Some X-Men purists don’t like the direction the movies are taking the prequel stories which we’ve seen lately, featuring James McAvoy as a young Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender as his lifelong friend, the often misunderstood Magneto.
But then again, when the roles were played previously by actors with such gravitas as Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellan in previous installments, it’s easy to understand why some folks have trouble dealing with the adjustment.
This is the third chapter in the continuing tales of the mutant world set this time in the early ‘80’s when nuclear tensions are high and the global community still doesn’t know how to understand or cope with homo-superior, or mutantkind as we more commonly think of them.
Now, along comes an ancient evil, an original super mutant who has lain dormant for thousands of years in Egypt. Circumstances have come together to awaken him and he seeks to once again rid the world of or enclave those incapable of standing up to mutantkind.
Together with his four “horsemen,” Apocalypse seeks out Charles Xavier since merging with him would give him access to countless mutant minds. If he can absorb them into his being, he will become even more powerful than he already is.
The scorecard continues to grow with even more mutants introduced into the fray. On the good side, we meet a young Scott Summers (Tye Sheridan) who, when he comes of age, discovers his terrible power emanating from his eyes, a power that will force him to keep his eyes shut unless a way can be found to regulate the intensity of that power.
We also meet a young Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) who has started studying at Xavier’s campus. We can also see the dynamic developing that will eventually lead to the love triangle between Scott, herself and that tri-bladed, gut slashing super-mutant better known as Wolverine.
And speaking of the old slash-and-gasher, he even pokes his furry head into the fray for a brief super-powered cameo that harkens back to other familiar storylines that we’ve seen previously developed in other films in the X-Men franchise.
And although we haven’t seen nightcrawler since his appearance in the second installment of the franchise, the character returns in this chapter played by Kodi Smit-McPhee who has already amassed quite a resume in his short twenty years on the planet.
On the other side of the line, we meet a young Storm (Alexandra Shipp) who really does look like a young Halle Berry with the hair and make-up for her character. We also meet a young Angel (Ben Hardy) and Psylocke (Olivia Munn), two more mutants who have been recruited to aid the burgeoning power of Apocalypse.
And then, of course, there’s Apocalypse himself, played with verve by Oscar Isaac who is fresh off his stint in the box office playing Poe Dameron in December’s Star Wars installment (he’ll be back for eight and nine, too).
Isaac gets the unenviable task of bringing his malevolence to life behind oodles of masking and make-up and he pulls it off extremely well. Thousands of years of evil manifest itself in his portrayal and he’s certainly up for the challenge.
And what X-Men prequel would be complete without the return of Jennifer Lawrence as mystique. She’s got the acting chops to bring the sincerity to the role that we, the audience, require, and she’s got the rocking body that will keep fanboys dreaming for nights on end, especially in that blue bodysuit.
This isn’t the best installment of the franchise, but it certainly is well written, acted and directed (Bryan Singer returned to the franchise with the previous installment, “Days of Future Past,” and came back yet again for this storyline).
Singer has a unique understanding of the characters and brings them to life with the style necessary to wow movie audiences, but a reverence that needs to be appreciated by fans of the comics as well.
Is it a perfect story? No. Is it true to the spirit of the comics? I’d say yes. Is it a good storyline to keep the movies moving in the right direction? Absolutely. I give “X-Men: Apocalypse” four out of five stars.
