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[SPOILER THREAD] X-Men: Apocalypse

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I just saw it and actually really like it, it has it's issues but I still enjoyed it overall.
Right as the movie started my mom was like "Where is Charles at? The movie can't start without him saying mutants." We giggled when he said it, lol.

When Jean looked into Wolverines mind to restore his memory I wonder what she saw and if she saw that he knew Charles and Mystique.
The ending is probably my favorite out of any comic book movie though. Probably the most accurate X-Men scene to date and it was just a tease.


Edit: Just thought about something, how the hell is Jean able to control Phoenix already? She spends the whole movie struggling to understand it and when she finally unleashes it she's able to control it and put it back inside her once things calm down.
 
From all the pre chatter I was expecting the worst but...I actually enjoyed this far more than Civil War.

They have a good base to work from here now we have the 'classic' X Men team together.
 
Honestly as I was watching the movie I did feel disinterested as it was going on, I felt like the character motivations were not fleshed out at all and some other weird issues. Characters just did things to force the story to go on rather than because it made sense. Why are these random people joining a scary dude like Apocalypse just because they got upgrades? Why can Mystique use her ability to shapeshift behind the electric beams which supposedly stop abilities? Why is Storm not horrified at the prospect of billions of deaths but suddenly gets upset when Mystique is in trouble? Stuff like that I didn't understand.

On the other hand, I liked more Magneto backstory. Apocalypse's strength/omnipotence felt appropriate. I enjoyed the end fight as it felt very x-men-like, and it was awesome to see Phoenix powers. I wish we had Jubilee/Gambit and more sentinel training. If they included this stuff it would feel more and more like the 90s animated series.

X-Men 2 is still the best out of all of them to me. The newer ones are too ensemble cast, action over characters. A bunch of loud noises and cool powers but not enough heart/dialogue for me. I'm not opposed to Singer continuing the future films but I'd also be interested in a director that's more known for caring about dramatic character building stuff, like Raimi's Spiderman's or the first Captain America.
 
I am not sure if I can take my nephew to watch this movie. He's 7 years old and has seen almost all of the comic books movies (including previous X men movies) as he's a fan.

Movie has legit pushing the rating limit violence in it.

Flesh being burnt off.
People getting impaled repeatedly.
Necks pierced.
Bodies crushed.
Bodies smushed together like a ball, limb and all.
Heads decapitated.
Graphic scene of Angel getting his metallic wings.
etc.


But then I wouldn't be the cool uncle anymore...
 
Dahbomb said:
I am not sure if I can take my nephew to watch this movie. He's 7 years old and has seen almost all of the comic books movies (including previous X men movies) as he's a fan.

Movie has legit pushing the rating limit violence in it.

Flesh being burnt off.
People getting impaled repeatedly.
Necks pierced.
Bodies crushed.
Bodies smushed together like a ball, limb and all.
Heads decapitated.
Graphic scene of Angel getting his metallic wings.
etc.


But then I wouldn't be the cool uncle anymore...
Click to expand...

Makes me disappointed in Bobby Roberts.
 
I saw it today with my brother, I really enjoyed it! For some reason I had low expectations for it, don't know why. I liked the castings for all the new kids and Olivia Munn is my new waifu. Absolutely gorgeous.
 
Dahbomb said:
I am not sure if I can take my nephew to watch this movie. He's 7 years old and has seen almost all of the comic books movies (including previous X men movies) as he's a fan.

Movie has legit pushing the rating limit violence in it.

Flesh being burnt off.
People getting impaled repeatedly.
Necks pierced.
Bodies crushed.
Bodies smushed together like a ball, limb and all.
Heads decapitated.
Graphic scene of Angel getting his metallic wings.
etc.


But then I wouldn't be the cool uncle anymore...
Click to expand...

Well it's....flashes I guess. It doesn't linger. But yeah I was shocked at how brutal things got. It's the part where Apocalypse decapitates 3 dudes with a blade of sand that sticks out to me. That was...very graphic for a PG-13 movie. I mean Jason Voorhees cut off three heads in Jason Lives, and that's R-rated and it wasn't as violent or brutal as that scene was.
 
Dahbomb said:
I am not sure if I can take my nephew to watch this movie. He's 7 years old and has seen almost all of the comic books movies (including previous X men movies) as he's a fan.

Movie has legit pushing the rating limit violence in it.

