Movies: Review
‘X-Men: Apocalypse’
It is another example of an X-Men movie appreciating its essential strength of a kaleidoscope of exceptional powers.
“The overall direction, production, acting, and cinematography all tied up the complexity of his vision into an outrageously messy, unmistakably risky and constantly thrilling masterpiece.” ★★★☆☆ — By Jape Garrido
We begin in a silly but amusing CGI of Ancient Egypt, with pixelated yet realistic pyramids that would bear witness to the start of the convoluted Apocalypse. Where the first mind-swapping mutant, dressed like a cake in purple makeup, would stir from his millennial-long sleep, stating his disposition to conquer the world (like a typical bad guy) and establish mutants in their rightful place just after watching television.
Like its predecessor, Days of Future Past, the first scenes of the movie mystifies us that this trilogy is all about Jennifer Lawrence a.k.a the villainess-turned-movie-protagonist Mystique, jeopardizing the authenticity of the material and hoping that her achievement from The Hunger Games franchise will reflect for the overall success of the films.
Teleporting from Westchester to Cairo to Poland to East Berlin, gathering up with James McAvoy’s Charles Xavier and his gifted youngsters and some new recruits. Each individual story is skillfully crafted; particularly Michael Fassbender’s Magneto and his ill-fated accident that cost his family with magnitudes that are entirely predictable but still heartbreaking.
For the first time, we see the early beginnings of the soon-to-be Cyclops, Scott Summers played by Tye Sheridan as he discovers that seeing is incinerating, and the soon-to-be Phoenix, (and Queen in the North) Jean Grey played by Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner. Sheridan and Turner’s chemistry in portraying the beloved couple was quite deficient but they have acquitted themselves well in playing their respective parts. Turner manages to pull off the appropriate fear and uncertainty as Jean transforms into a powerful force at the end, while Sheridan explores his incinerating mutation as an allegory for celebrating one’s peculiarities, even if they do mean that you might roast your school bully.
Evan Peters’ Quicksilver steals the movie once again. His slow motion scenes are the highlights of Days of Future Past and seeing more in Apocalypse is a nerdy dream come true. Kodi Smitt-McPhee’s Nightcrawler is also remarkable, despite of the parentage conflict made by the plot changes.
While not every character excelled, Alexandra Shipp’s Storm is quite disappointing. The hype for her portrayal as the corrupted-version of the young weather-controlling mutant was very much anticipated. But despite of the iconic Mohawk for the character and the computer generated exaggerated weather effects, she failed to leave an impression to the audience. Same goes through with Lana Condor’s Jubilee, Olivia Munn’s Psylocke and Ben Hardy’s Angel, their existence in the film are not quite felt.
All of this would not matter if the main man could carry the film. Oscar Isaac’s award-winning performance was not quite experienced in Apocalypse. He is a ludicrously villain, spending mostly of his screen time organizing his ideal clique of horsemen. His powers were terrifying and it was quite entertaining in the big screen yet it failed to have its effect due to his cringe-worthy appearance. He wanders around looking like a frosted purple monster and spouts pithy lines about how he will cleanse the world, saying: “Everything they’ve built will fall and from the ashes, we’ll build a better one!” This could definitely be a ridiculous role for the actor but it is also frightening, kind of comical, and genuinely felt.
As a result of this misdirection, the film fell in the middle. The Weapon X scene felt like a Spider-Man-cameo-turned-bad, and was stalling for time until the final city-wrecking battle.
Fortunately, the film regains its momentum in the final battle. Unlike most Hollywood showdowns, it is surprising until the end due to Apocalypse’s superficial immunity and the decision to take the combat into the subconscious. The scene was very reminiscent to Inception and simulations that they do in the Divergent franchise.
To be honest, the director, Bryan Singer did an excellent job of managing various characters and locations. The overall direction, production, acting, and cinematography all tied up the complexity of his vision into an outrageously messy, unmistakably risky and constantly thrilling masterpiece. It is another example of an X-Men movie appreciating its essential strength of a kaleidoscope of exceptional powers. Unlike The Last Stand, this is a film in which it truly feels like anything can happen. It is not the perfect conclusion to the trilogy but the film is an experience, opening more fan-favorite scenes from the comics into countless possibilities, satisfying the inner nerds from within. ■ AH Online / The Culture Review
Watch the trailer here:
