X-Men: Apocalypse Movie Review

Story: After sleeping for nearly a millennium, the world's first mutant Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) comes back to life. He is utterly displeased with the turn of events over the last few centuries. Since he can change bodies and imbibe fresh powers, he decides to take things in his hands. As he builds his army of four horsemen, Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) and his students are faced with the cumbersome task of stopping the evil force that will end the world as they know it.

Review: At one point in the film, four of Xavier's students watch Return Of The Jedi and one of them quips, "Well, we can all agree that the third one is always the worst." Presumably, it was a word of caution for this film.

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  X-MEN: Apocalypse - Official trailer
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  X-Men: Apocalypse | "Welcome Home Raven" clip
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  X-Men: Apocalypse | "Cage Fight" clip
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  X-Men: Apocalypse | "Cyclops" clip
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  Watch: ‘X-Men Apocalypse’ movie premiere

Director Bryan Singer starts on a promising note, weaving a marvellous back story of the ancient mutant. The first hour is well crafted with ample thrills - a young boy comes to terms with his powers and Magneto(Michael Fassbender) has denounced his former mutant life and is comfortable being the family man, content with singing lullabies to his daughter. You never feel the weight of the first half as Singer whisks you through the lives of the past and present characters. You take an instant liking to the new mutants Nightcrawler and Cyclops, as the older ones effortlessly command your interest.

But the tricky part begins once the meet-and-greet is over. With a horde of characters, Singer gets overambitious. He wants to say a lot, but there is little plot to help him do that. The flaw lies not in the acting prowess of the cast or in the flattering action, but in the screenplay. The baddies are not menacing enough, especially Apocalypse, whose undefined powerful persona runs out of steam. It is usually not a good sign when the climax is devoid of suspense and mass-scale destruction fails to invoke fear.

With Professor Xavier reminding Magneto that there is good in him, a scene from the luminous First Class flashes, making you wish you were watching that one instead. This is strictly for the fans!