The X-Men return for another adventure. Will it end in an “apocalypse” or can the X-Men arise victorious?
Opening proceedings with the Ancient Egyptians, we see the rise and fall of our world’s most powerful mutant. Entombed for centuries, it’s not until the inquisitive Moira MacTaggart (Rose Byrne) investigates a little too deeply that Hell on Earth is unleashed. The utilisation of the ancient civilisations and their mythology builds the story up with an interesting tapestry. This back story is sadly departed from before the significance of the “Four Horsemen” can be explained further, as the all powerful one stumbles into four new followers with very little effort or resistance.
As usual, the movie revolves around a familiar brotherly partnership between Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Xavier (James McAvoy). Yes, there might be an all-powerful demon doing unspeakable things, but it really comes down to Magneto’s final allegiance and the genius of Xavier to get the job done. Luckily, director Bryan Singer thought we might anticipate that and introduced a wild card character to throw us off the scent of the final outcome…
Evan Peters as Quicksilver
Visually the movie is very good, though sadly it seems we expect this of movies these days, rather than stop to appreciate the work and love so many people put into making the magic happen. With this huge budget and ability to cast some excellent actors, its hard for a film to fail entirely. Evan Peters as Quicksilver delivers yet another exceptionally entertaining performance, Nicolas Hoult revives the clever and emotionally complex Beast and finally Sophie Turner knocks it out of the park as a young Jean Grey. With this huge budget and range of talented actors it seems reasonable to expect it to at least par with the success of the previous film, however the rather safe format and plot leaves little to excite.
The musical score is grand and impressive, but without any compositions that would make you want to go out and buy the OST. This is a shame as between Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy it’s quite evident how many sins can be covered by a catchy tune. Despite its flaws, the film is very watchable and will probably set up the next film for an interesting social backdrop, I won’t say why for spoilers, but a little less chance of apocalypse is always a good thing.
From tear jerking moments in Magneto’s home life to the insidious fear growing from Jean’s troubled mind, there are moments to savour. They may be few but using the buckshot approach, at least some moments hit the target. As a movie to show off your home cinema or mindlessly watch over a few beers chatting to friends it has its place, but sadly not a film to get overly excited about.
Author: Joe, Bath store
