Blake Laurita
Staff Writer
“X-Men: Apocalypse,” the newest sequel in the extremely successful X-Men movie franchise, disappoints with a dated story line and a lack of innovative material.
Although “X-Men Apocalypse” contains talented actors and well-choreographed battle scenes, the shallow, undeveloped plot and lackluster soundtrack drag the film down as a whole.
The plot follows young protaganist Charles Xavier through his experiences at an academy for “mutants,” humans born with superpowers. His powers are put to the test when Apocalypse, the most powerful mutant, comes back from the dead, forcing the mutant population to unite in order to stop him.
The film was directed by Bryan Singer, who is responsible for the past three X-Men films. The film stars James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Magneto and Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse.
The plot is constantly interrupted by fight scenes, and although sometimes entertaining, they add little to no substance to the storyline. This constant action results in a story that has a lack of linear and important events, making it difficult to realize what are the most crucial parts of the film.
One major fault of the movie is the soundtrack, which consists of mediocre and uninspiring songs. The songs are not effectively paired with the visuals and, as a result, fail to set the mood for many of the fight scenes, or any significant scene for that matter. Without an impressive soundtrack, the scenes are dull and unimaginative with their musical pairing.
Due to the fact that the film does not focus on one character, but rather explores all of the characters’ individual experiences, the main characters suffer characterization issues. As a result of excessive efforts to describe each character in the film, it leaves the main characters abandoned throughout the story and are left undeveloped. Rich background necessary for viewers to connect with the characters is absent, reducing the quality of the film as a whole.
Arguably the film’s strongest aspect was the cast. The experienced actors complemented each other well, while staying true to their characters. However, the weak story and overall linear plot created limited opportunities for the actors to individually develop in the story.
While “X-Men: Apocalypse” features consistent exhilarating battle scenes, it fails to stand out from the myriad of other superhero films, due to its lack of a developed plot. The result is a forgettable and unsubstantial story that is not worth the time and price to see.
“X-Men: Apocalypse” is rated PG-13 and is currently available for viewing in theaters across the nation.
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