9 Ways X-Men: Apocalypse Is The Most Frustrating Comic Book Movie Of The Year
More like X-Meh.
The resurrection of the X-Men franchise in the last few years has been nothing short of miraculous. After the one-two punch of The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine the future of the series was looking bleak, but thankfully First Class and Days Of Future Past brought it gloriously back to life; hell, even The Wolverine and Deadpool were pretty good.
So expectations were high for new entry Apocalypse, which has Bryan Singer return to the director’s chair and a brand new villain played by the man of the moment Oscar Isaac. Sadly, that’s what makes the new movie such a downer; it had so much talent and potential, yet the end result is a sloppy mess.
The early reviews are reflecting this, and in a lot of ways, it’s even more disappointing than Batman V Superman. With BVS movie fans were hoping for the best but bracing for the worst, based on the hiring of Zack Snyder and the weak trailers. Apocalypse, on the other hand, was coming off the back of two acclaimed entries, which is why this letdown stings a lot more.
There still glimmers of a good movie buried in there, so let's examine some of the reasons why X-Men: Apocalypse is the most frustrating comic book movie of the year so far.
9. Apocalypse Is A Lame Villain
Oscar Isaac is awesome; this is an indisputable fact. The performances he gave in Ex Machina, Inside Llewyn Davis and Show Me A Hero didn't happen by accident, so the announcement he was playing Apocalypse was news worth rejoicing over. Sure, the early “Ivan Ooze” photos didn’t look great, but if anyone could shine in the role it was him.
Sadly not even he could make it work. The character is achingly one-note, and his favourite pastime is making lengthy, portentous speeches. Since his face is buried under layers of make-up there’s not much life he can bring to it either, though he does give the speeches all the gusto he can muster.
The character should be a terrifying force of nature but the menace just isn't there, and his random selection of mutant powers just gets ridiculous after a while. He doesn't suck quite as bad as Doomsday, for example, but a CGI cave troll has less riding on him performance wise than an actor of Isaac's caliber.