Bolvar's Spoiler-Filled X-Men: Apocalypse Review Thread

[Bolvar]

Fox did us all a huge favor with Days of Future Past.

If you didn't like that movie for what it was, you should at least love it for what it did...

It wiped out the continuity of the first three X-Men movies - which is good, because really, only X2 was very good... and X3 was a goddamned disaster.

Now, thanks to what started in First Class and continued in Days of Future Past, we have an X-Men franchise that has a better cast, better stories, better production, better everything.

Essentially, they've been able to throw out everyone but Hugh Jackman, which was exactly the right thing to do.

(OK, Pat Stew wasn't bad, but, I'd go as far as to say McAvoy is better)

With that in mind - we have Apocalypse... and it is, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best X-Men movie that's ever been made.

They did just about everything right in this film. They used the opportunity they created in the last movie to make a lot of characters more interesting. Frankly, I like Mystique as a hero, and JLaw is a hell of an upgrade for the character.

All of the new X-Men have better actors. I actually like Cyclops. Jean Grey is a HUGE improvement. Nightcrawler is better. Storm is SO much better (and we get an actual origin...)

Naturally, Magneto has to suffer, in order to make his alliance with Apocalypse somewhat believable. The only problem I had with the whole thing is I didn't believe he'd be stupid enough to settle in eastern Europe during the cold war. But, whatever...

Angel's character sucks. That's one complaint I have. Complete throwaway. Not much of an origin, not much dialogue... dies like a punk. Just... worthless. He's not Warren Worthington... and he could have been. So, they fucked that one up.

Psylocke is also kind of a waste. Munn nails the look, but I get the feeling that's all she's there for - eye candy. Otherwise, another wasted opportunity. But, hey, at least she's still alive. I guess.

Everything else worked. I like the Apocalypse origin. I really liked the Moira McTaggert angle.

And there were two scenes that made the film...

First, they took the best scene in Days of Future Past, and they made it longer and more amazing... and I'm referring to Quicksilver doing Quicksilver things. Well done here... just a great piece of work in making a movie feel like an actual comic book. Even better, they do a good job keeping the character grounded. Because, honestly, Quicksilver would be totally overpowered if he had his shit together.

But he doesn't. He's a fuck-up. He knows it. And I like that. He's a guy that will frustrate you because he could be a whole lot more amazing than he already is, but he's his own worst enemy.

And then there's Weapon-X... and, thank you Hugh Jackman for showing up for a day or so to make this scene... because it was incredible. It was like they said, "We get it... Origins was bad... so, we'll just boil it down to the good shit for you here..."

And it was good shit you guys.

The film sets up sequels that can go in a lot of directions. We could have a Dark Phoenix Saga (that might not suck this time). We could get Mr. Sinister. We could get more Caliban (I swear there was a peak at Callisto) and the Morlocks... We could get Dazzler and Longshot (one of my favorites). We could get X-23 (I'd personally rather not, but, whatever...)

The only downside is that Fox isn't likely to cut a deal with Marvel anytime soon - they're getting this right, and the movies are going to make money. The only way they do merge with the MCU is if there's a lot of money changing hands... but I don't see them rolling over the way Sony did for Spider-Man. And Disney is in a bad spot financially right now because their TV business is sucking eggs.

So, enjoy this X-universe, because it's pretty damned good in its own right.

[Commander Rotal]

I liked First Class very much, actually, and i very much liked Days of future's past.... until the reboot-thing. Because A) i don't like reboots, and B) i also actually liked X3 :(

Would love to see Apocalypse this week but i'm broke af, so likely next week. Have they touched further on the Magneto-Quicksilver/Scarlet Witch thing or do they keep that one under wraps?

[PajamaSalad]

I thought this X-Men was kind of meh.

[SmokeBlader]

I disagree about the casting. The first two movies were perfect in that regard. Except for Storm and Sabretooth I guess. Origins Sabretooth was GOAT.

Munn nails the look

She doesn't. She looks like a cosplayer. Should have cast an Asian woman from the start.

