Review #1,038: 'X-Men: Apocalypse' (2016)

Following Matthew Vaughn's enjoyable franchise reboot X-Men: First Class (2011) and Bryan Singer's mind-bending follow-up Days of Future Past (2014), the latest entry into the ever-expanding world of the X-Men that began back in 2000 promised - according to writer Simon Kinberg - a scale and scope on such a level never before seen in a superhero movie. While the latest villain to face Professor X and his crew certainly ups the ante by offering the threat of global extinction, X-Men: Apocalypse suffers mainly because we have seen the likes of this before, after all Ultron threatened the same thing just last year in Marvel's Avengers sequel, and Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay have been doing this since the mid-1990's.

Apocalypse just doesn't offer the same sort of unique strangeness that assisted Days of Future Past in being the best entry since X2 in 2003, nor the impressive grip it kept on its large ensemble of super-beings and superstars in First Class. When it all boils down, Apocalypse is simply a tale of good vs. bad, introducing a hefty influx of new characters and old (with many of the latter re-cast with up-and-comers) in the process. The threat facing the wheelchair-bound telepath Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and his School for Gifted Youngsters this time is the first and most powerful mutant of them all, En Sabar Nuh aka Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac). When we first meet him, Nuh is in Ancient Egypt where he is worshipped as a god. Fearing his power, his worshippers betray him, leaving him entombed within a collapsed pyramid and killing his Four Horsemen.

In 1983, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), the shape-shifting mutant, is in East Berlin rescuing teleporter Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) from a human-run underground fight club and its winged champion Angel (Ben Hardy). Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto (Michael Fassbender) is hiding out in Poland with his wife and child following his attempt to assassinate the President of the USA ten years previous. Charles is still running his school, which has added some interesting new recruits in fellow telepath Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) and Scott Summers aka Cyclops (Tye Sheridan). When Apocalypse re-awakens and decides that humanity has lost its way, he sets about recruiting his four new Horsemen, including Magneto, to help him destroy the world and rebuild it with him as its leader.

Anyone who loved Quicksilver's scene-stealing appearance in Days of Future Past will no doubt appreciate Evan Peters' extended role here, as he is again central to an impressive set-piece that is equally playful, inventive and exciting. For a movie with such a grim outlook at stake, it ironically works best when going about its business with a sense of humour. In the dramatic moments, its fails to offer any real impact, almost completely ignoring any religious undertones that would have made the film infinitely more interesting, and covering familiar ground in terms of Charles and Erik's somewhat rocky friendship. Although Isaac gives it his all, it is the young actors that are the standouts. Turner, Sheridan and Smit-McPhee manage to both channel the actors who came before them and making the characters their own. Hopefully then, the franchise is in safe hands moving forward (there are no signs of it stopping), but for now, Apocalypse is very much a case of same-old, same-old, and not much more than a relatively entertaining way to kill 2 and a half hours.


Directed by: Bryan Singer
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Oscar Isaac, Rose Byrne, Evan Peters, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #916: 'Mad Max: Fury Road' (2015)

Attempting to piece together the chronology of Max Rockatansky's four-movie journey between 1979 and 2015 would be to miss the point of the series altogether. Max Max (1979) was a raw slice of grindhouse that just happened to be financially successful and genuinely brilliant, and has since evolved into something so wildly imaginative and increasingly insane that to try and piece together how many years have elapsed since Mel Gibson's youthful Main Force Patrol officer watch his family murdered and how he has suddenly shrunk and become Tom Hardy would be as deranged as the franchise's latest instalment, Fury Road.

Whether it's a re-boot or a continuation of the story we haven't seen since 1985's Beyond Thunderdome, we are plunged back into the familiar, post-apocalyptic Australian plains (although it was shot in Namibia) inhabited by obscene punks, raging warlords and ragged rebels. Following a nuclear holocaust, fuel and water is scarce, and the residents of the Citadel are ruled over by the ageing Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), a hulking monster of a man with a breathing apparatus strapped to his face. Max (Hardy) is captured and is used as a 'blood bag' for War Boy Nux (Nicholas Hoult), and when Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), one of Joe's lieutenants, goes AWOL with an armoured truck full of Joe's many wives, Nux and a small army pursue with Max strapped to the front of his vehicle.

Like its predecessors, Fury Road has little in way of a plot. Similar in many ways to Max Max 2, the film is little more than one huge chase with precious few quiet moments in between. Hardy is as reserved a Max as Gibson was, but strangely lacks the charisma that has propelled Hardy to recent superstardom. Yet Max is more in the background, playing second fiddle to the battering ram that is Furiosa. One-armed, shaven-headed and raccoon-eyed, Theron is in equal measures extremely sexy and utterly intimidating, offering glimpses of vulnerability as her trust in Max becomes more cemented. Furiosa's drive is that she wants to get back to her homeland, which is now little more than a distant memory from her childhood, and Max just happens to be along for the ride. But character development is left in the dust of what is ultimately one humongous chase set-piece.

