X-Men Apocalypse 3D Movie Review

Written By: Adolph Vega

3D

X-Men Apocalypse is one of the few movies to be filmed in 3D this year. That being said, just because it’s filmed in 3D doesn’t automatically make for a fantastic 3D visual experience. A few scenes wowed me with compelling 3D, and how it balanced depth and pop out effects. In other scenes, the 3D was muted and not an issue. Specifically, one scene where the camera travels into a tunnel looks fantastic in 3D. Overall I enjoyed the 3D element of the movie, but I was not completely wowed by it.

Final Verdict: Good 3D

Movie

The X-Movies have a long cinematic history with a confusing convoluted narrative. Don’t get me wrong; for the most part, I enjoy the different movies within the series, but it’s incredibly hard to explain the over arching storyline of the X-Men movies .

This movie takes place in the 1980’s, and introduces the first mutant named Apocalypse. This 1980's time period isn’t a major factor in this story, unlike other recent X-men movies. The movie reintroduces major X-men characters to the franchise, including Jean Gray, Scott Summers (Cyclops) and Kurt Wagner (Night Crawler,) just to name a few.

The main characters from the previous two X-men movies return. James McAvoy returns to play Charles Xavier (Professor X). Michael Fassbender returns as Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto), and Jennifer Lawrence returns to play Raven (Mystique). Apocalypse is collecting super powered mutants to take over the world.

The movie has a slow start, but I actually enjoyed how much character development was portrayed within this first half. I especially enjoyed how the character of Magneto was portrayed. The internal conflict of Magneto, and how he struggles to live with humanity is interesting, sympathetic and well handled. Magneto's complex relationship with Professor Xavier is a fantastic dynamic, that I enjoyed watching them interact on screen. The introduction of Cyclops into the school of gifted youngsters is well done, and made him an interesting character. I also enjoyed the portrayal of Night Crawler and his sweet innocence. Mystique’s role was elevated to more of a leader of the youngsters. The character of Quicksilver returns from the previous movie to have another funny and enjoyable super speed scene.

With such a huge cast of characters, unfortunately not all of them were given enough screen time to shine. Sadly, the mutant Psylocke was given no backstory or information to what her powers are. The character of Angel is totally one dimensional and underdeveloped. I wasn’t a fan of the actress who was Jean Gray and her acting ability; it just wasn’t compelling or charismatic, but the movie’s biggest problem was in the main villain, Apocalypse. The powers and abilities of Apocalypse were never defined. I understand this element is also true in the comics, but for a movie having an all powerful villain makes for a boring story, because you never know his limitations.The motivations of Apocalypse were paper-thin and consist of him being the new leader of the world. I also had a problem with how the character looked and sounded on screen. His voice seemed to change pitch and tone at times to be robotic, which was never explained. Apocalypse's costume and appearance seemed too strange to be taken seriously. Apocalypse is the weakest part of the movie, and he was a major aspect of the story. Some of the action scenes seemed very cliché and were predictable in nature with computer graphics that seemed fake and out of place in 2016. Apocalypse is a poorly developed villain and fits more in with the Disney Marvel league of pathetic villains .When you look at Apocalypse and Magneto, it’s hard to imagine them being from the same film universe, because Magneto is clearly a more established and likable villain.

I enjoyed many aspects of this movie, especially the first half but I really disliked the villain. The Apocalypse character basically ruins what could have been a good movie.

Final Verdict: 6/10

X-Men Apocalypse Official Review

Click here to listen to my audio podcast review of X-men Apocalypse