X-Men Film Franchise

right i also liked the "surprise" in the middle of the movie i finally saw something i wanted to see.

--- Double Post Merged, May 31, 2016, Original Post Date: May 31, 2016 ---

i'm amazed too.

 

Your only knowing that now I thought my 17 plus viewings of TFA would have meant this was one of those movies you know I would have had to have seen. Anyway yes!!! that much, so much free time & this is what I do with it.

 

I wish I had that much free time.

 

I saw this movie in a 3D theater with 5 other people.. Saturday noon showing. No one said anything, no emotional reaction to any scene. I experienced a similar thing with TFA on a saturday afternoon screening so don't read too much into this.
I left the theater taking stock in what was now 16 years of X-men films. Probably because of an article here on SWNN that reminded everyone that seventeen years had passed since TPM.. and I was thinking to myself that an entire generation has grown up with the prequels..
My capsule review before we go spoilers is simply this: If you grew up with the cartoon save yourself some pain, catch another screening of Civil War. If you did not grow up with the cartoon this is a decent popcorn film but in light of 4 solid entries preceeding this film you will be quoting Magneto:
"Who the %@#& are you!?"

That was 16 years ago, when Singer was having Cyclops make wisecracks about yellow spandex. You know, the material Deadpool wears in his movie; the movie that will make more money than this flop. Yeah, that one..
So fast forward to the.. eighties(?) and singer appears at first to have learned his lesson. Most of the costuming in this movie looks great. Psylockes outfit looks good too. And Logan in his weapon X gear.. good work.
Then we get to the third act. And Singer tries one last time to wag his finger at us from his director's chair to tell us why we're a buch of retards for complaining about his black costumes... "Flight suits." That's right folks, the x-men are flying! They need "flight suits". Don't you feel stupid for wanting yellow spandex. In the end you're given ~15 seconds of true MCU style X-men costumes.. First Class aside, you waited sixteen years to see 15 seconds of properly interpreted costuming on the X-men.
"Who the %@#& are you!?"
So I chose this line over Jubilee's RotJ quip because the moment magneto says this is the moment this movie goes of the rails and becomes an excuse for a CGI spectle. Up until this moment the movie is actually pretty good. Magneto's working through a great story arc, quicksilver's arc is building,.. some have complained it's the same song for Magneto but come on, it's like the death star... it works. Don't break from good formula.
The reson the movie is going so well is that Singer's interpretation of Apacolypse is crap.. but for the moment, he is relegated to one corner of this film. After Magneto says this line, Apocalypse becomes the main focus of this film.
This is how singer sold Apocalypse:

Okay, so Apocalypse is sold to us as this entity that hase been working behind the scenes for 1000s of years influencing global order via world religions.
What we got instead:

What we got instead was Ivan @%$@!#% Ooze. And not just the makeup, folks, the same damned storyline. The only thing missing from Ivan's storyline this movie was Bulk and Skull trying to keep the citizens of Cairo from jumping off the Sphinx to their deaths with a water cannon.
The movie starts with a timestamp of 3900 BC. Six thousand years ago. That puts his slumber at the dawn of recorded history. Which automatically makes him impossible to be anyone on that list but maybe Ra. And to think they accused TFA of false advertising.
Also, listen closely to what Apocalypse is saying in this promo. That's not Apocalypse's m.o... that's MAGNETO'S m.o.!
So we have Magneto.. being replaced mid-movie.. by "Magneto"! Oh my lulz!!
"Who the %@#& are you!?"
So after getting Apocalypse's 'come to the dark side we have cookies' offer, Magneto becomes Apocalypse's Vhlor and, well.. the movie starts to fall apart. But even in movie hell, an angel sometimes appears. That angel is Quicksilver and for three minutes this film is radiant gold. And it looks like quicksilver, who is on the Heroes Jouney, is going to take over this film.. but no, Stryker shows up, pulls the Kim Jong Il "No, bring me the pwetty one!" choosing blonde haired Mystique over Jubs(nice middle finger there Singer). So we get some expository dialogue and a bit of death star running just so that FOX can have their big Wolverine scene.. and so Brian Singer can educate on the importance of wearing stiff leather flight suits. Win/Win for them.. I guess..
This should have been the time for Quicksilver and company to be battling the four horsemen.. Instead they are dealing with some mutant hating dick who shows up out of nowhere.. And the four horsemen are standing around like useless promo bait. Singer couldn't even use these guys on camera to make Apocalypse look bigger LOLOLOL..
"Who the %@#& are you!?"
So we get to the final act and the moment comes, the Son confronts the Father. Mystique plays her ace, and the spotlight cast on Quicksilver. This is it. Now, imagine for a moment that Cloud City went down like this:
"Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.."
"He told me enough.. he told me you killed him!"
"No..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
".?."
"...Something else happened to your father!"
That is what happened in this movie. Absolute storytelling fail. What they build up this entire movie for.. doesn't happen. Someone pointed out to me that Singer may have been going for Vader's turn in Jedi. If that is true, Singer may have established a new movie rule:"Don't settle for Jedi... Go for Empire"
I'm running short on time here, but one last..
"Who the %@#& are you!?"
And this one goes to Jean Grey. Singer couldn't resist, he had her Pheonix the SOB into oblivion. Monster of the week destroyed. If you consider Thanos to be the Monster of the Week, of course.. No consequense for global destruction, btw. Kinda wierd after watching BvS and Civil War.
I'd tell Singer to hang it up, but he already is after this.
Ok, review done. Later everyone.