Although he is now 70 and his recent work has consisted of Happy Feet (2006), Happy Feet 2 (2011) and Babe: Pig in the City (1998), director, writer and producer George Miler shows no signs of losing his touch. Fury Road is the most aggressive Max Max yet, complete with acrobats on huge wires who bend into other vehicle's to attack from above, War Boys getting themselves pumped for violence by spraying a powerful drug called Night Fume onto their lips, and an electric guitar player who sprays flame from his instrument and is backed by a hoard of drummers. Everyone involved in creating the stunts should be extremely proud, as what could have been repetitive turns into a two-hour adrenaline rush. It's not the masterpiece that it has been heralded by critics and audiences alike, but it has breathed life back into a genre stuffed with CGI and former wrestlers.


Directed by: George Miller
Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Josh Helman, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Zoë Kravitz
Country: Australia/USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #796: 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' (2014)

After Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class (2011) injected a bit of life back into the X-Men franchise, any further instalments faced the headache of what to do with a bunch of fantastic actors playing the same characters decades apart. Inspired by the 1981 Uncanny X-Men comic of the same name, Days of Future Past switches between a nightmarish, dystopian future overrun by giant sentinels, and the boogie nights of the 1970's. We get the best of both worlds, and thankfully, in his seventh appearance over the course of 14 years as his most recognisable character, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine inhabits them both.

After narrowly escaping a sentinel attack in the near-future, a band of mutants including the returning Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and Kitty Pride (Ellen Page) meet up with Wolverine, Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magento (Ian McKellen), Storm (Halle Berry) et al to hatch a plan before the next inevitable attack. Kitty transfers the mind of Wolverine back to 1973, where a young Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) is soon to assassinate Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), setting off a chain of events that could result in the apocalypse. The only problem is, the young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is depressed and mansion-bound, still struggling to deal with his powers and the loss of the use of his legs. They also need to help of Magneto (Michael Fassbender), who is imprisoned in a plastic cell for allegedly assassinating John F. Kennedy.

For all it's time-travelling gobbledegook, Days of Future Past doesn't spend too much time trying to explain the mechanics behind it. Like Rian Johnson's mind-bending Looper (2012), it recognises the folly in attempting to spell it out for you. When you look at it under a microscope, time-travel makes little sense in movies as it is, so it's best to accept what you're seeing and move on. McAvoy's Xavier even dismisses Wolverine's ramblings as 'future-shite'. This frees up more time in an already packed movie to concentrate on the damaged Xavier, brought to life by another fantastic performance from McAvoy. If First Class was Magneto's origins, this is Professor X's, showing a scared, conflicted and broken man and how he became the father to mutants he is when embodied by Patrick Stewart.

Of all the many mutants on show, some are not given as much time as their name would suggest. Storm, Anna Paquin's Rogue, and most notably, Ian McKellen's Magneto are somewhat left out to dry, while Nicholas Hoult's Beast, Kitty Pride, and a first appearance for Evan Peters' Quicksilver, are more prominent, and thrive in their larger roles. Trask, a rather fascinating villain thanks to the performance of Dinklage, is left undeveloped. We glimpse into his mind and ambitions, but there's little clarity given to his motivation. But with a film this packed with characters, it would take four hours or more to explore them all, and some inspired set-pieces pepper the film at the points where you start to think the plot will make your head explode. The (possibly) plot-hole laden climax aside, it seems like the franchise is as good as it was at the end of X2 (2003), seemingly serving to delete all the poor decisions made in returning director Bryan Singer's absence. Now, the wait for X-Men: Apocalypse.


Directed by: Bryan Singer
Starring: Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Ellen Page
Country: USA/UK

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #123: 'X-Men: First Class' (2011)

Things were looking good for the X-Men back in 2003. The first film was a box-office success and was a pretty solid blockbuster. Then X2 (2003) came and the bar was raised not only for X-Men films, but for superhero movies in general. Bryan Singer had made an exciting action film that had interesting, fully-developed and endearing characters. Then Singer dropped out in order to make Superman Returns (2006), and for some reason left the job to Hollywood shit-stain Brett Ratner. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) was an over-populated, lazily directed mess, and Ratner had thought it would be a good idea to cast Vinnie Jones. It seemed to be the closure of the X-Men series, until X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) came along and gave a backstory to fan-favourite Wolverine. Even though it was directed by the Oscar-winning Gavin Hood (who directed the excellent Tsotsi (2005)), it was the worst of the lot. Studio interference has made it a bumbling, boring mess of a movie. But still the X-train carries on, and still had the ability to attract rising director Matthew Vaughn.

