• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

[SPOILER THREAD] X-Men: Apocalypse

Status
Not open for further replies.
I seem to recall a shot of Apocalypse coming out and looking over the wreckage and specifically seeing a very dead Angel in the rubble and saying something like "SCRUB SHITS FAILED ME AGAIN!".

Angel, forever punk'd in the X-Men franchise.
 
He's dead. Which is another wasted plot point for Psylocke, considering her romance with Angel in the comic. That throwaway line in the garage is all that we'll get out of their relationship.
 
really liked the movie. i was expecting more 80's references, the way xmen: first class was 60's. i just noticed a few things: president reagan on tv, nightcrawler's michael jackson thriller-esque jacket and the eurythmics' "sweet dreams" playing during the excellent quicksilver scene

yeah, seeing Nice Guys in the same day didn't help as that film nailed the 70's esthetic.

This only had a few items and songs. And Quicksilver had an HD tv in his room! :D
 
Angel actually gets a couple action sequences in this film but even taking that into account I could see a legitimate debate over whether he or Jubilee was done dirtier in this film.

I don't think this is a debate, at least not for me personally. Jubilee was done a huge injustice in this film not just for the actress who's making her debut here, but for the audience who were basically hoodwinked into expecting that she would have a big role among the new X-men due to the marketing.

Also, out of all the completed footage we know they have, it's easy to believe that there's much more Jubilee footage which would had contributed to her playing a part in making Cyclops and Nightcrawler feel more welcome as mutants when they arrive. Along with adding positively to the 80s vibes the movie sadly lacks right now.

On the other hand I can't really see there being more scenes which would do much for Angel. He's an underground cage match fighter who is picked up as muscle by Apocalypse. There's nothing there.
 
I don't think this is a debate, at least not for me personally. Jubilee was done a huge injustice in this film not just for the actress who's making her debut here, but for the audience who were basically hoodwinked into expecting that she would have a big role among the new X-men due to the marketing.

And I loved her in that 80's TV commercial about Xavier's school.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kniQrk9jw0

Poor Lana Condor!
 
He's dead. Which is another wasted plot point for Psylocke, considering her romance with Angel in the comic. That throwaway line in the garage is all that we'll get out of their relationship.

This film is a waste imo.
Wasted Angel,
Wasted Psylocke
Wasted Jubilee
Wasted Phoenix,
Wasted Apoc
Wasted Magneto good-bad-good turn
Wasted 80's timeline
Wasted the soft reboot

Who the hell is X23, Essex and Mr Sinister, are they going to be more exciting than Sentinels and Apoc?

Why should we await the next film in the XMCU?
 
Don't agree that they wasted Phoenix at all. That was actually the only good part of the climax. Everything else in the fight and setpiece was shit, but the idea that Apocalypse was overwhelming everyone else, and even Xavier couldn't contain him in his mind, that he had to be stopped by unleashing the restrains Jean put on herself, is a fantastic way to showcase just a part of what the Phoenix Force is capable of. The way it stripped Apocalypse away layer by layer was pretty awesome too.

There's no waste here because Jean managed to keep it under control, she showed this small group of friends what she was truly capable of, and she wasn't killed off nor did she "lock away" the powers forever. It was a way for the Phoenix is come out and be a part of the story moving forward, leading to hopefully a more natural evolution into a better Dark Phoenix storyline.
 
I'm with Bobby on Munn's Psylocke. There wasn't much anyone could really do with what she was given, really.

Same could be said with Angel and Apoc.
 
Also best part was after they had been to Star Wars ep 6 where they said 'everyone knows that the third movie is worst'


BURN
 
Don't agree that they wasted Phoenix at all. That was actually the only good part of the climax. Everything else in the fight and setpiece was shit, but the idea that Apocalypse was overwhelming everyone else, and even Xavier couldn't contain him in his mind, that he had to be stopped by unleashing the restrains Jean put on herself, is a fantastic way to showcase just a part of what the Phoenix Force is capable of. The way it stripped Apocalypse away layer by layer was pretty awesome too.

There's no waste here because Jean managed to keep it under control, she showed this small group of friends what she was truly capable of, and she wasn't killed off nor did she "lock away" the powers forever. It was a way for the Phoenix is come out and be a part of the story moving forward, leading to hopefully a more natural evolution into a better Dark Phoenix storyline.

