Having already brought in $103 million overseas, Bryan
Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse hits the states with a full head of steam at the
box office and, curiously, a myriad of middling reviews. Why this is so is a bit of a mystery as the
film, as we’ve come to expect from anything helmed by Singer, is an
entertaining, engaging superhero epic that contains appealing characters, an
intriguing premise and subtext enough to give it narrative heft and
relevancy. That the director’s films are
able to generate a sense of wonder as well is no mean feat in our
superhero-laden day and age, raising the notion that the “been there, done
that” response it’s gotten far and wide can be attributed to superhero fatigue.
There is a definite sense of urgency from the start as we
witness, in a truly spectacular sequence, the birth of a god. The first mutant, Apocalypse, is being given
powers and brought to life in a rite that’s interrupted by militants who wish
to stop him. Their actions are
successful as he and his followers wind up buried beneath the rubble of an
Egyptian temple…for a few thousand years anyway. Fast forward to 1983 when an archaeologist
inadvertently resurrects the villain, prompting him to recruit four disciples
so that he might purge the earth of humans in order to make a world fit for
mutants.
While all of this is going on, young Scott Summer (Tye
Sheridan) is struggling to get a handle on the fact he can shot laser beams
from his eyes and mutant-on-the-run Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) is seeking out
others like her in order to free them from oppression. She liberates Angel (Ben Hardy) and
Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) from an underground freak show in Berlin, both
of who become key players in the obligatory throw-down for world
domination. One of them finds refuge at
Charles Xavier’s school, where he’s gathered together a group of young people
who’ve yet to tap into the full scope of their powers, among them Jean Grey
(Sophie Turner), Havok (Lucas Till) and Quicksilver (Evan Peters). And while Professor X is doing his best to
forge a sense of belonging with his young charges, his rival Eric Lehnsherr
(Micheal Fassbender) has gone into hiding in Poland, where he’s found peace as
a laborer and family man.
While this may seem narratively top-heavy, Singer keeps
things humming along at a nice pace, giving each storyline equal time while
punctuating things now and again with a display of mutant-based
pyrotechnics. Viewers have become
sophisticated enough to know that most of the derring-do and destruction seen
on the screen is rendered on computer screens by a corps of graphic
artists. Yet, the way in which Singer
integrates his performers into these sequences and edits them together ensures that
they have maximum impact where the story is concerned. Equally important is that the “X-Men” films
have always been the most character-driven in the superhero genre and because
the director takes the time to explore their desires and fears, concern for
them remains paramount as the heavens fall around them. There’s always more
than empty spectacle on display in Singer’s films – even in his underrated
“Superman Returns” – as questions of who will live and die have an emotional
impact that’s often missing from movies such as this.
Singer and his co-writer Simon Kinberg don’t skimp on
crowd-pleasing moments as well. Each of the key characters get their moment in
the spotlight while the scene-stealing Quicksilver from “X-Men: Days of Future
Past” is featured in an eye-bending, imaginative sequence of super-speed
heroics that generates some welcome comic relief. And an unexpected cameo that is a seeming
requirement of the “X-Men” films comes off as not only genuinely surprising but
satisfying in the way a certain character is introduced and then dispatched.
X-Men: Apocalypse will likely make no converts
where the series is concerned – that ship sailed awhile ago – but it will
satisfy fans of the franchise who have been loyal to this series now for 16 years,
a time that’s seen other superheroes come, go and even get rebooted on the big
screen. Consistency and quality have
been the hallmark of the X-Men films and will likely continue to be so, as
long as Singer remains at the helm.
This article appears in Jun 2-8, 2016.