 

I was very harsh on Fox in the past for making X3 and XMen origins Wolverine a craptastic waste of an effort to make something worthy but a week ago, I saw the new film and came out enjoying it. Sure it has flaws, but what superhero movie isn't without its flaws? I'll just list my top standouts and leave it at that. I don't want to get into nitpicking...and let's face it, FoxXverse isn't perfect...and neither is the MCU.

1. Jean Grey/Phoenix - Sophie killed it for me. It was a long time coming since X2 and as a big fan of Jean, I wasn't thrilled with the casting choice of Turner but when I saw the movie, I was surprised. She really is the new face of Jean Grey in my eyes.

2. Psylocke - She was badass and sure she didn't have a lot to do but keep in mind her role was only an introduction. Olivia Munn was great and I am hoping we'll see more of her soon enough. She really fills the costume and she's a fan of the character so thats a plus.

3. Magneto - Michael Fassbender. Nuff said. Every scene he was in, nailed it!

4. Xavier - Again, James McAvoy. Nuff said.

5. Moira McTaggart - Rose Bryne, beautiful as always and I loved seeing her since First Class. She had a few emotional moments where I felt moved, especially when Charles gave her back the memories of the two of them that he took from her.

6. Nightcrawler - Not sure who played him but he was pretty good.

7. Apocalypse - Oscar Isaac was pretty good too - not perfect but his scenes with Charles were the best next to Eric's.

Take it or leave it, and as much as I wish the rights were with Marvel, it ain't happening any time soon. X-Men Apocalypse may have won me over as an X fan again...but the way they set up an introductory to Mr. Sinister, please Fox...don't screw it up. I know you're trying...it shows but Kinberg needs to go. Bring in new blood for the writing process and you should be alright.

 

I enjoyed it and was impressed. The backlash it keeps getting is overwhelming and not needed. Sure it's not perfect but what superhero movie is? I'll be my own critic...thanks. this movie brought me back to the Xverse. There were so many awesome moments

 

I liked. Maybe a 8/10, because I didn't like somethings: the CGI and the continuity (the characters haven't aged in 20+ years). Quicksilver's scene was amazing tho.

 

I think the movie was awesome and I just loved how they portrayed Apocalypse who I have been waiting to see in the big screen ever since X-Men 2 came out. I also loved seeing Caliban since he's a character that started out so puny but then was turned into such an awesome hunter (When he beat Sabertooth and before the whole degraded mind junk) and horseman as we can see in this pic:


The scene after the credits was cool too as we can see that soon another major villain will be making an appearance and if they do the same excelent work on him as they did with Apocalypse then we are in for a real treat!

 

Oh I agree...Mr. Sinister is one of my all time favorite villains....obsessed with Jean Grey and Scott Summers due to the powers they hold. Fox don't screw this one up. please.

The way I see it, First Class, DOFP and Apocalypse could be viewed as a separate universe...I guess alternate universe is what I mean. Like seriously...if these new films are supposed to help me forget the original x films, well in some ways, its working. I mean after the new film, it brought me back to the world of X-Men so...hopefully, in time, we'll see something fresh and different takes on the characters that will be portrayed just like their comic counterpart from the pages. I honestly have to say, I probably should watch DOFP again before I watch Apocalypse again...some things I forget, except for the recton ending with Jean and everyone else...

