X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
Best production design, worst-protected villain: Isaac's Apocalypse hidden from every trailer, a Cairo sky beam where a finale should be. 47% RT, 6.8 IMDb. Still a hell of a team shot.
Cast & Key People
Our Review
The Fox X-Men film with the best production design and the most wasted villain. Oscar Isaac played Apocalypse in a motion capture suit the studio hid from every trailer, and what survives is a blue sky, pyramid of sand spectacle with genuinely good new discoveries: the Nightcrawler opening, the Psychosis speed force of the Angel’s fall, the teleporting kid, the entire first hour’s quiet of Jean and Hank and Scott finding each other.
The second half is a sky beam, Omni’s pyramid rising over Cairo, that the plot has no emotional business winning, and the franchise’s first villain you want to win from the first scene becomes a rebooted punching bag by the finale. The 6.8 on IMDb from nearly half a million voters is right, and the 47% on Rotten Tomatoes matches.
On Disney+ and Hulu. It ends with the team assembled in the mansion, and the image deserves the hour it cost. Six and a half.
Seasons
Season guides coming soon.
