X-Men: Apocalypse

Genre: Fantasy

Direction: Bryan Singer

Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Evan Peters, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Olivia Munn, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alexandra Shipp, Lucas Till and Ben Hardy

Being screened at QFX Cinemas

Kathmandu

Charles Xavier, Magneto, Mystique, Beast, Quicksilver, Jean, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Angel, Storm, and Psylocke — they are a lot of mutants to look forward to on one screen. In this long list, the world’s first mutant with unimaginable powers Apocalypse is the cherry on the top. When these mutants with some cool powers come together to fight each other teaming with good and bad leaders, Apocalypse is bound to hit the screen but this does not happen in X-Men: Apocalypse.

The film is enjoyable but not spectacular as one would expect from this franchise.

X-Men: Apocalypse is a sequel to X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past. However, the film does not match the trust of the previous instalments.

The world’s first mutant Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), who is buried under the ruins of a pyramid since the days of ancient Egypt, is brought back to life in 1980s. As he rises again, he starts to recruit four of his disciples to rule the world. He recruits Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), and Angel (Ben Hardy). In the meantime, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and Beast (Nicholas Hoult) are leading separate lives. Charles and Beast have opened a school to train young mutants, while Magneto has gone incognito and is living with wife and daughter. When Magneto once again loses his family, he joins Apocalypse.

Again, it is a fight to save the world. And director Bryan Singer has narrated it with intrigue and one will watch it till the end. But it is nothing spectacular. It lacks pace, excitement and action expected from the X-Men franchise. But the special effects used in the film like slo-mo are worth watching other than the mutants.

Screenplay by Simon Kinberg is the shortcoming of the film. It has thrown many mutants and it has not treated them equally. This also includes the antagonist Apocalypse, which is very disappointing. You won’t know much about him even by the end of the film or what he wants to do. All one knows is that he is ridiculously powerful and he wants to reign the world which is not quite convincing. There is loophole when it comes to the storyline of Apocalypse. It has focused on young X-Men characters — Jean, Cyclops and Quicksilver and their rise which is refreshing.

Every actor in the lead roles has given their best and one will enjoy their performances. McAvoy and Magneto are the best — they are articulate. When it comes to Lawrence, you can feel Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games. But Isaac is a waste of talent in prosthetics as Apocalypse.