And it was good shit you guys.

Jennifer Lawrence wankfest, Magneto being let go after killing thousands of people, scrub Apocalypse, characters wasted, no thanks. :P

We could have a Dark Phoenix Saga

A bit too early. It's not tragic if it's the second movie with a new cast. Look at how BvS handled the death of Superman. Nobody cared.

We could get Mr. Sinister.

Thank god.

We could get X-23

Thank GOD. Unless they screw up the casting.

[Bolvar]

I disagree about the casting. The first two movies were perfect in that regard. Except for Storm and Sabretooth I guess. Origins Sabretooth was GOAT.

We agree on Origins Sabretooth.

You really think the original Scott and Jean were better...? Scott was a whiny douche, and Jean was a wooden cunt. I've never been happier to see two characters re-cast and re-written.

And, dear God, if you actually think Rebecca Romijn was better as Mystique, well, I can't help you. Sorry.



She doesn't. She looks like a cosplayer. Should have cast an Asian woman from the start.

You *do* realize Betsy Braddock was originally British, right?

Or are you one of those "HEIMDALL CAN'T BE BLACK" guys?


Jennifer Lawrence wankfest, Magneto being let go after killing thousands of people, scrub Apocalypse, characters wasted, no thanks. :P

"let go"?

It's not like he was ever apprehended.

It kind of sounds like you just hate everything now...



A bit too early. It's not tragic if it's the second movie with a new cast. Look at how BvS handled the death of Superman. Nobody cared.


I didn't say right now. I agree - they need to let that one marinate a bit....



Thank GOD. Unless they screw up the casting.

We disagree. I think X-23 is an awful idea. But I'll give it a fair shot.

[Ragnahar]

Olivia Munn being eye candy? Say it ain't so!

You just described her entire career all the way back to her days on G4TVs Attack of the Show when every hated her for being a fake but nice piece of ass for the screen, when there were so many other females that worked there with actual nerd cred.

That said, the Ragnahar trusts the Bolvar on these types of films because of Winter Soldier and Civil War, the Ragnahar will view this film with haste.

[Noitora]

Is the rebootverse even worth watching?

[Gurzog]

Is the rebootverse even worth watching?

http://reactiongifs.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/no-no-no-very-bad-man-Babu-Bhatt-seinfeld-gifs-finger-wag.gif

[SomeRandomEvilGuy]

Taken from the other X-men: Apocalypse thread.

I'm getting tired of villains killing people then switching teams and having no repercussions for the evil part? Magneto kills what, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of people? And nobody bats an eyelid after he changes sides at the last minute? No wonder the X-men aren't trusted.

In general I liked it though. Not amazing, but good. Quicksilver scene in particular was amazing. Actually he was cool throughout really.

[Trickster]

I really liked it and I think Apocalypse was an awesome villain.

[Aneurysm]

My favourite part of this movie was when the Four Horsemen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AhqeQifPSs) played in the background. I zoned out completely and focused on the song altogether, but I think it was something about that bird-guy getting metal wings from Papa Smurf.

It was a good movie. I've never been too much into the X-men films, but the last two have been pretty dope.

[Lord Grimtale]

I just got back from seeing it since I had nothing better to do and I actually liked it more than I expected. It definitely had some flaws and wasn't as good as Future Past but the flaws didn't ruin the movie as badly for me as it seemed to have done for the critics. Nowhere near as awful as X3 or Wolverine Origins was. I rate it a 7 or 8 out of 10.

[Slowpokeking]

Watched it today, it was good overall other than Mystique being everywhere simply because her actor was famous. As for the biggest problem of the movie, I think a powerful villain like Apocalypse requires more than 1 movie and a post credit scene to set up and finish the arc.

The post credit scene got me excited, we FINALLY got to see Mr. Sinister. Was he going to clone Jean, or Wolverine? Also, was Mr. Sinister behind the Future Sentinel's design, this could explain why those Sentinels were out of control and got the ability to absorb the DNA the Mystique.

