Ten years ago this month, X-Men: Apocalypse hit theatres and was immediately buried by critics who couldn’t see past its flaws long enough to appreciate what it got right. A decade on, the verdict is clear: they were wrong.
The Impossible Act to Follow
Bryan Singer and Fox had a lot to live up to after the success that was X-Men: Days of Future Past, which still stands as the best X-Men team-up movie to this day (as far as X-Men movies in general go, Deadpool takes that prize). Their answer to that movie’s success was X-Men: Apocalypse.
It had the benefit of combining the First Class reboot/prequel cast with the cast of the original trilogy, who made their last appearance in the franchise eight years prior in 2006’s The Last Stand. It also had their franchise darling, Wolverine, front and centre. It had great word of mouth, everyone was, and still is, raving about Quicksilver’s “Time in a Bottle” sequence. It was personal, well-acted and most importantly, it was thoroughly enjoyable.
So it came as no surprise that X-Men: Apocalypse was facing an uphill battle with critics, who were branding it as the “worst X-Men movie since X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” It is true that it could have been better and more linear and focused like its predecessor, but just because it isn’t, doesn’t make it a bad movie. It is true that there are flawed plot elements, wasted opportunities, and some shallow characterisations, but there is also greatness and hope. For a franchise that’s so deep into sequels, this trilogy-closer could have been far worse.
There is really no lack of things that make X-Men: Apocalypse good. Days of Future Past is merely the best. And that’s okay.
A Victim of Timing, Not Quality
One fantastic point that deserves more attention is that X-Men: Apocalypse came out 10 years too late. Back then, audiences weren’t used to movies being able to showcase world-ending catastrophes with reliable CGI. Filmmakers were forced to keep the climax of a superhero movie grounded because of the technological limits of the time. Since The Avengers came out in 2012, there has been no limit to what can be accomplished in these films, and Apocalypse is no exception.
It is also a rare feat to balance so many things at once, and the only other films to do it entirely effectively are The Avengers and Captain America: Civil War. It is necessary for a plot that focuses on global consequences to avoid jumping around. This movie does some major fan service. It introduces beloved characters, includes awesome cameos, sets up future plotlines which everyone wants to see and has the impossible mission of setting up the biggest villain in the entire X-Men universe while progressing the personal stories of Xavier, Magneto and all the other X-Men who get their new start in this movie.
I never felt strained or struggled to invest in the plot. I could follow the story with ease, and I was invested in every scene.
As Jean Grey says to Scott, Jubilee and Nightcrawler as they exit the theatre after having viewed Return of the Jedi: “At least we know the third movie is always the worst.” This is basically Singer saying: “If this isn’t Empire Strikes Back, at least we tried.” No one ever says Return of the Jedi is the worst of the original trilogy. They merely say that Empire Strikes Back is the best. That should not and will not affect how people feel about Return of the Jedi. Ten years on, that point has only proven itself.
The Most Heartbreaking Scene in Any Superhero Movie
Magneto has had a deeply emotional arc in these movies. The very start of the trilogy showcases his time at Auschwitz, forced to watch his mother being killed to unlock his mutant powers and then experimented on. Throughout First Class, he was portrayed as a broken individual who had had terrible things done to him. He steps into his villain shoes more in DOFP, but even then, his character has a clear driving force. He seeks to avenge his fallen brothers and sister mutants.
Except for Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, the castings in these movies have been perfect, and Fassbender as Magneto is no exception. He portrays Magneto as a hero and a villain at the same time. His portrayal is heavy with pain and guilt. There is always a sense of sadness and tyranny in his voice, and he showcases the different layers of Magneto in every scene he is in.
In X-Men: Apocalypse, we see Magneto lose his wife and daughter after revealing his mutant powers to save a coworker. The town’s local police descend upon his house, and his wife and daughter are killed in the crossfire. The scene where he holds his wife and daughter after their deaths is one of the most heartbreaking, gut-punching scenes in any superhero movie ever. He delivers that performance and then some.
The same thing has happened to Magneto in the comics. He’s lost his family, which leads him to go on the usual revenge spree. So the movie should get points for drawing inspiration from the comics. Say what you want about Magneto, but he has always been more of a tragic villain than a straight-up “kill everyone” villain. Even though he becomes a mindless follower of Apocalypse, he still has a depth to him that sets him apart from the other Horsemen and he showcases his megalomaniacal personality in full.
Looking back a decade later, that optimism was warranted โ Fassbender’s Magneto remains one of the greatest portrayals of the character ever committed to film, and the Fox universe never quite recovered the emotional grounding he gave it.
Oscar Isaac’s Apocalypse Deserved More Credit
There have been too many complaints about Apocalypse’s look, size, colour, and voice. Basically, fanboys are always going to be fanboys. While I would have enjoyed a more comic-book-accurate Apocalypse, Oscar Isaac brings a certain menace to the character that sets him apart from his comic-book counterpart. He doesn’t need size or brute strength to be a force to be reckoned with.