Flesh being burnt off.
People getting impaled repeatedly.
Necks pierced.
Bodies crushed.
Bodies smushed together like a ball, limb and all.
Heads decapitated.
Graphic scene of Angel getting his metallic wings.
etc.


But then I wouldn't be the cool uncle anymore...
Click to expand...
How the hell is this PG-13?
 
I found the selection of horsemen to be quite random, but then again I see the horsemen selection random in the source material.

There's a gigantic power difference between Magneto/Storm and Psylocke/Angel. The former two are basically demigods and the latter are just assassins with neat tricks.
 
Timu said:
How the hell is this PG-13?
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Most of these scenes were slightly out of focus/hazy on purpose. Usually quick edits out and camera didn't linger on them. But you could clearly tell what was going on even if the details weren't 100% graphic.
 
I literally laughed out loud when Magneto's daughter got shot by the arrow (not a sociopath). It was executed like a scene out of Robin Hood Men in Tights.
 
I kind of wish this was split into 2 movies somehow to give some more time to set up the new characters a little better. It worked well enough as is, but some parts seemed a little rushed.
 
I have a question. Given that Apoc is the culprit for Storm's hair and, well, Charles hairloss, does it mean that those events happened in the old continuity too in some form? Which wouldn't make sense because it was shown that Charles and Magneto were already old when they met Jean.. which must be like 2 years after this movie.

The timeline became a mess since Origins, didn't it.
 
I thought that whole magneto daughter thing was unnecessary. They seemed to be going for "hey, what if Magneto actually tried Prof X's way" but it's so underdeveloped, they may as well have not bothered and just had Apocalypse show up after the ending of Days of Future Past. I am really not a fan of when character deaths are reduced to mere plot devices, and that's exactly what his Polish wife and daughter were. It's so generic you could mouth the dialogue with their scenes.

"Husband, I am worried"
"Don't worry wife"
"I will smile and kiss you, showing despite concern, we are happy"
"I am singing my generic lullaby to you, daughter"
"I have a super naive question of love, father, demonstrating my innocence"
"Don't worry daughter, I will be there for you forever"

You could probably splice this scene with a bunch of different scenes like it from other, different movies still have the dialogue be completely coherent. And then they die, just so Magneto can have another layer of shit to angst about, because being a holocaust survivor is clearly not enough trauma for him to be sympathetic.

I may have forgiven it's lack of necessity if there was atleast some modicrum of effort put in it to distinguish them as actual characters. But no, they're just bland and interchangable empathy cheats. It's bullshit.
 
Ahasverus said:
I have a question. Given that Apoc is the culprit for Storm's hair and, well, Charles hairloss, does it mean that those events happened in the old continuity too in some form? Which wouldn't make sense because it was shown that Charles and Magneto were already old when they met Jean.. which must be like 2 years after this movie.

The timeline became a mess since Origins, didn't it.
Click to expand...

It's probably best not to think about it too much. lol
This is a whole new timeline from the original 3 movies.
 
Ahasverus said:
I have a question. Given that Apoc is the culprit for Storm's hair and, well, Charles hairloss, does it mean that those events happened in the old continuity too in some form? Which wouldn't make sense because it was shown that Charles and Magneto were already old when they met Jean.. which must be like 2 years after this movie.

The timeline became a mess since Origins, didn't it.
Click to expand...
Everything that happened in this movie did not happen in the pre-DoFP continuity. Because of the events of DoFP Apocalypse was awoken early.
 
Timu said:
How the hell is this PG-13?
Click to expand...

Outside of the Wolverine sequence, I found this no more or less violent than any of the previous X-Men movies. And even then, Weapon X wasn't that much worse than X2.

Or any of the Marvel movies, really.

deadscreensky said:
(I like a lot of comics, even super hero stuff, but let's not pretend 95% of them aren't disposable nonsense for kids, with no higher aspirations.)
Click to expand...

None of these things are really for anyone younger than like, 12. Nobody making them has your kids in mind. They're not really kids films. Haven't been since the first X-Men.

The comics haven't really been for kids for about three decades, either. People just automatically assume (even after all the damn thinkpieces in that time with the "it's not just for kids!" headline glued to it) they are, without even really processing just what bullshit is going into them.

Nobody making these things - neither the books, nor the movies - gives a shit about your kids, much less wants to write for them, or keep them in mind any farther than "where's the line just before we get in trouble for traumatizing 'em."
 