Probably the only time I feel like they got the ultimate baddie right in a comic movie. It was everyone working together, slowly bringing him down, with Phoenix being the part to make him crumble. And I liked that even though she was stronger, he was still able to resist without the help of the others.

I also enjoyed how it was a fitting end to Apoc too. His desire for survival of the fittest and achieving a greater height. In the end, he saw it.
 
The Apocalypse size-shifting - Fucking crap misdirection. Just went I thought they were going to do something really fun with his powers, that turns out to be just "in Xavier's head" while the actual fight was him in a stupid energy bubble with everyone spamming crap around it. I laughed out loud when Beast ran off the roof to do a failed jump attack on him. What the fuck? Even if the attack connected, what did he think he was going to achieve with it. Worst setpiece in the film.

I'll skip this, thanks.
 
I don't know if some scenes with apocalypse and his followers were intentional comedy but I just couldn't take his character seriously at all, nor is he as menacing as he was like in the comics.

Also, the wolverine cameo was cool but it felt forced. When he ran away without saying a single word, i just couldn't help but laugh, and I wear to you I wasn't the only one.

Apocalypse to psylocke "I want you....." everyone laughed also.
 
The Pheonix reveal felt like a cheap, lazy get out of jail free card for Kinberg.

In the very same film Jean is introduced, she's already mastered control of the Pheonix force. And it DOES absolutely come out of nowhere. She's more developed, powerful and in control at the end of the film than the professor and may as well quit his school now.

Instead of thinking of a more clever way to take out apocalypse, it came down to the brilliant move of sacrificing future character development for this stupid battle of power levels.
 
The Pheonix reveal felt like a cheap, lazy get out of jail free card for Kinberg.

In the very same film Jean is introduced, she's already mastered control of the Pheonix force. And it DOES absolutely come out of nowhere. She's more developed, powerful and in control at the end of the film than the professor and may as well quit his school now.

Instead of thinking of a more clever way to take out apocalypse, it came down to the brilliant move of sacrificing future character development for this stupid battle of power levels.

Some righteous geek rage here. For real.
 
Some righteous geek rage here. For real.
I don't even care about the Pheonix, I was more disappointed with how lazy Kinberg is and how he's allowed to get away with shit like this. Meanwhile the writers of X2 are relegated to participating story by credits.
 
Well seeing as i spoiled myself on the Phoenix reveal. Does she have the iconic Fire bird shit or is it X3 Jean again?
 
I don't even care about the Pheonix, I was more disappointed with how lazy Kinberg is and how he's allowed to get away with shit like this. Meanwhile the writers of X2 are relegated to participating story by credits.

The Phoenix wasn't the problem here, the entire climax is. I think you're raging at the wrong thing. Once Apocalypse removes all nukes from the world, the entire film comes to a standstill. There's the Day One Edition Preorder DLC Quest at the Weapon X Facility, and then after that it's straight to the final dungeon with a bunch of mid-boss fights before the 10,000,000 HP final boss which you chip away until you get to the final 10% and trigger the Phoenix cutscene.

How Phoenix was represented on screen was fantastic. Was it an easy solution? Sure. But it was still the best solution given the -problem-. They wrote themselves into a stupid climax. If they didn't we could have a different discussion.

Well seeing as i spoiled myself on the Phoenix reveal. Does she have the iconic Fire bird shit or is it X3 Jean again?

It's not Jean on fire, it's Jean walking on air floating like a goddess as the flames behind her morph more and more into a firebird shape and gets larger as the power gets more intense and Apocalypse is stripped away piece by piece, from his armor to his skin to his skeleton. It was done -really- well.
 
Don't agree that they wasted Phoenix at all. That was actually the only good part of the climax. Everything else in the fight and setpiece was shit, but the idea that Apocalypse was overwhelming everyone else, and even Xavier couldn't contain him in his mind, that he had to be stopped by unleashing the restrains Jean put on herself, is a fantastic way to showcase just a part of what the Phoenix Force is capable of. The way it stripped Apocalypse away layer by layer was pretty awesome too.

