**Spoiler Alert**
Director: Bryan Singer/Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Oscar Isaac, Rose Byrne, Olivia Munn, Tye Sheridan, Nicholas Hoult, Evan Peters, Sophie Turner, Kodi-Smit McPhee and Ally Sheedy
Professor X's gang is back for another CGI carnival; X-Men: Apocalypse; director Bryan Singer's latest franchise installment. The cast for this franchise seems to be growing at an exponential rate. This time we have the ferociously talented Oscar Isaac joining the magnificently-talented Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy for a movie that is fairly entertaining but hardly distinguished. The film's propulsion operates on casting and acting power rather than solid storytelling and a riveting plot. For me, any movie starring Jennifer Lawrence, Fassbender, McAvoy and Isaac is reason enough to pay the admission price. The four actors are solid anchors for a comic book movie that resembles not only the series predecessors but The Avengers. I'm starting to confuse the respective franchises.
In the latest story, we see ancient Egypt, or an idealized, comic book version thereof. Under an enormous pyramid, a ritual is in process which will transfer the soul and power from a god-like being known as En Sabah Nur to another, thus ensuring life everlasting. But saboteurs ensure the transference fails, which destroys the pyramid; leaving Nur buried under rubble; dormant for centuries thereafter.
In present day Egypt, CIA operative Moira Mactaggert (Rose Byrne) trails a group of men who unearth an underground passage to En Sabah Nur's burial site. Mactaggert watches in dismay as the all-powerful entity is resurrected.
In another part of the world, we see Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender), otherwise known as Magneto, working anonymously in a Polish foundry; his identity concealed from his co-workers. In hiding from the world, Magneto has managed to start a family and maintain a low profile. But when he uses his powers to save a fellow co-worker, the authorities become aware of his true identity. Not long after, Lehnsherr, his wife and child are confronted in the woods by a posse of law enforcement officers with non-metallic bows and arrows. One projectile is accidentally discharged, killing Magneto's daughter and wife. Though powerless to manipulate any weapon lacking metallic properties, a chain with a medallion is used to dispatch all the officers in an efficient, lethal manner.
Meanwhile, in Westchester County, NY; Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) seeks out Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) to alert him to Magneto's whereabouts. Though a mutant, Mystique's reluctance to connected to the organization or to even be referred to as her crime-fighting appellation is acute, which contrasts sharply with Xavier's commitment to helping and guiding all mutants.
While Mystique and Xavier concern themselves with Magneto, Nur wanders Egyptian streets, observing all that has become of the world he once knew. Feeling nothing but contempt for what he sees, he initiates an agenda to cleanse the world. He enlists others with mutant powers: Storm (Ororo Munroe); a waif who sees Nur use his powers to dispatch a group of men who accost him on the city streets; Angel (Ben Hardy); another mutant whose powerful wings serve as offensive and defensive weapons and Psylocke (Olivia Munn), whose weapons of choice are dual lethal swords. Utilizing his god-like powers, Nur augments his follower's abilities; rendering them more dangerous. But the most dangerous recruit is Magneto himself, who sees Nur's plan for global destruction a goal worthy of his own.
Xavier and the X-Men become aware of Nur when he and his newly formed group infiltrate their headquarters for the express purpose of kidnapping Professor X, whose ability to detect and communicate with mutants worldwide becomes highly coveted. When Nur and his team succeed in kidnapping Xaver, Mystique becomes the reluctant leader of a rescue team which consists of Quicksilver (Evan Peters), Beast/Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult; sporting cool-looking blue hair and beard), Jane Grey (Sophie Turner), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), and Nightcrawler (Kodi-Smit McPhee), whose ability to transport himself instantaneously through space becomes highly useful. But their efforts go awry when a mutant-hating Colonel named Stryker captures the team and imprisons them in a cell in a secret facility. This subplot is kind of fun. The group discovers another famous mutant being held in the facility. Nightcrawler and Jane Grey manage to help the group escape, which leads them on a collision course with Nur and his followers, who have already begun the process of transferring Xavier's mighty powers of mind to the Egyptian God. But the group must also stop Magneto, whose augmented powers have been harnessed to destroy cities and bridges worldwide.
The latter half of the film is the inevitable battle between the X-Men and Nur's super-mutant team.
Director Bryan Singer is an old hat with Marvel movies, having directed several through his career. He coaxes a reasonably interesting story from his co-written script and gives the X-Men a formidable foe to test their powers against. Nur is an interesting villain with unbelievable power but somehow he becomes a bit bumbling during the climactic fight. What looked like an unbeatable villain early on proves to be less dangerous later in the film. What little suspense the story held was established early on but it spilled away in the second half.
It's tough blogging about superhero films because the normal critical foci; direction, cinematography, acting, etc., play second fiddle to the almighty visuals. With superhero flicks, it's CGI-uber-alles.
But in spite of the towering visual effects, some humanity manages to sprout. It seems Professor X and Mystique will forever try to convince Magneto that a spark of goodness still exists in him. The indication is that they may have succeeded, which is too bad, considering the X-Men movies are always more fun when Magneto is disgruntled and on a rampage. The series has certainly undergone a youthful makeover; younger actors have now assumed the roles of principal characters.
I think I've come to expect a McDonald's experience with the Marvel movies. One knows a Big Mac's taste will never vary, nor will anything else on a Golden Arches menu. In spite of that fact, we still return; satisfied that some things remain the same, year in, year out. To me, the analogy seems very apt. I get what I expect with superhero movies, so I'm never dissatisfied. But there is hope. Deadpool and Antman offer the genre more humorous possibilities.
Please forgive my afore-expressed editorial but I have little more to say about X-Men: Apocalypse other than it wasn't dull. If you'd rather not cough up a dozen dollars to reach the same conclusion, then might I suggest you see...uh...Captain America: Civil War?
