X-Men Apocalypse Thread

[Vee]

[Skin]

I'm definitely going to disagree. Calling her excellent in the role is a stretch. She plays Katniss who can shapeshift, and I completely disagree about Mystique always being like this. Mystique was never a heroine, and she was never this supportive of the X-Men. She was more aligned with Magneto, and at the times when she wasn't she always had her own agenda which was almost always quite unsavory compared to the altruism always shown by Professor Charles' X-Men. This was a huge retcon to make Jennifer Lawrence the heroine of this franchise. I wouldn't even call the character she is playing Mystique.

 

[Vee]

I would. Much moreso than the glorified extra Romijn played. They created a layered character, which is who Mystique actually is.

[Cheap21]

She is layered but portraying her as this benevolent heroine is quite a departure. They've made it make sense within this universe but she does not come across as Mystique at all. Im with Skin in that JL is playing a character that can shapeshift and not necesarily Mystique

[Vee]

They're not wrong. The reviews are very mixed.

 

I love the cast, especially the new kids they chose, but AFAIC they need to just do a deal with Marvel for the X-Men just as Sony's done with Spider-Man and just as Fox itself is rumored to be preparing to finally do with my beloved Fantastic Four. The X-Men will never be whole again until they are free and clear of the mediocre early films and their continuity, which neither Fox nor Bryan Singer are willing to give up because of their attachment to some of the veteran cast (Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Hugh Jackman, all of whom are still great but it's over). It's time for a clean reset. I just wish the new kids like Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, etc. could be part of that in the MCU.

[YRBB]

She can STFU.

 

When I saw the trailer yesterday, that's exactly what I thought

[Cheap21]

They should have done a complete reboot with First Class. The biggest mistake was tying that back to the Original Trilogy in DOFP bc they only dug themselves deeper in the hole. The movies dont even respect its own continuity anymore and its a hot convoluted mess. Unfortunately with the success of Deadpool I dont see Fox letting go of the X-men. They'll try again with New Mutants and Gambit and Im sure X-men will get a proper sequel

[DRW50]

Given the struggles Marvel has with the team concept I'm not sure they'd be much better off if they moved. 

[Skin]

Reviewing the article I can say the one thing I kind of agree with is that the film is lacking star power and connection to the original cast members from the original stories, specifically in the cases of Anna Paquin, Halle Berry, Famke, and the other major identifiable stars of the first trilogy. Yes a lot of people complained about the acting but they were still a major connection to a successful series, and that matters in an investment of a universe like the X-Men.

I do think that is a hindrance to the franchise, as we do need that connection to feel satisfied in these overloaded series of films. Even though they have Micheal Fassbener and James McAvoy it still doesn't feel connected to the main franchise that people invested so much into over the span of 16+ years, which is not a return on what film goers have spent so much time buying into. There is just a big don't care to a lot of these characters in their premature versions, and the timeline doesn't help, and is one of the most uninteresting things about the prequels.  

[Cheap21]

Just saw it and yikes, it was not good. Better than TLS, but nowhere near as good as the others.

[Skin]

I actually thought it was the best superhero movie to come out this year, but the story is especially sparse for much of the cast. Psylocke, Angel and Storm especially feel like caricatures, and Mystique's continued involvement in this series is an additional quagmire. That said I think the Wolverine and Quicksilver moments were fun cameo moments. But If you aren't a huge fan of Jean or Magneto, there is probably no real reason to watch this film.

