'X-Men: Apocalypse' - Movie Review

XMen ApocalypseUA ActionAdventureFantasyDirector Bryan SingerCast James McAvoy Michael Fassbender Jennifer Lawrence Oscar Isaac Olivia Munn Nicholas Hoult Rose Byrne Evan Peters Sophie Turner Tye Sheridan Alexandra Shipp Kodi SmitMcPhee Ben Hardy Lana Condor Lucas Till Josh HelmanRatingXMen Apocalypse poster PicSanta BantaThe last lsquoX Menrsquo outing lsquoDays of the Future Pastrsquo had an acclaimed run at the worldwide box office with a whopping return of close to 748 million the highest grosser of the series so far and returning director Bryan Singer who helmed the franchiseopener 16 years ago and one other in between pulls out his fourth series salvo with equal flourish but this time though he seems to have bitten into much more than even he can chewHe returns to the franchise with a mutant called Apocalypse Oscar Isaac the first and most powerful mutant from Marvelrsquos lsquoXMenrsquo universe who became immortal and invincible by amassing the powers of many other mutants Apocalypse has been dormant for thousands of years and is being resurrected by an underground secret cultsociety in EgyptThe opening sequence set in 3600 BC in the Nile Valley has a giant pyramid crashing down and therein lies the secret behind Apocalypsersquos dormancy that held fast for thousands of years Cut to the present where the narrative careens around back and forth several times over from Poland to Britain to Cairo and the CIA headquarters from efforts to resurrect Apocalypse to mutant training to capture and caging of some unlucky mutants for scientific study to rogue justifications to rookie mutant challenges the narrative jumps all over the place trying to amass a large assemblage of subplots in order to justify the climactic vanquishing of the superpowerful villainThis one is bigger more populated and super busy too but the clarity of thought and vision displayed in the previous outing is missing But not by much A grieving disheartened Magneto Michael Fassbender must let go off his rogue pretensions in order to team up with RavenMystique Jennifer Lawrence Professor X James McAvoy aided by Hank McCoyBeast Nicholas Hoult and a team of young XMen Quicksilver Evan Peters younger versions of Cyclops Tye Sheridan Jean Grey Sophie Turner and Night Crawler Kodi SmitMcPhee alongside CIA agent Moira MacTaggert Rose Byrne to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destructionThe exposition and setup gets unwieldy and a startling cameo from Wolverine Hugh Jackman springing out of a cage for no reason other than tokenism makes the going seem thoroughly confused Add to that Apocalysersquos undeniable powers teamed up with four new followers African orphan Ororo Alexandra Shipp fierce Psylocke Olivia Munn winged outcast Angel Ben Hardy and a rogue Magneto may bolster the appeal but that grandiose ambitiousness only disturbs the coherence of the play that sends the entire worldsrsquo nuclear arsenal zooming into outer space and shows up the XMen team looking much weaker on the defense The middle portion is therefore pretty much muddledWith so many specially gifted characters doing their bit to save the world it becomes difficult to keep track of all their supertricks The narrative feels a little jumbled in the evolution but despite all that disharmony manages to straighten out in the lead up to the cataclysmic finale which is a humdinger for sureGrant Majorrsquos production design Louise Mingenbachrsquos distinctive costumes cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigelrsquos fluid combo work with visual effects designer John Dykstra and editorcomposer John Ottmanrsquos multitalented effusiveness allows for a smoothly integrated takeoff and subsequent voracious display of action that sieges into a mindboggling array of firepower that is imposing if not overpoweringSo if you are willing to sit through all those discordant dynamics the payoff becomes justified