Film Review: X-Men: Apocalypse

X-Men: Apocalypse

Director: Bryan Singer
20th Century Fox
In Theaters: 05.27

After igniting the comic book movie genre in 2000 and delivering the most solid X-Men film to date in 2003, fans were excited to have director Bryan Singer return to the franchise two years ago for Days of Future Past. While his resurface was greeted with cheers, it may be time for the filmmaker to go dark for another decade. The plot is simple. The first mutant known to our world, Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), is revived and disgusted that regular humans are in control, so everyone must die. That’s it. Obviously, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and his superhuman students don’t want that to happen, so the mother of all fights must commence. The reasoning for my declaration for Singer’s departure is due to the fact that this entire production feels eerily too familiar to his last venture. All of the beats are the same, and the project feels stagnant. When Quicksilver (Evan Peters) steals the show and is once again the best scene (with a similar bit), there’s an issue there. Sure, I laughed. It’s a funny gag, but you can’t go back to the same well, back to back, without being called out for laziness. Singer actually tries to call out Brett Ratner, the director of X-Men: The Last Stand, with a line of dialogue that states that the third chapter in all film trilogies is the worst. Singer may want to speak those words to a mirror. As much as it sounds like I despised this movie, the opposite is the case. For the most part, I enjoyed it, but the franchise needs another overhaul or Singer needs to bow out and let new blood enjoy these characters. There’s possibility for great storytelling in this franchise, so let’s find someone to unearth. I think I’m just ready for an R-rated Old Man Logan tale. –Jimmy Martin