X-Men: Apocalypse by director Bryan Singer strays from the comic books in terms of his character design. Instead of a muscular ape-like creature, Apocalypse looks like an old politician with blue skin.

What’s more, Oscar Isaac, the actor who thrilled us as Poe Dameron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, isn’t quite able to pull off one of the greatest villains in the X-Men universe; a being as powerful as 100 mutants, and with the charisma to attract countless more.

Most unfortunate is how X-Men: Apocalypse uses numerous superhero film tropes that audiences are tired of absorbing. There is the all-powerful super villain who will stop at nothing to take over the world, and holds nothing but contempt for humanity. There is the real-world city brought to ruin. There are the superheroes that fight each other. There are the super humans who switch sides, and are suddenly embraced with open arms, when only a few minutes ago they were ready to murder their soon-to-be new teammates.

In spite of these issues, X-Men: Apocalypse is entertaining primarily due to the characterisation. The film’s two most compelling characters are Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver (Evan Peters) and Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbender). Quicksilver once again has a similarly amusing scene as in X-Men: Days of Future Past, where he moves so fast that time stands still while he saves dozens of people in a comical way from death. From here, Quicksilver pursues his quest to finally approach his long-lost father.

X-Men: Apocalypse is a fair follow up to the excellent X-Men: Days of Future Past. But its main problem is its titular villain who doesn’t feel all that menacing

Magneto, meanwhile, has a deep and moving arc, where he tries to live a normal life, until tragedy and heartbreak strike once again, forcing him to turn on mankind once more. Here, the grieving mutant is recruited by Apocalypse, who has awoken from a slumber that has lasted hundreds of years, and is emotionally manipulated into doing his bidding. Magneto’s storyline has the most depth, and will be particularly enjoyable to longtime fans of X-Men films, even if it rehashes much of what we had already seen about him.

Some of the other characters don’t work as well though, especially the newer ones. Particularly disappointing is Sophie Turner as the telepathic mutant Jean Grey. Turner, who Game of Thrones fans will recognise as Sansa Stark, lacks the charisma to emulate the original Jean Grey, Famke Janssen. Equally disappointing is the former Attack of the Show! co-host, Olivia Munn, who has far too many lines as Psylocke as far as her wooden performance is concerned. Of the new faces, only Tye Sheridan, playing the future leader of the X-Men, Cyclops, is worth watching.

The action is plentiful and is rather chaotic. There is so much happening on screen, especially when Apocalypse is in action, that it is sometimes a challenge to tell which mutant is doing what. That being said, the action sequences are enjoyable. The special effects are good and the teamwork by the X-Men reminds us of both the comic books and the X-Men cartoons from the 1990s. X-Men: Apocalypse isn’t the greatest superhero film ever made, but it isn’t the worst either.

Rated PG-13 for action and violence

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, June 12th, 2016