X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

“You are all my children, and you're lost because you follow blind leaders. These false gods, systems of the weak, they've ruined my world. No more.”

            Ever wonder where all the superpowers the superheroes have in movies comes from? Like, heck, how did that kid get laser beams coming out of his and this girl have the ability to read minds or another girl get the ability to practically suck the life outta people with just one touch? Who was the first person to show signs of being a “mutant” or someone “special”? X-Men: Apocalypse shows the origins of where it is believed the first mutant originated and how he comes back and almost destroys the world.

            The first mutant is believed to have been En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac) in Ancient Egypt. He had amassed a great following and was just about to transfer his powers into a younger pharaoh when a few of his followers betrayed him. The disloyal followers caved the tomb in and buried En Sabah Nur and others in the ground for what was supposed to be for all eternity.

            Flash forward to Egypt in 1983. CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) has been researching this legend of Nur. She finds an entrance to the buried tomb underneath a modern Egyptian market. When she climbs down she finds Nur Worshippers trying to resurrect Nur. They are successful. Their success brings with it a seismic wave that can be felt all around the world.

            In the United States Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is running his school for mutants along with Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult). He has not seen his fellow mutants Erik (Michael Fassbender) or Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) in years. He has no idea where in the world they could be. In the years since they were last together Raven has been trying to save mutants around the world and Erik has been living quietly and secretly in Poland with his family.

            Nur, or Apocalypse, begins to assemble mutants to begin to make the world the way he believes it should be. He believes the world has lost its way and wants to change that. He finds a young Storm, Archangel, and Psylocke (Olivia Munn). Through some unfortunate events Apocalypse is able to recruit Erik to his cause.

            Much like Captain America: Civil War, the mutants battle each other. It is Xavier vs. Erik for some time. Xavier knows that Erik is a good man who has just had rough times and truly does not want to hurt anyone. And as in Civil War, young mutants/superheroes are allowed along to help fight Apocalypse from taking over the world.

            There are a lot of other side stories running throughout X-Men: Apocalypse but for the most part I have written up the main and most important plot of the story. The side stories are good and interesting such as the arrival of Scott Summers, the manifestation of young Jean Grey’s mental powers, Quicksilver saving everyone in the school before it blows up, and Quicksilver’s quest to find his father Magneto.

            The cast of X-Men has been great since the franchise began. Every one of the characters is perfectly cast. I still find it awesome that Jennifer Lawrence is playing a superhero. The girl is such a good actress she can literally play anything and be great. Michael Fassbender is perfection as the younger Magneto. I liked seeing Olivia Munn as Psylocke. I think she is an actress that has potential to become very good and maybe even have a future as a Sci-Fi/comic book-movie actress. I would really like to see Psylocke in another X-Men movie. When I found out Oscar Isaac played Apocalypse I was actually stunned because I could not even tell it was him! I love Isaac as an actor he is another actor I think has a great future ahead of him when it comes to his acting and the roles he can play. He has played so many different types of characters in so many different types of roles. Isaac did a fantastic job as Apocalypse. I would love to see him another action/comic book-story movie, just this time as a good guy. Rose Byrne is one of my all-time favorite actresses. She is truly so versatile with whatever role she is in and fits in so well in the Marvel superhero universe even if she does not have any powers.

            X-Men: Apocalypse was a good movie. The story was interesting and the cast and characters were awesome. The movie did not get good reviews; a lot of reviewers were on the fence about it. I can definitely see why. There is such an insane amount of generic superhero movies out now. As I mentioned, the plot reminded of Captain America: Civil War with the mutants facing off against each other. I feel like how many times can these superheroes save the world using their powers to save the world? I also see like the world needs a break from superhero movies for a while but they make so much money so that will never happen. X-Men: Apocalypse is worth seeing if you enjoy comic book and action movies.