"Everything they built will fall, and from the ashes of their world... we'll build a better one!" bellows Oscar Isaac's Apocalypse in pretty much all the trailers in X-Men: Apocalypse, the latest installment in the long-running X-Men franchise. That may be a reference, or indeed a pitch of sorts, when 20th Century Fox went about making X-Men: The Last Stand, the Brett Ratner-directed final film in the previous trilogy which tarnished all the goodwill created from Bryan Singer's first two mutant efforts.

With all those bridges burnt, the silver lining that came out of this was the birth of the prequel trilogy starting with Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class and followed by the critical darling of a sequel Days of Future Past (DOFP). The newer films worked as it centers on the main three trio of younger versions of Professor X (James McAvoy), Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence)... and Nicholas Hoult's Beast for that matter, as well as tying their stories by the decades with links to real world events. Having the old cast and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) returning in DOFP certainly gave the series a commercial boost it lacked from First Class, and here we are now with the latest world-ending installment. With the last two films being high watermark for this 16 year old franchise (along with a hysterical Deadpool film this year), can X-Men: Apocalypse continue the hot streak?



Apocalypse introduces the titular classic mutant villain En Sabah Nur, played by Oscar Isaac, awakening from a 5,000 year slumber, and sets out to cleanse the world with the help of the Four Horseman, an elite group of powerful mutants handpicked to aid him on his cause. These quartet include an emotionally unstable Magneto, and it is by far one of the best character arcs for Erik Lensherr since his First Class flashbacks, wonderfully brought to the screen by Michael Fassbender.

The problem with Apocalypse however is its reliance to the same 'Charles vs Erik' story we've seen numerous times since the original X-Men feature film in 2000. Along with some superhero fatigue, with 2016 already bringing us plenty of superhero offerings already, makes the need for a fresh story all the more important, and yet another world-ending plot is the least needed. The action set pieces are as captivating as the ones seen in First Class and DOFP, but against a tired plot as a backdrop only dampens the experience.

Anyone worried about Apocalypse being the Jennifer Lawrence show, even her extensive presence in the trailers/marketing material, can rest easy, as the Oscar winning actress, along with veterans McAvoy, Fassbender and Hoult take a backseat (but still major roles to play) in favour of the new line of heroes and villains introduced this time out, including/especially the blue Egyptian tyrant.

Quicksilver's speedy introduction yet again becomes the standout scene in Apocalypse, no less inspired by his immense popularity in DOFP, which means another epic scene, along with a catchy tune from the times, brought by Evan Peters is becoming a necessity for the X-Men franchise from now on. Oddly, the same scene, as amazing as it is, is presided and followed by two darker plot points in Apocalypse, and it unfortunately diminishes the stakes.

But it is Oscar Isaac's character that feels undercooked, despite hogging plenty of screentime . He makes his presence known for everyone, sure (his death/revival at the beginning helps elevate the stakes), but when the film's main threat spends the first hour merely recruiting/upgrading his Four Horsemen, while only meeting our protagonists fairly late in the film, it makes his impact and arc an unexpected weak point in a film that has long advertised him as the big bad. Understandable from layers of make-up, this is a far cry from Oscar Isaac's enthusiastically scene-stealing moments from Ex Machina and the recent Star Wars. The same can be said of his elite squadron - The Four Horsemen, especially Ben Hardy's Angel (the second time the character's been butchered in the franchise) and Olivia Munn's Psylocke. Will we see them return in a later episode? They better, because other than some impressive fight scenes, their anticipated introduction has been short-handed.

Instead, it's the new casts on the good side that are the center piece in X-Men Apocalypse, from new iterations of Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and Storm (albeit an antagonist by Alexandra Shipp) being the center of attention for most of the film's second half, while these other four quartet do a pretty bang-up job on characters we've grown accustomed to seeing someone else play. These young roster of actors will probably need a sequel or two before make the character her own, given how we've been familiar with their older portrayals for over a decade, but Apocalypse has been a bright start to their probable long-standing career.

Like Jean Grey said in the film "The third movie's always the worst" in reference to the Star Wars trilogy (or the original X-Men for that matter), that statement now seems rather ironic given how the finale to the 'First Class' trilogy pales in comparison to its previous installments. On its own though, X-Men: Apocalypse is still an enjoyable romp which starts off slowly but more than makes up for the lack of pace with amazing individual moments and a satisfying conclusion which bridges the gap between the old and new X-Men trilogies. However, Bryan Singer and writer Simon Kinberg seemed so preoccupied with tying up all the loose ends (even returning Rose Bryne as Moira McTaggart, along with a long expected cameo) as well as bridging the continuity, that a worldwide mutant threat seemed like an after thought. Bring Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman back please, these two have brought a ton of good in rejuvenating the franchise.