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(which, it turns out, is not called X-Men: Age of Apocalypse)
Some spoilers below
Case for the prosecution: Am I part of the problem? Probably. That wonderful clip of the ancient Four Horsemen chanting En Sabat Nur's name at the end of "X-Men: Days of Future Past" got me over-excited. Nothing could have lived up to it ... except "X-Men: Days of Future Past" did live up to the hype caused by the credits stinger at the end of "The Wolverine" (a.k.a. Wolverine in Japan), so I think my excessive hopes were partially justified.
"X-Men: Apocalypse" did not live up to my excitement. There were things I liked, don't get me wrong (secret agent Moira McTaggart, the scene where Angel got his metal wings, the precise shape of Beast's shoulders when he realised that Mystique had come back to save Magneto from himself not for any other reason, that moment when Peter realises he wasn't quite quick enough to save Alex, Xavier subverting Apocalypse's powers to get his own message through, Peter and not being able to spit it out re: mutant dad and that Magneto's fighting style remains melodrama), but it does emphasise that this is a film of bits and not one coherent whole.
My major objection is that there seems to be half a film missing from when they defeat Apocalypse to when they re-open the school. It's all owwie and painful but I want it.
My other objection is that Apocalypse feels like an afterthought in his own movie. Apocalypse the Eternal shouldn't be an afterthought in a film named for him.
The scene itself:
Is from the start to about 1:30 in the clip below.
Why it's so good:
You know how I said I wanted more oww in the this film. This scene brings it.
It's everything from the realisation dawning on Mystique's face that she is going to have to be a leader because it is not in Hank's skillset and everyone else on the plane is *so* young (or Peter), and as part of that leadership, making sure to praise Alex.
There's that moment when you realise that yes, she and Hank (and Moira) are the only people left from the first flight of the Blackbird, and it hurts, and that's why everyone else is so young.
Even Peter's bit about being a total loser is only half played for laughs, because he's deliberately trying to break the tension, and because he's failing to hide a certain level of self-loathing.
Jennifer Laurence ... I mean, you can see every emotion Mystique is going through and she's half wall and half wide open book and ...! And Hank, and him being all pensive. I love my bluesome twosome.
It's a character scene in a film that loses them under too much CGI and too much trying to fit the characters into archetypes they don't quite fit into.
Some spoilers below
Case for the prosecution: Am I part of the problem? Probably. That wonderful clip of the ancient Four Horsemen chanting En Sabat Nur's name at the end of "X-Men: Days of Future Past" got me over-excited. Nothing could have lived up to it ... except "X-Men: Days of Future Past" did live up to the hype caused by the credits stinger at the end of "The Wolverine" (a.k.a. Wolverine in Japan), so I think my excessive hopes were partially justified.
"X-Men: Apocalypse" did not live up to my excitement. There were things I liked, don't get me wrong (secret agent Moira McTaggart, the scene where Angel got his metal wings, the precise shape of Beast's shoulders when he realised that Mystique had come back to save Magneto from himself not for any other reason, that moment when Peter realises he wasn't quite quick enough to save Alex, Xavier subverting Apocalypse's powers to get his own message through, Peter and not being able to spit it out re: mutant dad and that Magneto's fighting style remains melodrama), but it does emphasise that this is a film of bits and not one coherent whole.
My major objection is that there seems to be half a film missing from when they defeat Apocalypse to when they re-open the school. It's all owwie and painful but I want it.
My other objection is that Apocalypse feels like an afterthought in his own movie. Apocalypse the Eternal shouldn't be an afterthought in a film named for him.
The scene itself:
Is from the start to about 1:30 in the clip below.
Why it's so good:
You know how I said I wanted more oww in the this film. This scene brings it.
It's everything from the realisation dawning on Mystique's face that she is going to have to be a leader because it is not in Hank's skillset and everyone else on the plane is *so* young (or Peter), and as part of that leadership, making sure to praise Alex.
There's that moment when you realise that yes, she and Hank (and Moira) are the only people left from the first flight of the Blackbird, and it hurts, and that's why everyone else is so young.
Even Peter's bit about being a total loser is only half played for laughs, because he's deliberately trying to break the tension, and because he's failing to hide a certain level of self-loathing.
Jennifer Laurence ... I mean, you can see every emotion Mystique is going through and she's half wall and half wide open book and ...! And Hank, and him being all pensive. I love my bluesome twosome.
It's a character scene in a film that loses them under too much CGI and too much trying to fit the characters into archetypes they don't quite fit into.
