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Overall, Bryan Singer et al have thrown everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink at this one, although it’s still left in need of more humour.
Alexandra Shipp, as the young Storm, and Olivia Munn, as Psylocke, are stunning beyond belief, and are great even when they’re just standing around looking hot. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) has an uncredited cameo for no little other reason than to please the fans who’d have otherwise missed him, and there’s a now-obligatory slo-mo scene for Quicksilver (Evan Peters) (with the Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), which looks a bit forced and ‘cardboard cut-out’ compared to that in Days of Future Past. In fact, there’s a better scene doing the rounds in the current Sky Fibre advert, which, unsurprisingly, was amongst the adverts before this film. And talking of cameos, Stan Lee also pops up, this time along with the missus, Joanie Lee.
There’s a remark as Scott, Jean, Nightcrawler and Jubilee come out of the cinema after watching Return of the Jedi, commenting that “the third movie is always the worst”. Well, First Class was superb, while Days of Future Past was very good. Here, the story isn’t as strong as the last film, and there are times when Apocalypse doesn’t look particularly threatening, such as when he goes to the young Storm’s house where he watches TV in order to gain knowledge, and he comes across about as menacing as Napoleon when he got lumbered with the kids in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
X-Men: Apocalypse doesn’t quite measure up to the first two, but it would be doing it a disservice to say it’s one of the worst superhero films. And, for me, that certainly fell to the aforementioned Captain America: Civil War. It could have done with a stronger plot, though, as there’s only so many times Magneto can go off the rails with the Prof going out of his way to tame him. And given the penchant for TV spinoffs these days, how long before we get an X-Men series where the pair are doing the same dance week-in, week-out?
This was the first time I’d been to the Vue, Lowry, and while the screen was huge, the sound is on-point, the seating is extremely comfy, and the place is clearly well-decked out for a large auditorium (I was in screen 1), I do have one major issue. I like to watch a film’s end credits, and there are some which contain mid- and/or post-credits sequences. X-Men: Apocalypse features one at the very end, but as soon as the credits began, they whacked the side house lights up to almost full which was completely unnecessary. Yes, I know that people need to see to leave, if they’re going at that point, but there was a happy medium with the way the room was almost completely dark during the trailers. Due to the brightness, the light spilled onto the screen and the credits weren’t as legible as they should be.
I almost cheered as the lights came right back down just as the post-credits scene was about to start, BUT, they came back up on full halfway through!!! Completely ruined the content of that scene and was so distracting I had to look up a description afterwards.
I could see, behind me, there were two cleaners sat down so it didn’t look like they were to blame for the lights going back up at that moment, but if the lights are automated then they need to be done manually, and if they were manual, then that person needs to be watching the post-credits scene to know when it has finished… but as I said, the lights shouldn’t be so bright while the credits run anyway.
I go to the Odeon a fair bit, at both Trafford Centre and the Printworks in Manchester, and I’ve had to bring that to their attention before when the cleaners have whacked them up full blast (there’s a switch available to them on the walkway up to the auditorium as you go inside).
Anyone who’s read my cinema reviews before will know that how end credits are treated in cinemas is a bug-bear of mine, particularly when I went to see San Andreas last year.
My belief is that if there are audience members still in the room, the lights should not be switched on so bright while the credits roll, and the staff should stay out of sight until everyone has left. I’m sure, had I had reason to chat to the cleaners at Vue that they would’ve been as friendly as the staff I met on my arrival, but when you’re trying to enjoy the end credit music (and any scenes that follow), what you don’t need is a reminder that you’re back in reality. The credits only run for five minutes or so, usually, and I’m sure the clean-up can wait. And if it can’t – as Odeon Printworks once tried to make the point about the urgency of cleaning, then the screening start times should be made later by five minutes to account for this.
I know that the Odeon, for example, like to have the cleaners standing there to ‘thank’ people as they leave, but to me, that’s an Americanism and in any event, they can still stand back by the doors so they’re not in view. When a staff member can be seen during the credits, it communicates the message of “You’re in the way. Leave now”.
Now, about that post-credits scene, which I will preface with a spoiler tag…
X-Men: Apocalypse is available to pre-order on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, 4K, DVD and a Blu-ray Book Pack Limited Edition, and click on the poster, and all of the other images, for the full-size versions.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 144 minutes
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Year: 2016
Format: 2.35:1 (Redcode RAW (6K) (dual-strip 3-D))
Released: May 18th 2016
Rating: 6.5/10
Director: Bryan Singer
Producers: Simon Kinberg, Lauren Shuler Donner and Bryan Singer
Screenplay: Simon Kinberg (based on a story by Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg, Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris)
Music: John Ottman
Cast:
Professor Charles Xavier: James McAvoy
Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto: Michael Fassbender
Raven / Mystique: Jennifer Lawrence
Hank McCoy / Beast: Nicholas Hoult
En Sabah Nur / Apocalypse: Oscar Isaac
Moira Mactaggert: Rose Byrne
Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver: Evan Peters
Col. William Stryker: Josh Helman
Jean Grey: Sophie Turner
Scott Summers / Cyclops: Tye Sheridan
Alex Summers / Havok: Lucas Till
Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler: Kodi Smit-McPhee
Angel: Ben Hardy
Psylocke: Olivia Munn
Ororo Munroe / Storm: Alexandra Shipp
Jubilee: Lana Condor
Horseman – Pestilence: Warren Scherer
Horseman – Famine: Rochelle Okoye
Horseman – Death: Monique Ganderton
Horseman – War: Fraser Aitcheson
Lead Conspiracy Guard: Abdulla Hamam
Conspirator Guard #1: Hesham Hammoud
Conspirator Guard #2: Antonio Daniel Hidalgo
High Priest: Al Maini
Old Apocalypse: Berdj Garabedian
Scott’s Teacher: Ally Sheedy
School Jock: Anthony Konechny
School Cheerleader: Emma Elle Paterson
Fight Announcer: Manuel Sinor
Defeated ‘Blob’: Giant Gustav Claude Ouimet
Electric Panel Guard: Lukas Penar
Mr. Summers: Ryan Hollyman
Mrs. Summers: Joanne Boland
Tab Girl: Erika Heather Mergl
Falafel Shop Owner: Nabeel El Khafif
Clan Akkaba Leader: Manuel Tadros
Clan Akkaba Disciple #1: Abanoub Andraous
Clan Akkaba Disciple #2: Aladeen Tawfeek
Magda: Carolina Bartczak
Nina: TJ McGibbon
Himself: Stan Lee
Herself: Joanie Lee
Foyer Student: Henry Hallowell
Fish Bowl Girl: Danielle Dury
Kissing Girl: Naomi Frenette
Kissing Guy: Aj Risi
Computer Guy: Raphael Dury
Darts Guy: Ian Rosenberg
Pizza Dog: Tauntaun
Student in Drapes #1: Mary-Pier Gaudet
Student in Drapes #2: Josh Madryga
Student in Drapes #3: Scott Cook
Table Surfing Student #1: Francis Limoges
Table Surfing Student #2: Tsu-Ching Yu
Logan: Hugh Jackman (uncredited)
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.