[BaronGrackle]

My exposure to Mr. Sinister is purely from the 90s cartoon.

So... I remember him as an awkward-looking lamer who almost gets killed anytime Cyclops sneezes, who existed on the show for two reasons: 1) to convince me Cyclops was somehow important and 2) to deny screentime to a more interesting villain like Magneto or the Sentinels.

Similar to Kingpin in the 90s Spider-man cartoon, who (from my perspective at the time) existed solely to deny screentime to actual interesting supervillains.

(Yet I love Kingpin in the movies he shows up in, so I wouldn't necessarily call foul on Mr. Evil or whatever his name is.

[SmokeBlader]

He's a mutant Mengele.

In the comics he was first a human scientist obsessed with human evolution, which got him in conflict with Darwin. He was also married and his child died early. Eventually he goes nuts, digs up the corpse of his kid, and tries to bring him back to life. His wife discovers his experiments and dies of shock (i think), but before calling him a sinister man. The community also finds out about his experiments and he runs away. Apocalypse finds him and gives him the powers he had in the cartoon. He then spends the rest of history being a creepy scientist in a basement, eventually working on the concentration camps in WW2. I don't remember if he actually WAS Mengele in the comics but I digress. Fast forward many years alter he becomes obsessed with Scott and Jean for reasons.

[Slowpokeking]

My exposure to Mr. Sinister is purely from the 90s cartoon.

So... I remember him as an awkward-looking lamer who almost gets killed anytime Cyclops sneezes, who existed on the show for two reasons: 1) to convince me Cyclops was somehow important and 2) to deny screentime to a more interesting villain like Magneto or the Sentinels.

Similar to Kingpin in the 90s Spider-man cartoon, who (from my perspective at the time) existed solely to deny screentime to actual interesting supervillains.

(Yet I love Kingpin in the movies he shows up in, so I wouldn't necessarily call foul on Mr. Evil or whatever his name is.

He is a dark scientist who wanted to develop the mutants' ability to the highest level thus let humanity meet its ultimate evolution.

[BaronGrackle]

He's a mutant Mengele.

In the comics he was first a human scientist obsessed with human evolution, which got him in conflict with Darwin. He was also married and his child died early. Eventually he goes nuts, digs up the corpse of his kid, and tries to bring him back to life. His wife discovers his experiments and dies of shock (i think), but before calling him a sinister man. The community also finds out about his experiments and he runs away. Apocalypse finds him and gives him the powers he had in the cartoon. He then spends the rest of history being a creepy scientist in a basement, eventually working on the concentration camps in WW2. I don't remember if he actually WAS Mengele in the comics but I digress. Fast forward many years alter he becomes obsessed with Scott and Jean for reasons.

I could get behind that for a movie.

But cripes, when I was a kid I didn't want basement-experiment-man to be the most frequent villain the X-Men fought in those cartoons.

[Slowpokeking]

He's a mutant Mengele.

In the comics he was first a human scientist obsessed with human evolution, which got him in conflict with Darwin. He was also married and his child died early. Eventually he goes nuts, digs up the corpse of his kid, and tries to bring him back to life. His wife discovers his experiments and dies of shock (i think), but before calling him a sinister man. The community also finds out about his experiments and he runs away. Apocalypse finds him and gives him the powers he had in the cartoon. He then spends the rest of history being a creepy scientist in a basement, eventually working on the concentration camps in WW2. I don't remember if he actually WAS Mengele in the comics but I digress. Fast forward many years alter he becomes obsessed with Scott and Jean for reasons.

He didn't care about his children, he just wanted to let humanity reach the prime of evolution through developing the full potential of mutants power.

he was obsessed with Scott and Jean because of Phoenix Force, and their DNA could create the child Cable to defeat Apocalypse in the future.

[Gurzog]

Just saw it, it was ok... they are doing better. I liked the weapon x scenes and the stuff with Peter.

But I still wish they could just merge universes with marvel.

Marvel > foxmen.