I have accepted the fact that I am one of a handful of people on this site who like the X-men movie franchise. There are actually tons of people who like them, but not a lot of them are on this site. Now, not all of them are amazing. X-Men (2000) is pretty good, but it's a little bit dated. X2 is really good, although I'm not on the "one of best CBMs ever" train. X3 wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good. Origins: Wolverine is up there with Elektra and Fant4stic as some of the worst FOX/Marvel films. First Class was great. The Wolverine was great up until it's disappointing third act. Days of Future Past is my favorite X-Men film so far. And Deadpool was great. So, what about this one? Is this another great addition or is was Days of Future Past where the franchise peaked?
CONS
Now, the villain, Apocaylpse, has been getting a mixed reaction. Some people thought he was a threat. Others thought he was stupid. For the most part, I liked him as a villian. Until we get his motivation. Now it's not like in BvS or Deadpool where the villain is evil for the sake of being evil. They explain his motivation. But it's the whole "He thinks humanity is fragile and lost and so he's going to destroy all the humans and have the world be ruled by the [insert whatever the villain is here]". My problem with this is that, not only has this been done in a lot of other movies, but I saw this in TWO CBMs last year, Age of Ultron and Fant4stic (I think that was Doom's motivation).
While I enjoy most of the X-Men movies, I'm not gonna act like they waste a few characters in these. The two that get the shaft in this movie are Jubilee and ArcAngel. Of all the movies to introduce Jubilee, this was the most appropriate. She looks like she came straight from the 80s. But while they went out of their way to make her look comic-accurate. She has two or three scenes and not that many lines. Now, with her, I can let that go. I was never that big of a Jubilee fan (at least she's not a vampire in this) and there are set photos that show scenes that aren't in the movie being filmed, so we know there was more of her.But then we get to ArcAngel. Now, do me this kindness: Put aside his character arc or his alignment from the comics and tell me what you think of the character in the movie. What's that? You feel exactly the same? Then you're doing it right. This character doesn't do anything. He barley talks. He has no character. Storm and Psylocke at least did some badass stuff. They didn't even do that with ArcAngel. Every time he fights, he gets the crap kicked out of him. His first scene indicates that he might have a problem with Nightcrawler, but it's never brought up again. Not even during the final fight.
Now it's time for NITPICKER'S CORNER!!! THE PART OF THE REVIEW WHERE I NITPICK SO I CAN PAD THIS OUT!!! Matthew Vaughn and Bryan Singer both put the X-Men in the 60s and 70s. Both directors managed to put them in these periods and make it feel natural and subtle. So you think that the guy who put them in the 70s would make it feel natural here. Well, almost. Sometimes it does. Sometimes, they take it a step too far. Like having Quicksilver talk about Pac-Man. Or having some of the characters go see Return of the Jedi. Last Thing: The effects are hit and miss. Most of them are good. While I may not like the look of Apocalypse, the makeup effects are good on him, Mystique, Beast, and Nightcrawler. Most of the CG is good. My only probelm with the effects is that most green-screen effects are way too obvious. But enough nitpicking.
PROS
The acting is really good. The actors that have returned are great as they were before. With the exception of Micheal Fassbender... because he's better than ever. There's an incredibly emotional scene with him and he just sells it. The news cast is great, too (except Oliva Munn, but who cares). Sophie Turner and Kodi-Smit McPhee had some shoes to fill, and they did a great job. Tye Sheridan is great. And Alexandra Shipp does a pretty good job, plus she's better than Halle Berry (which might not be saying much).
The action scenes are also pretty good. The third act fight scene is great and it gives Storm and Psylocke some scenes to be badass. There's a trippy fight scene between Apocalypse and Charles that's pretty good. Wolverine's cameo has some pretty cool kills. And, of course, there's another great Quicksilver action moment. Actually, there's two, but that second one doesn't last long.
It's also nice to see a few characters get some development. Particularly, Quicksilver and Magneto. I won't give away what they do with Magneto, even though they reveal it in the trailers, but it's very heartwarming, emotional, and at one point, it leaves you on the edge of your seat. Quicksilver's arc is actually pretty good, even if it's introduced later in the film. It's nice to see Quicksilver on the screen, since MCU Quicksilver is dead (He's totally going to come back, guys!!!).
I also really liked Jean and Scott. Scott and Jean have some nice chemistry. We get some nice hints at the Pheonix saga. They both had some cool moments. This is the best we've seen of Cyclops in these movies. Jean's also a bit sympathetic, as she's seen as an outcast in the school. Scott's also sympathetic because of reasons I can't spoil. Also, Nightcrawler was a very likeable and charming character. He has some funny lines and he's almost a fish-out-of-water. It's also nice to see Charles and Moria share scenes again, espically during the end. Storm and Psylocke have some cool moments. They pretty much have the same role as Wonder Woman in BvS. Just look cool and fight. They're good for what they are, and the end promises we'll see more of them in the future.
I'm gonna compare Apocalypse to the MCU villains. On one side, there are villains like Loki or Kilgrave, or Kingpin who are great. On the other side, you got guys like Malekith, or YellowJacket, or Whiplash, who are not so great. In between, the got the villains that are decent. Not fantastic, but threataning enough. Oscar Issac does a good job. He proves to be a powerful threat. He has a great backstory.
VERDICT:
X-Men: Apocalypse may not be the best X-Men film, with some familiar moments and one or two wasted characters. But it has some great action, cool action scenes, (mostly) good effects, some nice character development, and some memorable characters. If you don't like the other X-Men films, don't even watch this. You'll just be part of what you whine about. If you like the other X-Men movies, go see it. If you liked at least one of the following: X-Men, X2, First Class, Days of Future Past; If you like at least ONE of those, then give it a chance. Would it be cool to se these films done by Marvel? Yeah, I'd have no problem with that. But, right now, I'm fine with what we have.
7.5/10
(P.S. If you're angry, I'll say this: I liked Civil War more. Now leave me alone)