X-Men: Apocalypse

There's not much to say about X-Men: Apocalypse other than if you like the X-Men, you'll probably like it. The action looks cool, the plot is interesting (albeit simple), and you get to see more characters in their younger iterations.

I begin this post about X-Men: Apocalypse with the disclaimer that I've never seen an X-Men movie I didn't like – although that could be because I've strategically avoided X2 and X3. And I knew I didn't want to see The Wolverine. And it's not even listed as an X-Men movie, so I'm not counting it (I didn't like it. But I did like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, unlike everyone else). I watched and liked the animated series, and the X-Men are definitely my favorite superheroes.

Apocalypse got a lot of bad reviews. It seemed like no one really liked it. I liked it. I didn't think it had too many characters or anything. A lot of them were people we already knew. I can't stand Sansa as Jean, though. I just don't like that actress. Then again, I felt the same way about Jennifer Lawrence, and I'm getting more used to her in the role now I guess.

I liked that she saved Nightcrawler, at least. And she seems a little more disillusioned and less cocky now. I don't know why Quicksilver didn't just tell Magneto he's his son. It seems like it would be important. And Magneto would want to know. Everybody thought his scene was the best part of Future Past, but I didn't like it. I liked his scene in this one a lot better. I do like him as a character in general.

James McAvoy was great. I loved how enamored he was with Moira, especially the scene where she said she had a son and he asked, "Does he have a husband?" At first it seemed a little deus ex that Magneto would change his mind just because he remembered that Xavier believed in him, but I guess it could really happen. I bet Olivia Munn was stoked to get to be in the movie. I guess she did an alright job. She didn't have much to do, anyway.

I liked getting a look at a young Storm, and an explanation for why Wolverine and Jean would have a connection later. Wolverine's cameo was cool. You could tell it was him before they even opened the box. I guess he's not doing the role anymore since it's too hard to bulk up, but he doesn't even look that impressive.

Nightcrawler was one of my favorite characters. I was disappointed with Alan Cumming in the role, but I liked what Kodi did. The outfit he was wearing at first was cool, too. The metal song they played when Apocalypse found Angel worked really well.

I do think Magneto should've been locked up. It's not like he had been brainwashed or anything. You can't kill that many people and destroy that much stuff without consequences. Apocalypse was a good villain. His motives were pretty solid, and it made sense why everyone who joined him would.

There wasn't anything spectacular about it, but it was fun to watch.

I just watched the commentary and found out James McAvoy improvised everything at the CIA with Moira, which is awesome. And they recorded Apocalypse's voice with three different mics at once so they could do weird things with it.