HORRORESQUE: X-MEN-APOCALYPSE

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
FOX
2016 COLOR
142 MINS.
ACTION/THRILLER
MICHAEL FASSBENDER, JENNIFER LAWRENCE, JAMES MCAVOY, LUCAS TIL, HUGH JACKMAN, OSCAR ISSAC, NICHOLAS HOULT, BEN HARDY, ROSE BYRNE, OLIVIA MUNN, EVAN PETERS, TYE SHERIDAN, KODI SMIT-MCPHEE, JOSH HELMAN, SOPHIE TURNER, ALEXANDRE SHIP AND ALLY SHEEDY STAR.
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY BRYAN SINGER
RATED PG-13 FOR LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE AND GORE.

It's important when walking into this sequel that you lower your expectations. Although the visuals on display are expectedly impressive the film lacks the verve and depth of all the other entries that made them so immersive, that being said it's still better than Last Stand. The film begins with an ominous scene in Egypt BC as we see how Apocalypse came to be. The scene is unintentionally funny racking up the cheese quotient to an extreme. Flash forward to the 80's and where we pick up with the central 3,  Magneto, Professor X and Mystique. The film jumps through their stories back and forth giving none of them the emotional investment they deserve. Apocalypse is of course resurrected and begins to stalk out mutants for his insane villain posse, so they can dominate the world. I won't spoil what unfolds. I will only say it is way less involved than you would hope. The film approaches every new character with little to no effort giving them hardly any background making their short journeys mildly effective at best. This film possesses some of the biggest revelations and events of any of the films but handles them so inadequately that neither of them seem to have the emotional punch they should. Although I will say the film does feature strong performances from most of it's cast, most notably the sexy Fassbender who chews up each of his scenes , making the most of his role. he is followed by solid turns from Byrne, Mcavoy, Hoult, Jackman in a short but kick ass cameo and the gorgeous Evan Peters who once again steals the show. And also Ben Hardy adds some sexiness to it all as Angel. It all culminates to a clichéd showdown which unravels by the numbers.

 That being said the special effects and 3D are spectacularly impressive. In the end the film is second to the worst of the franchise, not to say it's a bad movie. But it offers enough under development, unintentional laughs and incoherent storytelling to push away any memorable effect it could have had. Olivia Munn especially doesn't help in her camptastic, hokey, over sexualized turn as Psyhlocke whose costume just reeks of silliness. Singer focuses more on the action setpieces and special effects than he does on the film's plotting which is surprising given his history with the franchise. All in all it's fun and entertaining with some truly impressive sequences but sadly forgettable. Also the scene with Wolverine is so spectacularly gruesome and works as an exciting pre cursor to the R rated Wolverine film on the way. ***.5/5