X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

X-Men: Apocalypse: Directed by Bryan Singer. With James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult. In the 1980s the X-Men must defeat an ancient all-powerful mutant, En Sabah Nur, who intends to thrive through bringing destruction to the world.

“En Sabah Nur is Apocalypse, the first mutant who ruled ancient Egypt until he was entombed. Itu0026#39;s the 80u0026#39;s. CIA agent Moira MacTaggert goes to Egypt and witnesses his emergence. He recruits his four horsemen Magneto, Storm, Psylocke, and Angel giving them greater power. Meanwhile, Raven recruits Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler from an East Berlin fight club. Alex Summers brings his younger brother Scott to Professor Charles Xavieru0026#39;s school. Quicksilver arrives at the school just in time to rescue almost everybody from an explosion but Professor X is kidnapped by Apocalypse.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI really like the first half. There are some good introduction of the new characters. Itu0026#39;s working fine for the most part. It hits the pinnacle with Quicksilveru0026#39;s rescue which is funny and exciting. It is visually dynamic and a joy to behold. The rest of the movie feels like a long slow slide into mediocrity.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe most troubling problem for the continuing franchise is the use of Mystique as the leading X-Men. That character has never been in that role. JLaw is struggling to put out the intensity to match the central part. She and her character is not up to the task so far. Itu0026#39;s also funny that her powers is to not be JLaw. The other problem is Apocalypse. I hoped for better but his mega-destruction is underwhelming. Itu0026#39;s a lot of bland and his powers are nebulous. I actually think it would have been better to allow Apocalypse to be a two-parter. As an one-and-done villain, he isnu0026#39;t allowed to be anything more than a monster of the moment. With a lower level of power from him, it could be more compelling to struggle for the soul of each horseman. As it stands, the character Apocalypse is nothing special.”