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May 27, 2016 By Austin Trunick Web Exclusive

It’s the early 1980s and Professor X’s X-girlfriend has accidentally awoken a slumbering, dark god of a mutant known as Apocalypse. As the evil being gathers his four horsemen and sets about bringing forth the end of the world as we know it, the Professor schools several new, gifted young students at his Westchester preparatory campus while Mystique travels the world trying to save Magneto from giving in to the dark side.

X-Men: Apocalypse hits all of the proper grace notes we’ve come to crave from this second wave of the franchise, with big action scenes, A-list actors wearing funny costumes/makeup, a surprising amount of humor, and showy displays of mutant super powers which make our heroes seem positively godly. Plotwise, though, it’s a bit of a head-scratching mess, with many story beats facilitated by unlikely coincidences which feel like excuses to squeeze the whole, star-studded gang into the picture. However, their very presence is part of the fun: who doesn’t want to watch Jennifer Lawrence beg Michael Fassbender to think of his mutant family? Or James McAvoy get in a knock-down, drag-out psychic brain-tussle with Oscar Isaac? Or, for that matter, Hugh Jackman run around shirtless in a violent, minutes-long cameo? Fox deserves credit for somehow keeping a cast of this magnitude together for as long as they have. Those early-franchise stars who aren’t present have largely been replaced with younger versions of their characters, who all do a nice job of adopting their roles: Kodi Smit-McPhee as teenage Nightcrawler, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Alexandra Shipp as Storm, and Tye Sheridan as baby Cyclops. (The movie also co-stars Nicholas Hoult and Rose Byrne. “My God, it’s full of stars!”)

Apocalypse isn’t on the same level as Days of Future Past, but it’s absolutely enjoyable even when it runs probably a half hour too long. If you grew up reading the comics, watching the Animated Series, playing the Sega Genesis games, or eating the mutant-branded Chef Boyardee, you’re probably going to be satisfied by this latest entry. One last sticking point, though, is Psylocke’s costume: for a series that famously eschews the impractical (but iconic) costumes familiar from the comic books, it’s kind of ridiculous to see Olivia Munn romping about in a bikini with dozens of peekaboo cutouts.

www.foxmovies.com/movies/x-men-apocalypse

Author rating: 5.5/10