Prior to seeing X-Men Apocalypse I hadn’t seen any of the previous X-Men movies (X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, The Wolverine, and X-Men: Days of Future Past), and quite frankly I never had an interest in them. I knew Hugh Jackman starred in some of them, but if he wasn’t singing like he did when he starred as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables then I saw no need to see him dressed up like a hairy mutant.
I volunteered to write this movie review knowing that my husband Mike is an X-Men fan, and figured I’d earn some good wife points if I took him with me.
Mike suggested that I should first watch some of the earlier X-Men movies. I said no thank you. He tried to politely coerce me into at least watching the first one so I would be familiar with some of the characters. I thought about it for a second, and then smugly told him if this movie was any good then I wouldn’t need to know who any of the characters were in advance to enjoy it.
After watching X-Men: Apocalypse, guess who is now a HUGE fan of X-Men! That’s right! I am!
X-Men: Apocalypse is a prequel to the other X-Men movies, and takes place mostly in the 1980’s. Professor Xavier, played by James McAvoy, is teaching his students, who are all mutants with multifarious special powers, how to harness their gifts so they can blend seamlessly back into society. Michael Fassbender plays Erik Lehnsherr, a hard working family man who wants to hide his true identity. Jennifer Lawrence is Raven, a loner who tries not to get too blue as she helps fellow mutants find their way.
Professor Xavier, Erik, and Raven are all on their separate life journeys when the dangerous Apocalypse, played by Oscar Isaac, tries to take over the world. The characters have to decide whose side they are on, and each has to decide whether his or her special powers are a blessing or a curse.
X-Men: Apocalypse was an action-packed movie that kept my interest the entire time! It was close to two and a half hours long, but I didn’t dare get up to use the restroom because I didn’t want to miss a single second. Seeing it on the big screen made the special effects all the more incredible. The characters’ mutant transformations were visually flawless, and the characters’ powers, whether used for good or evil, were convincing.
I was expecting X-Men: Apocalypse to purely be an action film; but with bits of humor, poignant flashbacks, and raw heartache woven into the fabric of the film, X-Men Apocalypse was so good that I now want to watch all of the previous X-Men films, which, I know will earn even more good wife points for me.
Mike thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and said, “I knew I would love it, but it was even better than I had anticipated. I’d definitely recommend it.”
The movie led to an interesting conversation between us as to which special powers we would like to have if we ever became mutants like the characters in the X-Men series. Mike said he wouldn’t want to be able to read people’s minds like Professor Xavier, but would love it if he could fly like the character Angel. Personally I’m on the fence as to whether I’d want any of the characters’ special powers, but I sure wouldn’t mind looking like Olivia Munn did in the film. I’m pretty sure if I looked like her character Psylocke, I wouldn’t ever even have to think about trying to earn good wife points.
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Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Director: Bryan Singer
Actors: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, Olivia Munn
Rating: PG-13 (for sequences of violence, action and destruction, brief strong language and some suggestive images)
Running Time: 2 hours 24 minutes
