It's been awhile but the Brothers Thre3 have finally posted a new video review. I'll also give some more in-depth, spoiler filled thoughts below...
Since shooting the review I have seen the film a second time. The main theme of the movie is the search that most people go through for a sense of purpose or belonging. On one side you have Kurt Wagner, Jean Grey, and Scott Summers, who find this through Charles Xavier and, to a lesser extent, Mystique. On the other hand you have Storm, Pysclocke, and Angel, who find this in Apocalypse. So far so good right?
Unfortunately there are two problems with this. One is that while Charles vision for a future where humans and mutants work together and help each other has always been clear Apocalypse is not given a clear vision to contrast with this. All he really ever says is that he wants to tear down the world and "build a better one". What this new world will look like is less clear. The other problems is that most of these characters get only minimal development or, in the case of Psylocke and Angel, none at all. Instead much time is given to fleshing out Apocalypse's fourth follower, Magneto. As Thomas stresses in our video review this is problematic because we've already spent a lot of time developing Magneto's character in the past and his arc in this film feels simultaneously repetitive and counter-intuitive.
At the beginning of the film Magneto has given up on his quest to lead Mutant-kind to its (in his opinion) rightful place as the dominant species on earth. Instead he's living in Poland with a new wife and daughter, supporting them by working at a factory. When it's discovered that he's a mutant, his family wind up dead in a rather contrived sequence and he's left aimlessly searching for revenge as he was at the beginning of First Class. He winds up going through sort of a reverse of his arc in that film, this time following a violent and destructive leader only to have a change of heart and stand with his friends in the end. Despite this, it really feels, by the end of the film, like he's in a really similar place to where he was at the end of First Class rendering the whole thing rather pointless.
As I mentioned in the video there's a missed opportunity here for socio-religious themes. Apocalypse fancies himself a god and wishes to destroy and replace the technology that he see's as a new, false god. This presents an opportunity to comment on post-WWII existentialism and how this might create a vacuum that a powerful being like Apocalypse could exploit. Unfortunately the film never goes in this direction, nor does it do anything very interesting with these concepts.
The movie has other problems as well. There are subplots, involving Quicksilver and Moira Mactaggert that feel distracting and tacked on. Quicksilver's has an arc that is unresolved and Moira's presence through much of the film feels really awkward as she doesn't really understand what's going on until the climax. There's also a completely pointless scene where William Stryker captures Mystique, Beast, Moira and Quicksilver and Jean, Scott and Kurt must rescue them with some help from a conveniently placed (though admittedly cool) Wolverine cameo. There's also a scene where Magneto, in a fit of rage, destroys Auschwitz which, to me, felt a little insensitive.
With that said the movie still works overall. There are some fun action scenes. The plot though a little thin and unfocused at times, is at least coherent. Finally, though Apocalypse doesn't offer a very interesting foil for him, Xavier is just as compelling as ever and I can understand why Jean, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and, ultimately, Storm follow him. The film is at its best when it's focusing on their side of the story. In the end X-Men Apocalypse is more uneven and disappointing than bad.
Score: 7/10
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