As a black man, I've always had a special appreciation for the X-Men series because it mirrors the history of my race somewhat. Here you have a different breed of people, mutants, who are scrutinized because of who they are and are immediately deemed a threat because of the potential of what they could do. Professor Xavier and Magneto, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X respectively, view the threat against mutants very differently. Professor X feels you can only win the world by loving them and resisting peacefully while Magneto feels that mutants should take a "by any means necessary" approach. Because of different events that occur over the course of the series, you can definitely appreciate and understand both sides of the argument.
If nothing else, that's one thing that X-Men: Apocalypse does really well: It captures that healthy argument between Coexistence and what I call BAM (By Any Means). Director Bryan Singer does a masterful job of continuing to develop how both Professor X and Magneto's past have gotten them to this point. While they both faced sorrowful situations over the course of their lives, Professor X manages to find the light at the end of the tunnel while Magneto continues to face problem after problem, even when he runs. If you were in Magneto's shoes, you would probably want to burn the world down too.
Despite being slow at points, the movie does have some pretty cool action sequences. One great aspect of the world of mutants is the substantial number of special powers the film gets to play around with. Seeing the X-Men come together as a team and combine those powers is just plain fun to watch. Honestly, the closer I got to the end, I found myself rooting for both sides equally just for the sake of keeping the action going.
Just as in Days of Future Past, Quicksilver's big scene in Apocalypse managed to steal the show. This is one strong advantage Fox carries over Disney (the Marvel juggernaut) as I think their version of the character is far more appealing than the one shown in Avengers: Age of Ultron. If you liked Quicksilver's "Time In a Bottle" scene in Days of Future Past, you're in for a treat in Apocalypse.
Despite the action and some pretty cool sequences, I think the film overall lacked substance. One reason I found myself rooting for both sides bad and good at times had a lot to do with the fact that I don't think the film did a good enough of job of giving me a dog in the fight. Some of the things the bad guys did seemed a little unjustified, even by a bad guy's standards. Maybe it's because I'm a parent and I'm getting older, but there were times where it left me saying, "Oh come on, now! You know better." This may not have been as much the case had the lesser characters been developed slightly better. Where's the motive? Why do you suddenly feel the need to help a power-hungry mutant destroy the world?
My final gripe would be the relational connection between Magneto and Quicksilver. Anyone that knows anything about the comics will understand what I'm talking about, but I don't want to to spoil anything for those that haven't. I will say this, though: They could have done a better job.
X-Men: Apocalypse is not going to stand out as a blockbuster success, but only because I feel it fails just slightly more than it succeeds. A few tweakings and you might be talking about the movie in the same breath as Age of Ultron. But, hey, if the idea of a cool group of mutants taking down an all-powerful antagonist before he can establish world dominance sounds good to you, the film is definitely worth your time. I give it a 74.
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