There's no waste here because Jean managed to keep it under control, she showed this small group of friends what she was truly capable of, and she wasn't killed off nor did she "lock away" the powers forever. It was a way for the Phoenix is come out and be a part of the story moving forward, leading to hopefully a more natural evolution into a better Dark Phoenix storyline.

True but for a non-comic book guy like me, the phoenix reveal looked rushed, deus-ex machina and i felt sorry for Apoc. Badass got rekt like nothing by some youngling. What did Apoc say in his last breath, something like 'oh shit, of course'. Wonder if he will be back...

Another thing i felt about FC and Dofp is the budget allocated is likely not high, but they make do with it on a creative side. Apoc i guess has the same budget range, but Singer took the boring way out, disaster movie climax and all but ended up looking cheap.
 
It's not Jean on fire, it's Jean walking on air floating like a goddess as the flames behind her morph more and more into a firebird shape and gets larger as the power gets more intense and Apocalypse is stripped away piece by piece, from his armor to his skin to his skeleton. It was done -really- well.

Omg im going to die watching that unfold.
 
Angel actually gets a couple action sequences in this film but even taking that into account I could see a legitimate debate over whether he or Jubilee was done dirtier in this film.
Well at least I can take some solace knowing that #Cyclopswasright wasn't done the dirtiest in this film.
 
Phoenix feels more like a tease or an Easter egg than anything that should've occurred naturally in the film. They say Jean is super powerful a few times but the Phoenix visuals only make sense if you have knowledge of the character, it's not explored beyond "she's super powerful" and just a way to take out Apocalypse. In X-3 at least it was part of the plot, here it was some cool fire effects - mid air walking looked cheesy as hell until the bird got big - and that's it.
 
Phoenix feels more like a tease or an Easter egg than anything that should've occurred naturally in the film. They say Jean is super powerful a few times but the Phoenix visuals only make sense if you have knowledge of the character, it's not explored beyond "she's super powerful" and just a way to take out Apocalypse. In X-3 at least it was part of the plot, here it was some cool fire effects - mid air walking looked cheesy as hell until the bird got big - and that's it.

To be fair, this is the 6th film in the franchise, so they're not establishing the character of Jean Grey from scratch. Instead, someone following all the films up until now will have knowledge of the character and what she is ultimately capable of. Now we're seeing the younger version of her in a new timeline, but it's still the same character. I think viewed in that context, it makes sense.
 
To be fair, this is the 6th film in the franchise, so they're not establishing the character of Jean Grey from scratch. Instead, someone following all the films up until now will have knowledge of the character and what she is ultimately capable of. Now we're seeing the younger version of her in a new timeline, but it's still the same character. I think viewed in that context, it makes sense.

In the context of what though, The Last Stand? We didn't really delve into Phoenix other than the tease at the end of X2 IIRC. I don't think anyone is confused about the fact that Jean is super powerful - that's well established in all of them - but Phoenix in particular is only ever touched upon in TLS. It's really just a visual Easter egg for people in the know of the comics or one bad movie that's been retconned out anyway.
 
In the context of what though, The Last Stand? We didn't really delve into Phoenix other than the tease at the end of X2 IIRC. I don't think anyone is confused about the fact that Jean is super powerful - that's well established in all of them - but Phoenix in particular is only ever touched upon in TLS. It's really just a visual Easter egg for people in the know of the comics or one bad movie that's been retconned out anyway.

In the context that we know Jean Grey is the most powerful telepath in the universe, and that there's something in her which is more powerful than even Xavier. It's something that was established in both X2 and X3. Xavier knows it, we know it. Now we're seeing a younger version of her in a new timeline because of DoFP, and because of.... *drumroll*.... an "apocalyptic" event.... *breaths out*.... he encourages her to unleash that hidden power way earlier than she would otherwise have been comfortable with previously.

That's all it is. I think a normal person who has watched all the previous X-men movies would arrive at that simple conclusion. It's certainly not a well written film, but I don't think it's unnatural to have used it the way they did given that they spend half the film showing more and more hints of the extent of Jean Grey's powers going beyond just simple telepathy, and Xavier understanding that very well.
 
In the context of xmen universe, Jean phoenix is supposed to be some cosmic life force powerrrr.