BTM said:
It's probably best not to think about it too much. lol
This is a whole new timeline from the original 3 movies.
Click to expand...

ElBoxyBrown said:
Everything that happened in this movie did not happen in the pre-DoFP continuity.
Click to expand...
Why wouldn't it? It's not like Apocalypse felt the timeline changing or whatever, there was no exclusive event, and if then, who did those things to the characters before?.. and how does James McAvoy turns into Patrick Stewart in half a decade lol
 
Veelk said:
I thought that whole magneto daughter thing was unnecessary. They seemed to be going for "hey, what if Magneto actually tried Prof X's way" but it's so underdeveloped, they may as well have not bothered and just had Apocalypse show up after the ending of Days of Future Past. I am really not a fan of when character deaths are reduced to mere plot devices, and that's exactly what his Polish wife and daughter were. It's so generic you could mouth the dialogue with their scenes.

"Husband, I am worried"
"Don't worry wife"
"I will smile and kiss you, showing despite concern, we are happy"
"I am singing my generic lullaby to you, daughter"
"I have a super naive question of love, father, demonstrating my innocence"
"Don't worry daughter, I will be there for you forever"

And then they die, so Magneto can have another layer of shit to angst about, because being a holocaust survivor is clearly not enough trauma for him to be sympathetic.

I may have forgiven it's lack of necessity if there was atleast some modicrum of effort put in it to distinguish them as actual characters. But no, they're just bland and interchangable empathy cheats. It's bullshit.
Click to expand...

I felt the same way, they basically TDKR'ed Magneto. Magneto hiding out in the woods with a family just doesn't seem like a very Magneto-y thing to do, especially after DOFP where he found out the future is doomed and the characters themselves can't totally be sure that they averted that crisis. Asteroid M would have made more sense as a storyline. Humanity learns about humans, but alot still hate them, so he takes a bigass rock and goes off to live in space with a city of mutants, then shit goes down.
 
Bobby Roberts said:
None of these things are really for anyone younger than like, 12. Nobody making them has your kids in mind. They're not really kids films. Haven't been since the first X-Men.

The comics haven't really been for kids for about three decades, either. People just automatically assume (even after all the damn thinkpieces in that time with the "it's not just for kids!" headline glued to it) they are, without even really processing just what bullshit is going into them.

Nobody making these things - neither the books, nor the movies - gives a shit about your kids, much less wants to write for them, or keep them in mind any farther than "where's the line just before we get in trouble for traumatizing 'em."
Click to expand...
I was talking entirely about the comic books, and I disagree. I know in recent decades they have skewed older to some degree, but historically they are for kids. (Teenagers are kids too, BTW.)

I actually feel this movie was a lot more brutal than the previous X-men films, but that still meant nearly half my theater was filled with pre-teens at a noon showing on what I'm pretty sure is a school day. I'll agree with you it's not particularly aimed at little kids, though I also think nearly everybody involved knows they love it.
 
ElBoxyBrown said:
Everything that happened in this movie did not happen in the pre-DoFP continuity. Because of the events of DoFP Apocalypse was awoken early.
Click to expand...

This is how I see it. Timeline basically got rocked thanks to DoFP. While the END result may be the same getting there sure wont be. Oddly enough Jean having control over Phoenix even fits in with DOFP ending.
 
deadscreensky said:
I was talking entirely about the comic books, and I disagree.
Click to expand...

I don't know how you can.

Superhero comics haven't been kid friendly, or aimed at kids, since the mid '90s (and you could argue earlier, once Watchmen & Dark Knight Returns took off like they did).

"Historically they're for kids" hasn't actually applied for the last 25-30 years of history. Before then, sure. I won't disagree that your statement is accurate if applied to that timeframe. Since then, though? Hell no. Especially not the percentage you were claiming in your initial post. I'd say it's closer to 15-25%, and that's only because each of the big two have specialty lines that are family friendly they print up in digest form so owners can stash them in a corner of the store as compared to the racks and racks and shelves and shelves full of 15-and-up appropriate superhero stories catering specifically to boys age 15-49.
 
This movie was better than Captain America and I was not prepared for that. Beats even Xmen 2.

Jean emerging as Phoenix sent chills down my spine. So cool

I can not wait to see it again.
 
I ended up enjoying this. Slow at parts, but this new trilogy has been solid.

X2 and DOFP are still the best in their respective trilogies.

