Photo courtesy of IMDB.
“X-Men: Apocalypse” has overall not been well-received since it came out in 2016. Sometimes great films aren’t appreciated because of the timing of their release; for “Apocalypse” this would include that it came after two of the best X-Men movies, “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and “X-Men: First Class,” making it seem terrible by comparison. That is not to make the claim that “Apocalypse” should be considered great. There are a few important moments and fun scenes in it — such as the Quicksilver-centered scene — but overall, it’s lacking in the core that made the prior X-Men films so great.
For one, it felt as though “Apocalypse” was trying to undo a lot of the romantic tension between Charles and Erik that existed in both “First Class” and “Days of Future Past” by bringing Moira back into the focus and really trying (and failing) to over-emphasize Charles’s crush on her. They also introduced and (spoiler alert, but I mean, it’s been 10 years; get on it) killed off Erik’s wife and daughter, adding more easy trauma to pull from to give him a reason to turn a little evil briefly, only for him to be convinced otherwise by a gay montage of him and Charles. That scene is another fun one from the film, and worth watching the movie just to see. However, it seemed to have been negated by the rest of the romantic stuff they threw in to try to convince us (unsuccessfully) that Erik and Charles are not in love. The Charles and Moira dynamic was very reminiscent of Steve and Peggy in the Avengers movies, where there’s truly no chemistry or logical reason for Steve to pursue Peggy when it’s established over multiple films that his “friendship” (eyebrow raise) with Bucky is the most important relationship in his life.
The film also introduced a young Kurt Wagner, which added some light fun scenes between him and his peers. Along with that we get to see yet another example of Scott Summers having a terrible time, just like almost every other X-Men film. His backstory was worthwhile and fun to see, so overall I liked this movie for its inclusion of some character history and just getting to see more of student life at the X-Mansion.
Apocalypse as a villain, however, was lackluster. His powers were not clearly established, essentially allowing him to do whatever he needs to in the moment, with some limits arbitrarily assigned at random. His motives were also relatively simple, with him being in pursuit of the classic goal of being more powerful and essentially controlling the planet. Apocalypse is ultimately just some guy with no ties or connections to any of the characters we care about. By contrast, in “First Class,” Shaw’s history with Erik allows for interesting nuance in their dynamic. Similarly, in “Days of Future Past” Trask’s motives are prejudice-based, which adds personal layers to the fight, making it important for exploring the characters and their dynamics as well as the issues that are core to the X-Men. These issues are largely absent from “Apocalypse,” making the stakes feel lower. Despite the conflict being a potentially world-ending event, we don’t have as much of the character-based drama that can be applied to our world, making it feel less grounded and interesting.
Overall, the film has some interesting scenes and is overall entertaining. However, it is not comparable in its importance and writing to prior X-Men films, which focused heavily on real world issues, characters and their dynamics. The established dynamics were not developed much further, particularly with Charles and Erik. Characters that were “reintroduced” in their younger versions were a mixed bag, with some being well-done and others not so much. As a result, “X-Men: Apocalypse” might just be as bad as people claim.