X-Men: Apocalypse is a mess, even Wolverine can’t save it
Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, aka James “Logan” Howlett, has been the X-Men film franchise’s greatest asset, without a doubt. Good ol’ Logan has been ceremoniously pulling the crowds to movie theaters, ever since the time the first X-Men movie came along in 2000. It’s safe to say that Marvel Entertainment knows his ‘paramount’ importance. We wouldn’t have had two spin-off movies based on the character had it been otherwise. It’s a different matter altogether that one of these movies - X-Men Origins: Wolverine – was a "first-class" piece of trash. But then, not all X-Men movies have been particularly brilliant. There are now 9 in total, including the latest X-Men: Apocalypse. That’s not the point though. The point is, Wolverine makes the X-Men tick and not the other way round.
It's not too hard to explain why. X-Men, if you haven’t heard already, is an ensemble cast of mutants, that appear in Marvel Comics. These comics are largely known for their varied story-lines (time-lines), spin-offs, limited edition series and other such things that geeks would gladly know. Since, X-Men is about the many men and women, and not just about an individual, it’s a little difficult to keep track of any (and every) character that Marvel decides to throw at us out of the blue, even for die-hard fans some times. Classic needle in the haystack situation. Now, the films usually tend to take liberties every now and then. Not everything you see in a Marvel film is point-to-point as it is in the comic books. The problem with the X-Men though is, since there have been too many films already, every now and then you end up asking yourself, what the hell is happening. Each film tends to introduce at least one new mutant, sometimes without giving a thought or a logical explanation.
In such a mind-boggling situation, Wolverine becomes your only glimmer of hope. It is because half the time, even he has no idea what the hell is happening. His own lack of familiarity with the mutant world - he’s seen some bad days – echoes the sentiments of the vast majority of audiences who sit through these movies. Audiences instantly feel at home. They know, he’s on the good side. The hero. It doesn’t matter if the whole world is burning or on the verge of extinction.
What if Marvel decides to give him a break some time? Clearly, it’s even hard to picture such a day for the most of us. But that’s precisely what has happened in X-Men: Apocalypse, or as I like to call it, the day when Wolverine failed to show up, or did he? Whatever be the case, all hell broke loose, literally and figuratively.
X-Men: Apocalypse is not so much about the X-Men as it is about Apocalypse, much like how it was about Ultron in that ‘sad’ Avengers movie. However, unlike a certain Ultron who thought that he was God, Apocalypse is actually one, or as they say. He is the first mutant to have ever walked the earth which should mean he has been around for an awfully long time, presumably tens of thousands of years as per Moira Mactaggert. You got to say for a CIA agent, Moira knows more about mutants with supervillain tendencies than Professor Charles Xavier; you know, someone you’d think would know more about such things due to obvious reasons. Still, James McAvoy who plays the part -- of a hopeless romantic now – keeps getting better and better (read, endearing) with each film. And oh, he gets bald this time. So, that’s something to look forward to.
But this film is about Apocalypse. So let’s get back to him, shall we?
Here’s a quick rain-check. Apocalypse, or En Sabah Nur is an ancient mutant who’s technically been around all this while, probably waiting for his own sweet on-screen time. He is after-all mighty powerful, and immortal to say the least. Back in the day, he ruled Egypt. How and when he came to power, we do not know for sure and the film has absolutely no interest in taking that road either. All we know is that he (and his sect) were firm believers of Darwin’s survival of the fittest theory, long before the English naturalist made it subject matter for text-books. The film jumps straight to the day when En Sabah Nur is betrayed by his own people who tried to bury him alive just when he was in his most vulnerable state. His four loyal horsemen (apparently, the Bible got it from him) died saving him leaving mighty Apocalypse preserved in his tomb stone to this day, in 1983.
Apocalypse is awakened, in the present day, presumably by members of a secret society who still (maybe?) worships him. These people surely know their magic. Apocalypse is up and running in a jiffy, after all. Once he’s up and running though, he spends nearly 60 minutes of on-screen time to recruit his next batch of horsemen. Not really, but seriously, that’s basically what’s happening in the first one hour of this near two-hour long movie. You’d say, he must take only the best. Only, he doesn’t.
Apocalypse hires a pickpocket, a fighter who’s fighting days are all but over, an enforcer to an underground black marketer and, well, Magneto. By this time, we all know how things would turn out with Magneto, don’t we? He’s going to start off as the bad guy, wreak havoc, and then be good again. That pretty much stays put in instalment number 9 as well. Michael Fassbender, as usual, gives viewers a guided tour to every emotion involved in the game, so very effortlessly. You feel for him. Every time he wants to leave his past behind, and settle down, he’s pushed to the edge, only to come full circle.
Meanwhile, Raven or Mystique (played by an ever so quirky Jennifer Lawrence) has still not given up on Eric, all the while recruiting her own batch of mutants to fight when the fight shall come.
At the end of the day, it is all of Professor X against a God and the four most powerful beings on the earth. So, what’s the catch? Well, the God doesn’t do enough. And neither do his horsemen, even Magneto for that matter.
Apocalypse is a talker; you can give that to him. He is manipulative. But his dialogues are, for the lack of a better word, repetitive. For one, he takes an awfully long time to let the world know that he has arrived. And even when he does, he really doesn’t. Secondly, his character is replete with clichés. For a God who can control all mutants, it’s hard to digest how he ends up gawking at Prof X’s psychic skills and can never really control him fully. And he sure as hell can’t control a young Jean Grey who’s yet to tap her full potential. Sophie Turner was apparently cast as Jean Grey because of the dark side of her character Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones. Ok? She still can’t act though.
X-Men: Apocalypse is long. There are instances when it’s just dragging along, when it could have actually taken time out to focus on character building. Apocalypse was ripe with possibilities and yet, somehow, it doesn’t add up to be as powerful (visually and from a story point per se) a film as the ones before it, more precisely Days of Future Past and First Class. While McAvoy, Fassbender and Lawrence succeed in recreating the magic – sort of -- of the fantastic trio of the previous films, it’s another actor that surprisingly ends up stealing the show. Evan Peters’ Quicksilver does this with one (three-minute) jaw-dropping sequence, on the back of Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) and you know that’s what you really came for.And oh, before I forget, Wolverine is definitely in the film. Or is he?