Photo by: 20th Century Fox

SHOULD I TAKE THE KIDS - X-Men: Apocalypse

by Mark McPherson
Photo by: 20th Century Fox



THE DETAILS:

Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 144 minutes
Genre: Action
In Theaters: May 27, 2016
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Olivia Munn
Director: Bryan Singer




THE PLOT:

Continuing from the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past, the familiar cast of mutants attempt to blend in with the 1980’s. Charles Xavier/Professor X continues to helm his special school for gifted mutants. Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto has settled into the life of a family man. But when the legendary first mutant Apocalypse is resurrected from his grave, the world is shaken as this evil villain attempts to round up his four horsemen mutants and reshape the planet as he sees fit.

CONTENT:

X-Men: Apocalypse features plenty of action, but it’s all kept bloodless for what is implied. That being said, there is some very physical violence at play. The most violent being when a wild Wolverine is released from his cage to go on a stabbing spree of attacking soldiers. A few characters are choked during fight scenes, nearly to the point of death. One hero is immobilized by kicking his leg in to break the bone. One key character experiences the death of his family during a barrage of bullets. A villain is killed by being impaled with metal beams and having his body disintegrated. The adult language is fairly light with very little cursing and one beat-punctuating curse. The sex is kept low-key as several characters experience love from gazes and touching of hands, though the characters of Storm, Psylocke and Archangel wear some slightly revealing outfits.

SHOULD I TAKE THE KIDS:

NO: 8 and Under
The violence of X-Men: Apocalypse, while mostly fantastical and bloodless, may be a bit much for younger children. The scene with Wolverine is practically a horror picture that may frighten younger children off from the character who appears more monstrous and out of control than his previous big-screen depictions. There is also a fair amount of death, as with any X-Men movie, that may additionally scare the little ones as well.

MAYBE: 9 -11
The pathos and death present makes X-Men: Apocalypse dark, but not as dark as First Class or Days of Future Past. Some children will be able to handle the bloodless violence if they don’t mind a bone crunched or a throat choked here and there. The grand scale of destruction is not dark enough or depicted too graphically that most kids will be able to enjoy the ride.

YES: 11 and up
Older kids shouldn’t be off-put at all by the level of violence depicted in this picture which comes off as a softer PG-13 than I expected. They may also identify more with the younger characters of Cyclops, Jean, and Nightcrawler attempting to adapt as outsiders.



Photo: 20th Century Fox


REVIEW:

Bryan Singer’s X-Men movies are usually a well-coordinated balancing act of the iconic superhero ensemble, but not this time around. So many characters are wedged into this picture with so little development that it comes off as bloated and messy. We have the new additions of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, Storm, Psylocke and so on. And, yet, we don’t get to know any of them all that well – some don’t even get a chance to use their powers. The returning characters don’t have much room to grow either. Professor Xavier and Magneto continue their debate about mutant rights as though they were broken records. Mystique attempts to be a role model to the next generation of mutants, but is mostly kicked to the side that I never saw her as such. Beast has practically nothing to do that he could have been written out of the story. That goes double for Wolverine who is only present to show off his claws and run off to his next movie.

There’s no overarching theme of racism, paranoia or xenophobia this time around. In its place is a generic superhero picture where a bland looking villain wants to destroy the world with a lot of destructive special effects. Apocalypse is about as run-of-the-mill as villains come with his ridiculous metallic suit and electronically enhanced voice. Oscar Isaac feels entirely wasted in this role which cakes on the makeup, armor and voice changing to the point where it could be just about anyone under all that standard villain flair. His character has the power to absorb the abilities of other mutants and enhance their powers as well. What grand scheme does he have for all this power? He wants to destroy national monuments and build statues in his image. The X-Men must defeat him not with words, ideas, discoveries or creative skill, but attacking him with all their powers until he’s nothing but dust. This didn’t play as an X-Men movie and it sure wasn’t entertaining as one either.

OVERALL:

X-Men: Apocalypse lacks the resonance and balance of previous X-Men pictures, ending up as a generic superhero outing with watered-down retreads of X-men-isms.

GRADE: C

COMPANION FILMS (for viewing with the kids at home):

It’s worth going back to Bryan Singer’s superior X-Men pictures to see the director at his finest with this material at its height. X-Men 2 showcased how well Singer can handle the divide of humans versus mutants and X-Men: Days of Future Past was a fantastic balancing act of time travel and shaping one’s destiny.


Mark McPherson has been writing about movies since 2010 for various websites and is the author of The Great Animated Movies. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Media Arts and Animation and lives in Minnesota. You can learn more about Mark by visiting his professional website Madness Mark.

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