X-Men: Apocalypse

We are approaching the release date for the final FOX X-Men film hitting theaters when Dark Phoenix arrives next week. Thus it seemed like a perfect time to revisit FOX’s previous ensemble X-Men film, 2016’s Apocalypse (trailer). Minus a couple exceptions, I have largely enjoyed most of the X-Men movies so far, even if I have barely an idea of what is or is no longer canon anymore and the many contradictions that have surfaced with each proceeding film. The filmmakers stated in the bonus feature interviews here they are essentially making up the rules as they go along ever since they introduced time travel. Regardless, each X-film in and of itself I have mostly enjoyed on its own merits, and that continues with Apocalypse.

Apocalypse has greatly benefited with a second viewing a few years later. I recall nitpicking it in the theaters for its contradictions and other little details that did not match up with previous films and trying to come to terms with the unexpected costume and character design of Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) himself as it compared to the Apocalypse costume I grew up with in the comics and early 90s animated series. Now that I got those initial puzzled impressions out of my system I took in Apocalypse on its own and those nitpicks were not as much of a distraction on second viewing.

Apocalypse transpires 10 years after the events of Days of Future Past in 1983. I liked how they set up the origin for Apocalypse in the prologue and establish how he is this god-like force to be reckoned with all these years later. Watching him grow in power as he recruited Angel (Ben Hardy), Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Psylocke (Olivia Munn) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) as his ‘four horsemen’ proved him to a formidable force. There is a lot of setup Apocalypse’s first half of its near two and a half hour runtime. It did not feel that long however because with its ensemble cast there were so many individual stories to tell to bring everyone together that Apocalypse breezed by.

Nearly all the main players from the previous two core X-Men films return like Professor Xavier (James McAvoy), Mystique (Jennifer Laurence) and Beast (Nicholas Hoult). Periphery players from before like Quicksilver (Evan Peters) and Havok (Lucas Till) also have bigger roles in this film. Young versions of Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) and yes….even Jubilee (Lana Condor) make their debut in this past era of X-films. There are a few surprises I do not want to ruin, but rest assured there are plenty of interesting interactions among the huge cast knowing how these characters will interact in movies set after this. Fassbender and McAvoy easily have the best chemistry among the whole cast and the two steal the show with their handful of one-on-one emotional scenes.

Like the rest of the X-films, Apocalypse does not disappoint when it comes to special effects. There are countless CG showcases from the Apocalypse origin story prologue, to another Quicksilver slow-motion sizzle reel, a couple of impressive destruction sequences where Apocalypse unleashes his fury and the requisite Cerebro scene gone terribly wrong. These CG sequences go hand-in-hand with most of the action scenes, and they were smartly paced in with all the setup and build to the climatic final showdown which is highlighted with Apocalypse and Xavier engaging in a telepathic duel for the ages.

How those CG scenes were produced is tackled among the boatload of extra features. X-Men Unearthed is the standout extra. It is a five-part feature running a little over an hour combined and tackles how the cast and crew is handling the convoluted canon of the X-films, shows Patrick Stewart give his blessing and witness MacAvoy shave his head, breaks down the cast and goes into the nuts and bolts on how those awesome CG sequences came to be. Definitely worth a watch! There is nearly a half hour of deleted scenes with optional introductions from director Bryan Singer that includes a lot of material that seemed tragic to get cut like a feel-good 80s mall music montage set to Safety Dance that got me nostalgic for my teenage Mallrats years, and Fassbender nailing it with a emotional family scene that Singer stated was one of his all-time heartbreaking cuts to make in filmmaking. There is a killer eight minute gag reel that I would place in the top tier of superhero film gag reels, which is good company to be among.

Finally the commentary track with Singer and writer/producer Simon Kinberg is among one of my favorite commentaries I have heard in the five and a half years since I started this site. Singer is mostly nonstop with revealing facts and inspirations for the film like going into a engrossing story on the aforementioned Fassbender deleted scene, pointing out that Jubilee is in the film in one of her few lines or else I would have completely missed her, taking potshots at Marvel and FOX in the opening credits, a touching anecdote on filming the Stan Lee cameo and being grateful to Munn and Peters for knowing their Mortal Kombat references that resulted in saving a certain moment of the film. Those are just a few of the many highlights I got from the commentary so if you have time this is one of the good ones to check out. Also worth pointing out is FOX subtitled the commentary, THANK YOU!

As I alluded to earlier, I came out of X-Men: Apocalypse with a far better experience on my second viewing. I only marginally enjoyed it initially, but letting some time and perspective sink in helped immensely. I am now surprisingly stoked to see Dark Phoenix when it hits next week. I highly recommend revisiting Apocalypse for a refresher on the many little plot points I would have forgotten. I no doubt agree the canon across the nearly 20 years of FOX X-films is a head-scratcher and a half to keep track of and who knows maybe their new overlords at Disney will find a way to smoothly integrate them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, I would be lying if there was not a part of me that would like to see Disney keep the X-films in their own separate canon that FOX has established, quirks and all. Time will tell.

Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs

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12 Angry Men (1957)
12 Rounds 3: Lockdown
21 Jump Street
The Accountant
Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie
Atari: Game Over
The Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Avengers: Infinity War
Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
Bounty Hunters
Cabin in the Woods
Captain America: Civil War
Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Christmas Eve
Clash of the Titans (1981)
Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special
The Condemned 2
Countdown
Creed
Deck the Halls
Die Hard
Dredd
The Eliminators
The Equalizer
Dirty Work
Faster
Fast and Furious I-VIII
Field of Dreams
Fight Club
The Fighter
For Love of the Game
Good Will Hunting
Gravity
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2
Hercules: Reborn
Hitman
Indiana Jones 1-4
Ink
The Interrogation
Interstellar
Jobs
Joy Ride 1-3
Man of Steel
Man on the Moon
Marine 3-6
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
Mortal Kombat
National Treasure
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
The Replacements
Reservoir Dogs
Rocky I-VII
Running Films Part 1
Running Films Part 2
San Andreas
ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Shoot em Up
Skyscraper
Small Town Santa
Steve Jobs
Source Code
Star Trek I-XIII
Take Me Home Tonight
TMNT
The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2
UHF
Veronica Mars
Vision Quest
The War
Wild
Wonder Woman
The Wrestler (2008)
X-Men: Days of Future Past