Let's just say, Sophie owns the role now as Jean/Phoenix. James as Xavier...I hope we'll gradually see them grow and mature over time and that way, we can have the next slate of films take place in the 2000s leading towards the present year to date...2016. I am not actually sure how old Jean is supposed to be...well obviously in her teens...mid teens. yeah I dunno...if they go ahead with the next one being in the 90s...that would make Jean close to her late twenties...and Sophie today is only 20...lols. Well age her or maybe wait a few years. I dunno...

 

Rose Byrne had the best fight scene in the movie outside of wolverine's rampage and quicksilver's teleport punches. It was fast and fun. It's kinda wierd that "rug fight" sticks in my head more than the mutant fights.
The casting for the 9 films has been consistently good, and by and large this film did not fail that reputation. Apocalypse with Oscar Isaac might be the first 'big fail' of the series IMHO.

I never got a chance to finish my review and I never got a chance to talk about Psylocke. I had the biggest consternation about her going into this. My verdict is..
Olivia Munn IS Psylocke. She nailed it. Maximum effort restrained only by Singer's own lack of creativity. She could have picked Vanessa and taken the path of least resistance.. but she chose the path that would make her butt heads with everyone: the costume department, Singer.. All so the Psylocke looked right. RESPECT. Her fight scene with Beast was brief but still comes out looking better than her fight scenes in the 90s cartoon. I guess FOX was afriad of BvS so they gave Psylocke Wonder Woman's lasso.. meh, it works. The only thing that made me angry about Psylocke was seeing her standing around and doing nothing. What a waste..
Singer was nice enough to let her Psylocke survive this movie.. We'll see what happens...

 

I forgot, Scott Summers who was played by Tye Sheridan. He was great too.

Don't dwell on what could have been...embrace it. Forget the negative aspects, it'll only destroy what you really love about the X-Men only to make you hate it and all those involved. I kept my distance for as long as I could...until now, I've come to embrace what is and look forward to whats to come. I may still have my concerns what direction they'll take but I hope there's a lesson learned dealing with creative control. Let the director and writers do their thing and make it work without the studio mucking it all up. I hate to see another disaster like the ones from 2006 to 2009.

 

*still laughing*
This sign went past at least three well trained art and marketing mangers and not one of them had the inspiration to think to themselves "Hey, aren't we baiting every 'professional victim' group by hanging this sign?" I mean, who was target audience of this sign!? The urban gangbanger crowd!?
"Come see ya boi A-poc jock them #@%#!%$ and slap them ho's in X-men: Apocalypse! Now playing, player!"

As a graphic designer by training, you can't help but laugh at the fail. I'm not even going to start about the false advertising of the slogan, but at least the marketing department got Apocalypse's true m.o. correct.

Personal story, I did this once and caught myself. I was brainstorming a freelance company for myself, and I was thinking of something involving bullseyes that would be original(warning, kids).. So I started thinking along the lines of shooting cards. I created a name and a logo and set the project aside for a while.
I come to it about a few hours later and bursted out laughing. Fresh eyes observed that saying "Ace Hole Graphics" was starting to form "@$$#%!& Graphics" and the bullet hole through the ace of spades in my logo looked like a sphincter. I torched the idea, but it still makes me laugh that I made that without realizing it.

 

Interesting story.

 

I just got back from a second viewing.
I don't know what happened but.. I picked up on a lot of small things that I missed on my first go.
I'd like to change my opinion on this movie.
This was a very good movie. I liked this movie.
I see now what Singer was doing with the father/son scene. It's not a choke; the hero(Quicksilver) was coming to a deeper understanding of what family really is.
I've never flip-flopped on movie this quick before. Wierd.

 

That's just a load of bantha fodder and being forced to be politically correct...social media could have made the situation worse if FOX hadn't acted on it proactively
.

 

From an inside guys viewpoint, this just smacks of lazy shock art. Even if those annoying SJW douchebags didn't have the clout they do, this would still be disturbing imagery to slap on a billboard. Shock art is like playing with fire.. you got a good chance of getting your client burned, not to mention other unintended consequences(pink slips). I understand this was pic was shot from a train in NYC; I haven't seen it on the billboards in my metro.
I don't know who they thought this would appeal to. Frankly, I don't see many movies advertised on billboards these days in my metro. I'm trying to think here and I do recall seeing billboards for "Snakes on a Plane".

 

Yeah I've seen that billboard here in LA, too, but it doesn't mean it was sexist but just perceived that way...I mean, would it have been sexist if Apocolypse was choking Xavier or someone
?

 

They must not remember Mystique choking out a man or killing a man with her bare hands... or feet in every X-Men film she's in.

 

That should be on a billboard in the next movie and see people's reaction on it .