8 Reasons Wolverine Is The Most Disappointing Part Of X-Men: Apocalypse
7. The Entire Alkali Lake Sequence Is Obviously Shoehorned In
There's something odd about the entire Alkali Lake sequence in X-Men: Apocalypse. It's not foreshadowed, kicks off with only a hasty explanation (Stryker was tracking the source of the nuclear strike, somehow) and plays out in a very sanitised manner, showing Wolverine and Stryker escape, but leaving all the other characters untouched.
The only lasting impact is the base providing the young mutants with a replacement X-Jet and neat black pilot suits. Take the scene out, place Charles' message from Apocalypse at the mansion and the movie could continue in almost the exact same manner.
In fact, I'd wager that the scene wasn't originally in the film - Havoc's destruction of the mansion would leave the jet and suits OK and instead of Stryker turning up, we'd jump straight to Apocalypse announcing his plan - and was only forced in later in the scripting process when Fox decreed that Wolverine needed to be in this issue.
If it had been left out, we'd have a much tighter film, coming in at just over two hours and with a greater focus on the main plot. The many scripting and character issues would remain, but there'd have been a strong through-line for the main story and the campiness would have felt less jarring. Fan edit, anyone?