[Cheap21]

Im a huge Jean fan and I was unimpressed. None of the actors really bothered, not even Shipp and JL. The problem was the writing. The film was boring and had pacing issues. Great special effects and action sequences but the plot was weak. A bunch of new characters were thrown in and they didnt do a good job at juggling them

 

The entire sequence in Weapon X was a waste of time and could have been cut. It added nothing to the plot and merely seemed to be there as a way

Exactly why did they screw up the continuity by placing Angel and Jubilee here when neither got any character development or do anything noteworthy? This franchise is a hot mess and its bc it doesnt even respect itself and what its established. TIIC literally pick and choose what they want, ignore  stuff if it doesnt jive with what they do and pretty much sh-t on itself. The writing has so many plot holes and inconsistencies as well. I hate that they didnt reboot it with FC. One things for sure is that they need to get rid of Singer and Kinberg bc its time for a new vision bc there's suck

 

Ive seen 3 comic films this year and this was easily the worst. CW and Deadpool were both more solid entries

 

[Skin]

Deadpool is a more enjoyable watch, but the stakes aren't very high, so I wouldn't immediately compare it to Batman v. Superman or Civil War. By comparison I liked Jean and Magneto's story progressions more than I did any of the other characters from those other films. I think this edition of the franchise did a great job of telling their personal stories, and investing the audience in future stories for them. I found myself for instance rooting for Magneto and Quicksilver to unite, and Jean finally feels like she is a truly important part of the X Men in a way she never truly did before, even before Last Stand. This is the kind of lead character that can push story, and whose journey we should and could begin to care about should they bother to truly go through and commit to a Phoenix saga. If not sold on the actress 100% but the character and writing were completely there to support a film detailing and surrounding her experiences.

 

All in all they set up a strong sounding board for the next sequel for those characters should there be one (who knows at this point if this material will be utilized in the next film, but they gave great work to be followed up on for Jean and Magneto). There were a lot of disappointments (Storm, Psylocke, and  Angel are the most egregious), but none of those characters were ever huge mythos characters like that of Magneto, Jean, Professor X or Wolvervine in the first place, and we have already seen Rogue, Iceman and the other kids in a larger capacity in the original timeline -- so no big loss when you take in the full product. With that taken into consideration, I don't think we really need much else, at this point. This is a franchise that has 8 films and two timelines, anything that could be asked for has ultimately already kind of been done. With that it's no huge loss that the rest of the film is kind of expendable. They did an amazing job with two cornerstone characters (Magneto and Jean), that could build into a great future film.

 

It might be worth it to rest the franchise, but I doubt Fox will do that with the Gambit, Wolverine and future X Men installment rights up for grabs if they don't utilize them. Wolverine's cameo didn't bother me, as his usual over-exposure does, because I felt it tied in nicely to Jean's larger story, and the eventual love triangle between the two which is a staple of the series. I do agree that this current incarnation of X-Men is done. They need to wash their hands of this Mystique, and these younger versions of Professor X and Magneto. We need to see the real X Men team back in action and find some newer material to utilize for a fresh film.

[Toups]

Just saw it and I really liked it.  Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy continue to be the best parts of this newer franchise.  They are just on another level when it comes to acting in comic book movies - I don't think anyone else comes close to them.  Maybe it's because there's so much emotion with Magneto and Professor X, emotion that you rarely see in comic book movies.   I wish they'd get their own spinoff or one together, just the two of them.   And Jennifer Lawrence is a big enough name to spinoff Mystique on her own too.  It's a shame Fox only signed them to a 3-movies contract, instead of something like Chris Evans' 6-movies contract. 

 

I've always loved Jean Grey so the final fight sequence made me happy. 

 

One of the few negative things was that there wasn't enough fight scenes/action sequences.  There was just one big one and that was at the end.  

 

 

[Cheap21]

thats not going to happen. She's gone on record as hating the blue makeup and bodysuit. I think she's glad to be out of the role and if she ever came back it would be as part of an ensemble, not starring in a solo. A solo would require more out of her and that includes the lengthy and uncomfortable makeup process which I doubt she'd ever go for. They keep coming up with stupid reasons to have her play JL as herself but I dont know how much that would fly in a Mystique solo. Its not a project she'd really need either especially since she's Hollywood's It girl and can get many other roles

 

As for Magneto and Prof X, I think thats what First Class was. Both were supposed to get their own X-men Origins: Solo films, but the film makers decided to combine them and thats where that movie came from