Anyone caught the third movie joke ;)
 
icespide said:
I don't know why people bother trying to make sense of x-men movie continuity at this point
Click to expand...

Actually, Days of Future Past made it pretty easy.

Anything from the pre-First Class films movie that occurred after 1973 is no longer valid. It didn't happen.

The parts of Origins: Wolverine up to 1973
First Class
Days of Future Past
Apocalypse

That's it. Nothing else happened. All that other stuff that happened in the other movies is part of some other timeline now that never existed once Mystique did what she did in 1973.

The path from here to Wolverine's waking up at the end of DoFP can take whatever shape it wants - it could fork into yet another alternate reality. But as of now, none of that stuff from the original trilogy & the spinoffs ever occurred.
 
Bobby Roberts said:
Actually, Days of Future Past made it pretty easy.

Anything from the pre-First Class films movie that occurred after 1973 is no longer valid. It didn't happen.

The parts of Origins: Wolverine up to 1973
First Class
Days of Future Past
Apocalypse

That's it. Nothing else happened. All that other stuff that happened in the other movies is part of some other timeline now that never existed once Mystique did what she did in 1973.

The path from here to Wolverine's waking up at the end of DoFP can take whatever shape it wants - it could fork into yet another alternate reality. But as of now, none of that stuff from the original trilogy & the spinoffs ever occurred.
Click to expand...

why do so many people keep trying to act like this prequel timeline should make sense with the other movies?
 
Just remembered something and it may have been asked/answered..How did Stryker get Logan? At the end of DoFP they pull him out of the water and Stryker takes him, but his eyes go yellow to show it's Mystique..

Did they just forget that it was Mystique and not actually Stryker?
 
Bobby Roberts said:
I don't know how you can.

Superhero comics haven't been kid friendly, or aimed at kids, since the mid '90s (and you could argue earlier, once Watchmen & Dark Knight Returns took off like they did).

"Historically they're for kids" hasn't actually applied for the last 25-30 years of history. Before then, sure. I won't disagree that your statement is accurate if applied to that timeframe. Since then, though? Hell no. Especially not the percentage you were claiming in your initial post. I'd say it's closer to 15-25%, and that's only because each of the big two have specialty lines that are family friendly they print up in digest form so owners can stash them in a corner of the store as compared to the racks and racks and shelves and shelves full of 15-and-up appropriate superhero stories catering specifically to boys age 15-49.
Click to expand...
As the bolded shows we are agreeing they are both for kids. You might be acting a little stubborn here.

I broadly agree with you that when the direct market took over comics the superhero stuff started to be focused at an older audience. (And obviously there's plenty of stuff that is definitely aimed at adults, like my favorite from last year, Pax Americana. I doubt 15-year-old me would have particularly been impressed by it.) But more importantly to my argument is the narrative form these comics still take, endless soap operas where almost nothing ever changes, and that's clearly from their roots as a primarily kids-aimed media format for their first 50+ years. The gradual shift to a smaller and older audience didn't especially change this, and just because nowadays only a tiny group of mostly adults are willing to buy the things doesn't somehow negate their origins.

I'd still argue almost all of it is aimed at teenagers as a baseline, which again are kids. For example I finally read Uncanny X-Force early this year, and while wildly considered and marketed as a more adult take on mutants there's still nothing in it that would be challenging for anybody still working on earning their driver's license. It's pretty good too, kid's stuff doesn't mean bad stuff. But for good films you need to steer towards a more conventional dramatic approach, like Days of Future Past and its focus on a smaller group of core characters -- each complete with varying degrees of actual character development! -- rather than the "here's a ton of unchanging toy figures" model we see here. It's an inherently juvenile form of storytelling, that's all I was trying to express.
 
So I went to watch this movie and the just as luck would have it, the power went out as the team was arriving in Egypt. Could anyone give me a rundown on what happens the rest of the movie? It was kind of slow overall and even though they gave me a rain check, I probably won't be going back to watch it just to catch the end.
 
icespide said:
I don't know why people bother trying to make sense of x-men movie continuity at this point
Click to expand...

Bobby Roberts said:
Actually, Days of Future Past made it pretty easy.

Anything from the pre-First Class films movie that occurred after 1973 is no longer valid. It didn't happen.

The parts of Origins: Wolverine up to 1973
First Class
Days of Future Past
Apocalypse

That's it. Nothing else happened. All that other stuff that happened in the other movies is part of some other timeline now that never existed once Mystique did what she did in 1973.

