It’s unfortunate, really, that X-Men: Apocalypse is one of the lowest-reviewed X-Men movies.  On a number of levels, it’s the X-Men movie that many of us have been waiting for.  It might lack the gravitas of Days of Future Past and the cool sixties vibe of First Class, but it makes up for it by being an actual X-Men movie (and not just a Wolverine vehicle or the continuing adventures of the Pre-X-Men).

The movie picks up ten years after the events of DoFP.  Everyone has gotten on with things . . . things that many of them will lose by movie’s end.  Xavier’s school is doing well, all things considered.  In this movie, Scott Summers is our (ironic) set of fresh eyes on things.  As he-who-is-Apocalypse is awakened and gathers his four horsemen, we also see the core of the X-men start to gel (primarily Scott and Jean and Kurt).  The tension builds well.  Things that could easily be distractions end up adding some depth to the larger narrative.  And while those four horsemen might seem slighted in personalities and screen time, I think it’s to make room for more important (and relatable) dynamics.  Things are both fresh and fun with the core group of heroes (and once again, with Quicksilver in particular).  And while he definitely lacks the personality of the comic book version of himself, the movie version of Apocalypse is serviceable and not overly-distrating.  Visually, the movie is beautiful, with the best use of 3-D for a superhero movie in recent memory.

I do hope that people make their way to the theater to see X-Men: Apocalypse.  It’s no where near the train wreck that was X-Men: The Last Stand.  Even though the cast is large, there’s a good and necessary kind of restraint at work.  You really do get to meet familiar characters again for the first time.  The end of DoFP led us to believe that we would eventually get to a great place with Marvel’s most successful underdogs.  X-Men: Apocalypse is the first step in making good on that promise.

(image from io9.gizmodo.com)