magneto, whose become a disciple to Apocalypse because he has let his anger dictate his decision making. Bryan Singer's X-Men Apocalypse isn't a bad film by any means, just an overstuffed one, which is frustrating when considering the potential of some of the characters and the themes associated with the civil rights movement, something which the Xmen franchise has always been a representation of.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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