The path from here to Wolverine's waking up at the end of DoFP can take whatever shape it wants - it could fork into yet another alternate reality. But as of now, none of that stuff from the original trilogy & the spinoffs ever occurred.
Click to expand...
The movies just now acknowledged the X-Men have a history with crazy timelines.
 
Does anyone notice a mistake with the Jean Grey actors? Famke Janssen eyes are hazel playing Jean but Sophie Turner eyes are blue. How did they forget to fix that?
 
deadscreensky said:
As the bolded shows we are agreeing they are both for kids. You might be acting a little stubborn here.
Click to expand...

I'm not really being stubborn here. 15 year olds are not who anyone really talks about when they talk about things being appropriate "for kids," nor would 15 year olds appreciate the idea that when you talk about things being "for kids" that you're talking about them.

Your statement about 95% of comics being for kids reads as pretty erroneous to me because most superhero stories aren't suitable for kids, weren't created with kids in mind, and aren't executed in a way that kids will be able to enjoy, for the most part, and you seem to recognize this in the rest of the post.

That 15 year olds aren't legally adults doesn't make them kids. And things that can be okay for kids doesn't make that thing made for them, either. Many of us grew up watching shit that was in no way intended for us to be watching at the age we watched it, and we were fine with it. That doesn't make shit like ALIENS, or Predator, or Die Hard, or The Rock, or Terminator "Kids movies." Yes, the storytelling there can be just as juvenile as the storytelling in modern superhero stories. Not surprising, seeing as superheroes seem to be getting inspiration from those sources as kids like us grew up and got jobs in those industries. But just because grownups are fetishizing their juvenile indulgences into their adulthood doesn't mean those indulgences are still for kids.

Saying "95% of superhero comics are for kids" isn't true. I feel nobody actually paying the $5 per floppy to keep reading these things would agree to that, and I'm pretty sure a large number of the creators making them would balk at that notion, too.

I'm not saying this is a good thing. I think making these stories more family-friendly is a no-brainer move, especially if you want increased audience. But I don't think your description of these stories or their intended audience is at all accurate, and hasn't been for a very long time. That their origins in the '30s began as "Kids stuff" doesn't mean that stands today. Because it absolutely doesn't.

(Hell, the irony is that for as adult-focused as superheroes have gotten, if you want consistent emotional complexity and depth in characterization, you probably have to watch a Disney or Pixar animated film to get satisfied on those fronts. The family films are for juveniles, but are more nourishing to adults than the adult-focused films that use juvenile trappings.)
 
DR2K said:
This movie was better than Captain America and I was not prepared for that. Beats even Xmen 2.

Jean emerging as Phoenix sent chills down my spine. So cool

I can not wait to see it again.
Click to expand...

I am shocked but I also preferred this to Civil War. No joke, Apocalypse I think is by far my favorite X-Men film. It was...perfect. For my tastes.
 
Bobby Roberts said:
Actually, Days of Future Past made it pretty easy.

Anything from the pre-First Class films movie that occurred after 1973 is no longer valid. It didn't happen.

The parts of Origins: Wolverine up to 1973
First Class
Days of Future Past
Apocalypse

That's it. Nothing else happened. All that other stuff that happened in the other movies is part of some other timeline now that never existed once Mystique did what she did in 1973.

The path from here to Wolverine's waking up at the end of DoFP can take whatever shape it wants - it could fork into yet another alternate reality. But as of now, none of that stuff from the original trilogy & the spinoffs ever occurred.
Click to expand...

Yep the timelines broke apart the moment Raven decided not to shoot. A soft reboot but a reboot anyways.
 
There is no way X-Men going into outer space works with Singer involved.

Freaky bird people and Starjammers and all that shit? No way he can do that the way it needs to be done. He'd try to desaturate it somehow. This movie is as close as he gets to legitimate X-men and he & Kinberg still couldn't commit.

Fox could have their own Guardians of the Galaxy right now.
 
Bobby Roberts said:
There is no way X-Men going into outer space works with Singer involved.

Freaky bird people and Starjammers and all that shit? No way he can do that the way it needs to be done. He'd try to desaturate it somehow. This movie is as close as he gets to legitimate X-men and he & Kinberg still couldn't commit.

Fox could have their own Guardians of the Galaxy right now.
Click to expand...

Idk, that ending with them wearing something close to the classic outfits kinda shows maybe Singer is ready to let loose.
 
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