Set in 1962, it follows a young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) who is graduating from University and living with his best friend Raven (Jennifer Lawrence). Xavier is seemingly fascinated with genetic mutation that has given him the gift of reading minds, and given Raven the ability to morph into anyone. Meanwhile, vengeful concentration camp survivor Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) is on a mission to find the fled Nazis that led to the death of his parents, and, ultimately, to find Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), who first discovered his gift for magnetism. Shaw is now on a quest to strike a deal with the U.S.S.R. that will lead to the destruction of America. Lensherr realises he must join forces with Xavier and recruit new mutants in order to fight this threat, and eventually being accepted into a discriminative world.

One of the underlying themes of the X-Men films is the idea of discrimination against the mutants. It is the key thing that eventually lead to Xavier and Lensherr (later to become Professor X and Magneto) ultimately becoming enemies. Xavier feels that the best way to show the human population that the mutants do not pose a threat is to rise above the 'racial' hatred. Magneto takes it as a way to feel superior, and therefore hell-bent on teaching the humans a lesson. Magneto feels deeply about this due to his childhood in Auschwitz, and the death of his parents. This deep-rooted hatred is explored early on in First Class as Lensherr scours Europe killing people on his Nazi list.

This is one of the problems with First Class, as the film is bound to the fate that we as the audience already know. Xavier must lose the use of his legs. Magneto and Raven (later to become Mystique) must become evil. Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) must turn into Beast. The Cerebro must be built. Often the film becomes so insistent in developing these ideas that it loses focus on its own storyline and characters. As a result, the plot can often feel muddled, and the new mutant additions are thinly-conveyed and uninteresting.

The one true masterstoke in the film is the casting of Michael Fassbender. I've long been an admirer after seeing him as Bobby Sands in Hunger (2008), and then go on to make Fish Tank (2009) and Inglourious Basterds (also 2009). He portrays Magneto torn both by anger and helplessness devised from his childhood, and plays it with utter conviction. His early scenes travelling across Europe are the best moments in the film, and makes me wish they had gone ahead with their earlier plans in giving Magneto his own origin movie. McAvoy, however, although possessing a lot of charm, suffers from having Patrick Stewart's shoes to fill. His friendship with Raven is just not convincing.

There's a definite feeling that the film has been rushed. Vaughn's earlier efforts in the fantasy field - Kick-Ass (2010) and Stardust (2007) - flowed, and never lacked in the special effects department. Here, the film seems to frantically pacing for the climax, with no real moments of character development, and some of the special effects don't come near to the standards of other films these days. It is, though, undoubtedly enjoyable. The action scenes don't exactly blow anything out of the water, and don't even surpass the original two, but they are at least fun. I hope if they do make another film, they concentrate on the story rather than looking at the future, and set the foundations for what could become a solid franchise in it's own right.


Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Oliver Platt, Jason Flemyng
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #103: 'A Single Man' (2009)

This haunting film directed by fashion designer Tom Ford shows the pontentially final day in the life of English teacher George Falconer (Colin Firth). Lonely and in mourning after losing the love of his life, Jim (Matthew Goode), in a car crash eight months earlier, George reflects on his life and throughout the day comes across various people who all see the sadness within him. These include pupil Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), who is seemingly fascinated with George, his old friend Charley (Julianne Moore) who may have a doomed love for him, and a Spanish immigrant and gigolo Carlos (Jon Kortajarena). Unknown to them, George is carefully planning his suicide.

Being directed by a highly-successful fashion designer who owns his own label as well as managing to revamp Gucci, the film looks as impeccable and polished as one of his famous suits. A Single Man is directed with an unnerving confidence for a newcomer, and makes the most out of its 1960's setting. George is a rather wealthy man, and as he fiddles around his large, modern house in all its fastidious neatness, Ford manages to create a feeling of both beauty and style, mixed with emptiness and loneliness. As fantastic as this film looks, it never loses its grip on the story, and all the long slow-motion shots of George reflecting or driving his car allows you to really grasp the hole in his heart.

Firth is outstanding. For all the recognition he got The King's Speech (2010), his performance here blows it out the water. I've never really understood the mass appeal of Firth, but watching him in the scene where he is informed about Jim's death by a family member, finding out he's not invited to the funeral, and that the majority of the family didn't even want to inform him, his embodies a mixture of British stiff-upper-lipped dignity and utter breakdown. And the scenes near to the end where he spends a night with the impressive Nicholas Hoult, he gazes upon him with a mixture of wonder and lust, and self-loathing and guilt.

My girlfriend felt it was style-over-substance, but I disagree. I feel the style was often reminiscent of high opera, where tragedy is commonplace. The slightest facial movement from Firth brought me right back into his story, when the film risked losing me. A moving, emotional, tragic, funny, and (dare I say it?) sexy film that could see the birth of an interesting filmmaker. 

Directed by: Tom Ford

Starring: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode, Jon Kortajarena

Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie