I was hyped for this (although not as hyped as for Civil War) but I expected to be disappointed with the mixed reviews that I read this morning. The reviews are quite divided with some people find it very good while others find it very bad. I am not suprised now because after watching, there are certain things which are very good and some things which are rubbish.
As usual, lets start with the negative first so that we can end in a positive note. The story is rubbish crap shit. The movie started a few years BC when Apocalypse was sabotaged by a few of his followers who managed to bury him during his soul shifting ceremony. From here we get an idea that Apocalypse's power and immortality come from shifting his soul to a younger body and in the process gain the power possessed by the younger body.
Then we move on to the 'present' which is the 1980s for the movie to catch up with the X-men after the Days of Future Past event as well as the new younger X-men that we love -in the comics and earlier X-men trilogy but not for in this movie. Except for Magneto, there is nothing new and exciting about the rest. We see Apocalypse's revival and despite calling whatever honorifics he awards to himself, this so called 'god' is awakened by 'accident' when Moira MacTaggert forces her way in to Apocalypse's collapsed pyramid and causes sunlight to shine on the pyramid. That's really dumb! Apocalypse then recruits his 4 horsemen who, except for Magneto, absolutely has no reason to follow him to destroy this world. Anyway if Apocalypse is so powerful that he can make other mutants reach their potential and become stronger, why can't he do that to himself? Hmm...
Professor X uses Cerebro to find Magneto's whereabouts and that's how Apocalypse decides he wants Professor X's body to gain his ability to mind control everyone on earth at the same time. Apocalypse kidnaps Professor X and Havok is killed at this point. I think Havok is killed needlessly just to make Cyclops has a reason to fight as an X-men eventually. Not to mention that having 2 beam shooting guys can be quite boring in the final fight. The X-men fights to rescue Professor X. Seeing Mystique is defeated and almost killed, Magneto changes his mind to go against Apocalypse. Storm also betrays Apocalypse although it is not clear why. However, it is Jean Grey who unleashes her Phoenix power who is eventually able to destroy Apocalypse. So much for showing the power of everyone else when in the end they just use Phoenix to tie things up.
If I overlook the story aspect, the movie is quite enjoyable with all the fights and CGI effects. The mind fight when Apocalypse tries to take over Professor X's brain is depicted with a fist fight between the two. That is a creative approach and much better than closing up on their face and see them groan and scream in agony. Lol. But overall the fights are quite brainless because the story is so poor. I have no idea what Magneto is actually doing when he flies and all the CGI with black things around start to swirl around him. But with the lack of physical fights, all the CGI effects get boring for a 2.5-hours movie. Many parts look so unreal and fake as well especially when Psylocke fights with her purple sword and whip. In addition, all the good parts have actually been shown in the trailer so there is nothing exciting new things to discover here.
The conversation between the characters are quite hilarious as well (which somehow reminds me of the first Avengers movie). Quicksilver is used as comic relief again but when the same strategy is used twice in this movie, I think they just run out of things. Well, I still laugh at those slow-mo scenes though. But he is not just for comic relief purpose as he tells Mystique that he is Magneto's son (but he does not dare to tell papa!).
Surprisingly, the 'bad' guys i.e Magneto and Mystique are the ones who carry heavier roles here. Magneto tries to repent and be a good guy after the Days of Future Past. When this goes unappreciated by his neighbour and his family gets murdered accidentally, he has enough and decides that no matter what he does, humans will never accept mutants. Mystique is considered a hero and role model by many of the younger mutants after what she did in the Days of Future Past but that does not change her. She still sees mutants being hated and the only reason for her to go against Apocalypse is simply to save her friend Magneto. Unfortunately Mystique does not get a lot of fighting and she only TALKS to Magneto to convince him that he is not alone. Bleah..
There is a Wolverine cameo at the Weapon X facility and I was excited "Let it be Wolverine.. let it be Wolverine" when Jean says she detects something (not sure an animal or human) locked in the research facility. And yeah it's the Wolverine!! During Wolverine's screen out, Jean tries to telepathically reminds me of whatever memory he has as a human and while doing this, I was like "Is he going to stab him like X-men 3?". Nope he isn't :p
So as what Jean Grey says after the young X-men are debating after they watch the Star Wars Return of the Jedi, "At least we can all agree the third one is always the worst". Not sure if she is only poking fun at X-men 3: The Last Stand or also at this current movie which is also the 3rd and worst after the X-men reboot.
No comments:
Post a Comment