REVIEW: ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ soars In spite of flaws

Comic book movies seem to be overrunning the cinema landscape. This year alone has already seen Deadpool crack a bunch of dirty jokes, Batman try to kill Superman and Iron Man and Captain America throw down. “Suicide Squad” and “Doctor Strange” are also coming to wow audiences later this year. There are so many superheroes on movie screens this year, I practically forgot about “X-Men: Apocalypse”.

After seeing “Apocalypse”, however, I’m thinking that it might wind up being the best super hero movie of the year.

“Apocalypse” is a huge, epic rush of a movie that packs in tension, laughs, a terrific villain and some great action set pieces. It re-introduces us to some beloved characters and even manages to tug at our heartstrings. There are also a few delightful surprises I won’t spoil for you.

The movie opens with a sequence that introduces us to En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac), the world’s first mutant. Nur, a.k.a. Apocalypse, wakens in the 1980s and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including Magneto (Michael Fassbender), to help him destroy and remake the world. Obviously, Professor Xavier (James McAvoy), can’t abide that and he and his team step in to stop Nur.

The early scenes in this movie are a bit slow. We watch as Apocalypse and Xavier gather their teams. We also get a few sequences that explain Magneto’s motives in this story. Magento’s story is what most of the emotional weight of the movie is attached to. We also get to see what Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) is up to. These scenes are essential to building up the story, but they do slow things up a bit.

Once things get going, though, “Apocalypse” doesn’t ever slow down. The film treats us to a couple of terrific scenes involving Quicksilver (Evan Peters). Psylocke (Olivia Munn) and Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) also shine when given the spotlight. Apocalypse has some pretty cool powers and I wish he’d gotten to do a bit more with them.

As far as acting highlights, props need to go to McAvoy and Fassbender, who are excellent as Prof. X and Magneto respectively. Sophie Turner is fantastic as Jean Grey, and watching her go from fear to confidence in her abilities is a joy. Peters steals the movie and I’m in favor of his Quicksilver getting a solo movie as soon as possible.

Isaac is also great as Nur/Apocalypse. We’re watching him become a big-time movie star right before our eyes. Between this movie, his role in “Star Wars” and his impressive performance in “Ex Machina”, this guy has proven to be someone to watch. His future is bright.

Having director Bryan Singer return to the “X-Men” fold has clearly energized the franchise. Singer knows how to balance the fun of the comic books with the weight of the issues that drive the story. He’s not a flashy visual stylist, but he is a talented storyteller and he gets great work from his cast. Thank heavens he came back.

As far as negatives, there aren’t very many. The first act is a paced a little too slow and some of the story threads don’t weave together too tightly. It also doesn’t make a lot of sense that Apocalypse would have much trouble beating down the X-Men, given the powers he has in this movie. But there’s enough good stuff in this movie, that the flaws don’t derail things.

”X-Men: Apocalypse” surprised me with how enjoyable it was. It’s an epic adventure with great characters and some amazing action. Movies like this are what the summer movie season is all about.

4 Indy Fedoras out of 5

MPAA Rating: PG-13