But in the context of the new xmcu trilogy, audiences have been pre-baked to see mutant powers as some genetic evolution (#keepitsemireal), and also apocalypse is the first mutant, was various gods through the history of human civilisation, and even acquired other mutant powers. So I guess for some, it's a bit cheap to see him go like that.

OK I get that thanks to dofp, new/old xmcu are connected, and why do apocalypse have his alien triangle shit back in Egyptian times, or how he can upgrade mutant powers and dye hair like some dbZ dude. Guess these are reasons why I felt apocalypse is a disappointing film.

Hopefuly future xmcu shows go full comic and cosmic or something. Dunno why I should feel excited about Mr sinister now...seeing how they wasted apocalypse, and Mr sinister looks like repeating of the same theme
 
Apologies if this has been said before, but am I right in thinking that this entire movie hinges on a misplaced rug?
 
Also best part was after they had been to Star Wars ep 6 where they said 'everyone knows that the third movie is worst'


BURN
Too bad for them X-Men Apocalypse released after Captain America Civil War or else they might have a point and no one would hold it against them for shooting for par.
 
Too bad for them X-Men Apocalypse released after Captain America Civil War or else they might have a point and no one would hold it against them for shooting for par.
The again, when you consider the First Class Movies a Trilogy, its funny again.
 
Apologies if this has been said before, but am I right in thinking that this entire movie hinges on a misplaced rug?

No?

It allows Moira to find the tomb where Apoc was buried, but the light comes in from a different part of the tomb, probably one that was made to allow more natural light into the tomb. The followers didn't seem to know that sunlight activated the obelisk or whatever it's called.

I really liked it as it happens. I loved the Phoenix reveal during the end fight. Kept my expectations in check thanks to Duckroll, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't marking out in my seat when the phoenix shroud appeared.

I do wonder, what did Apoc mean when he said all is revealed just before being disintegrated by Phoenix?
 
It was a good bad movie

Sure when you think about it everything was pretty pointless

But it was a pretty fun movie. Me and everybody with me had a good time

(Just that last fight was too long, we were already tired at this point)
 
Just watched it, it was very good!
With all the news about how the critics didn't like it I was worried, but I was pleasantly surprised
I might even like this more than civil war
 
I think one of the big problems with the XMU is that they're not true to the scope of the comic books.

X-Men villains and the threat they represent are not the same as those from the Avengers: rarely is global domination or destruction the end-game. Magneto and Apocalypse preoccupy themselves by trying to move certain pieces within their sphere of influence, but their efforts are more subtle than the depictions in some of these movie.

The stories need to be tighter and leaner, less global, more focused on the intramutant community and its everyday life juxtaposed with that of homosapiens within a social commentary framework. They also need to work more on hero and villain development, not so much on these extravagant plots on world domination that seem to blanket character development, which is sorely needed since most of the X characters are shallow enough as they are.
 
whattt a fucking stinker

wolverine = LOL

Apocalypse = clown face

Psychlocke ruined by an actress who can't act

JLaw is ridiculous as mystique


just a horrible movie. The direction is terrible. And Stan Lee's cameo just made the crisis seem like a joke.

Bad.
 
I. And I wish they had cast someone else instead of Olivia whatshername as Psylocke. The character could have been so much better had they cast a better actress.

They never focused the camera on her too long but her body isn't lean/long enough and she looked like she was wearing a one piece bathing suit. And her acting is terrible and she just ends up looking dopey. At the end when she glared at the xmen and wandered off. just terrible. Very miscast. Maggie Q could have done this better.

186827f3c3246e90a0ff67f9fe34e188.jpg

the psychlocke we deserved

2016-X-Men-Apocalypse-font-b-Psylocke-b-font-cosplay-font-b-Costume-b-font-for.jpg


Olivia Munn.. urghhh. there was one shot where her belly looked really big.

anyhow. Movie was badd...


Since you didn't care for it why are you asking?


so I know if they make a sequel, where they'll go next.
 
Olivia Munn is hated way too much holy shit lol

It's absurd. She did fine with what she was given. Not her fault Singer is like Charles and doesn't give a shit about any female characters other than Jean or Mystique.

I mean... Moira was an embarrassing waste of Rose Byrne. Absolutely shocking. Could've had anyone stumble upon that cult. All she did other than that was smile at Xaviwr and randomly react to stuff in the final battle.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom