After the incredible success, both critical and financial, success of X-Men: Days of Future Past, the bar was set extremely high for Bryan Singer’s follow-up film. How could X-Men: Apocalypse possibly meet or exceed those expectations? Set in the 80s, this edition of the X-Men franchise would also have to work on its own, without the star power of Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart playing the older Magneto and Professor X, respectively — as they appeared in Days of Future Past.
But, when you have Michael Fassbender taking McKellen’s part and James McAvoy handling Stewart’s, well then… things should be just fine.
X-Men: Apocalypse also has this going for it: The most vicious villain in the entire X-Men universe. The Force Awakens’ Oscar Isaac embodies the evil-doer perfectly. He is considered the first mutant, born during Egyptian times and raised from the dead to wreak havoc on The Decade of Decadence. Along for the ride are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (fitting name, no?), of which our beloved Magneto is one. Do our mutants stand a chance against the one mutant who wields more power than all of them combined? Have you ever seen an X-Men movie?!
The issue with X-Men: Apocalypse is that, compared to Days of Future Past, it is extremely clunky and has no flow. There are also flaws in its character development that keep it from reaching its full potential. You have an ensemble of great actors here (including Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence and Hugh Jackman), and they seem to be wandering through a movie half-cocked instead of fully loaded. Yet, and this speaks to Singer’s command of the material, X-Men: Apocalypse is still quite engaging. There is something about this mutant-laden world that we are completely enthralled with and will continue to be for years to come. Although not a perfect movie, it still has enough going for it for us to recommend it. And if you’re a fan of how-to bonus featurettes, you will not want to miss the ones on the X-Men: Apocalypse DVD and Blu-Ray.
For more on the movie itself, check out our theatrical X-Men: Apocalypse review.
X-Men Apocalypse: Unearthed is an extremely well crafted hour-long, multi-part look at the making of the latest film in the X-Men universe. Each section delves deeper into the development of the storyline, how each of the actors found their characters’ cinematic sweet spot as well as a few teases as to what fans can expect from this universe as we move forward.
What else comes across in this layered look at the making-of the hit movie is what passion Singer has for this world and how his lifelong passion for the comics bleeds through into every frame of the X-Men films that he makes. Also ever present is screenwriter and fellow producer Simon Kinberg and Singer’s connection that gives us the impression that when it comes to the X-Men universe, these two were separated at birth.
In that vein, we cannot recommend enough watching the film with the audio commentary turned on. It features Singer and Kinberg waxing poetic about the X-Men world, giving insight into how certain scenes were mastered (their take on the Quicksilver (Evan Peters) saving everyone in Xavier’s School for the Gifted is brilliant — check it out below!) and spotlighting the little things that you might have missed with that first viewing.
Usually, we are not the biggest fans of deleted or extended scenes. There is a reason they weren’t included in the theatrical cut. But on the X-Men: Apocalypse home video release, these cut or extended scenes are introduced by Singer and therefore, are given a context that is rarely seen in a DVD and Blu-Ray release.
We are also a fan of outtakes on a film that is so heavy in action and the dramatics. So therefore, you do not want to miss the over eight-minute long Gag Reel. Also, have you ever seen a home video release that includes a look at the wrap party? You will now!
Film Grade: B
Bonus Features: B+