Review: X-MEN: APOCALYPSE Is A Well-Rounded Sequel, And Enough About The F**king Billboard

X-Men: Apocalypse marks the third film in Fox’s X-Men soft reboot franchise. And since Bryan Singer produced First Class, it stands as his triumvirate return to the mythology after his ill-advised departure which resulted in the loathsome defeasance of X-Men: The Last Stand, directed by the man with so apropos a name (Brett Ratner) you’d think we were actually living in a comic book universe any time his name enters a conversation.

If douchiness were a superpower, any image of him would work as projectiles like Gambit’s cards.

The film begins in Egypt in the deep past, picking up where the end credit teaser for X-Men: Days Of Future Past left off. The immortal mutant, notably the world’s first mutant, En Sabah Nur, played by Oscar Isaac, is prepared to transfer from an aging body and into a new one when the ritual is sabotaged by a rebellion of slaves and Nur finds himself, in his new body, trapped underground indefinitely, until generations later when he is awakened via an unwitting excavation.

And thus kicks off the start of the ninth film in Fox’s X-Men series.

It’s been a bumpy ride for the X-Men at Fox, from a troubled though welcome start in the introduction of off-canon costumes – a trend that, for better or worse, would prevail in the genre – and a host of untested actors, to a dark age that gave us Ratner’s abomination and the ill-advised X-Men Origins debacle that followed to twist the knife and shove a few more in the contusion like a truly dedicated sous chef turned serial killer.

“Wait til Logan tries THIS steak!”

The characterizations in Apocalypse, from the four horsemen to the titular character himself, are keen in the spirit of their comic book counterparts, which one can count as a thing Singer has done well with his handling of the brand; transplanting the central ethos of the source mythology and depicting the characters and their conflicts in full, unapologetic dramatic light. Some have argued that Singer’s emphasis on the drama, in fact, has fallen out of balance with the fun escapism of, let’s face it, comics by definition. But I’d argue that Singer’s choice, and how the branches of said choice have held up across the narrative trajectory, was a wise and decidedly cinematic one. Indeed, a story which allegorically represents human rights struggles in the real world is not only timeless but sacred, and should be handled with a specific perspicacity.

The year is 1983 when En Sabah Nur is awakened, and he proceeds immediately to recruit his four lieutenants, better known as the four horsemen (of the Apocalypse, of course, the backdrop no shy allegory itself for Judeo-Christian mythology). Oscar Isaac’s choice to portray Apocalypse as a docile and deceptively charismatic deity captures the false god aspect of his comic book counterpart’s hubris and scope in ambition, and it contrasts well with the historical record of real world political leaders and despots who have ruled with an iron fist all the while coaxing the masses with strategic double talk and spin, spouting half truths and exploiting tragedy and circumstance for their own nefarious purposes. It’s been argued that Isaac was too short for the role of Apocalypse, which reminds of the still existing albeit unearned and unfounded complaints (petty gripes? You betcha) against Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine despite the man’s fine work in the part, but said argument rings just as hollow when weighed not only against general audience reception but also in context of the film’s narrative. Long story short, Isaac nails it. He’s found tearing up the fucking dance floor again like he did just last year in Ex-Machina.

“You are all my children, and you’re lost because you follow blind leaders. No more false gods. I’m here now.”