His voice is also different in the film than what we have heard in the trailers. He finishes his sentences with a demonic shout, adequately sending shivers throughout the theatre and rendering anyone opposing him wishing they wore their brown pants. He holds his own against the likes of James McAvoy’s Xavier and Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique, who have had three movies to really grow into their roles.
There is always a sense of foreboding in his eyes, and even after his twelfth tyrannical speech, he still manages to add something extra every time, which effectively makes him feel less repetitive and more sinister. It is also refreshing to see a big bad that is practical for a change, as opposed to all CGI, such as Ultron or Doomsday. Seeing Apocalypse bring the, ahem, Apocalypse, is truly mesmerising if you ignore the fact that we’ve seen it countless times before.
Wolverine’s Five Minutes Beat His Entire Solo Movie
Wolverine has been featured prominently in every X-Men movie (except for First Class, Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants). Wolverine has a small cameo in X-Men: Apocalypse, and it is absolutely glorious. It features him in his Weapon X garb and full berserker rage mode. His scene in this movie is maybe the best Wolverine action sequence ever put to film, and it delivers a better origin story than the entire X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
His absence throughout the rest of the movie was hardly noticeable. The new cast held their own perfectly without him, thanks to the great acting talent and a fast-moving plot.
Even Cyclops, who has been a rather dull presence in the previous films, is given more to do here. Franchise veterans such as Beast, Cyclops, Jean, Nightcrawler and Quicksilver all get their time to shine in X-Men: Apocalypse. Every X-Men is given equal time to showcase their strengths, leadership, and Wolverine-isms.
Leave the Quicksilver Scene Alone
The “Time in a Bottle” sequence from Days of Future Past is the best X-Men-related scene of the decade, and the Apocalypse entry only improves everything that made the first one great.
As soon as Quicksilver’s Nikes appear in the frame and he calmly continues to adjust his Walkman headphones while “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by the Eurythmics is playing, I forgave the film for everything else. It is the best song to accompany the sequence and also thrusts eighties nostalgia down your throat.
The biggest apparent complaint about the film is its uneven tone, with the Quicksilver scene presumably coming out of nowhere. Here is the thing: Leave Quicksilver’s scenes alone! It could have been placed between two scenes depicting the Third Reich and an ISIS video, and I couldn’t have cared less. If it was inserted just for the sake of fan service, you may consider me serviced. The ‘Sweet Dreams’ sequence did not remove the emotional punch that preceded it. It only gave it some much-needed levity, and we can all just be grateful that it exists.
The Most Comic-Book-Accurate X-Men Film Ever Made
I have always had a problem with the X-Men uniforms in these movies. They are rarely comic-book accurate, and while that can be forgiven, there is no excuse for removing the colourfulness that sets the X-Men apart from other heroes and injecting them with an all-black facade.
But the X-Men actually get their comic-book-accurate outfits at the end of X-Men: Apocalypse. Cyclops has his trademark yellow lining on his suit and a visor that doesn’t look like a prop from the Robocop set. Nightcrawler is blessed with his classic red triangular-shaped torso piece, and Mystique is supplied with her trademark white top. Psylocke could have easily stepped right out of a page of the comic book, and Quicksilver, although in pedestrian clothes for much of the movie, rocks the ’80s look with his now trademark silver leather jacket and a Rush T-shirt.
As far as visuals go, throw in the Weapon X outfit for Wolverine, a bald Xavier and Jean’s Phoenix powers, and you have the most comic-book-accurate X-Men movie thus far.
An Era Fox Didn’t Know How to Value Until It Was Gone
X-Men: Apocalypse isn’t the worst film in the franchise. It is not Days of Future Past great, but definitely not The Last Stand bad. Saying that X-Men: Apocalypse is the worst X-Men film since The Last Stand couldn’t be further from the truth.
Sure, characters such as Psylocke, Archangel, Jubilee and even Storm are given far less to do and basically serve as representations of what’s to come in further instalments, but it is nearly impossible to give everyone enough screen time without having to sacrifice a few lines of dialogue and key origin sequences. X-Men: Apocalypse had a huge arsenal of characters. Even though not all the characters get their due, they do leave the audience excited to see more of them. The youthfulness and colourfulness of Storm, Angel and Psylocke add vibrancy to the screen.
The one thing that X-Men: Apocalypse has in common with Days of Future Past is also the most important: it is thoroughly enjoyable.
Ten years later, X-Men: Apocalypse deserves to be looked at for what it actually was: an ambitious, passionate, deeply flawed and thoroughly enjoyable film that got buried under impossible expectations. The Fox X-Men universe is gone. What it left behind deserves a fairer verdict than it ever got. We look forward to seeing more of these heroes in Avengers: Doomsday.
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