The issue with X-Men: Apocalypse is that Bryan Singer suggests so many possible directions to go in and still chooses the least interesting one.This film nimbly mixes narrative exuberance and emotional depth, flamboyant displays of power with quietly terrifying exchanges. It zips along, combining the highs and lows of a real comic book – all the feeling, color, and wonder, even some of the dopiness – with gloriously cinematic storytelling.
The problem is that Apocalypse’s highlights feel like moments of serenity amidst two-and-a-half-hours of lumbering, inconsequential chaos.
Apocalypse’s biggest issue is that it tries to do so many things at once. Here’s a film that needs to close a trilogy, set up a new generation heroes, introduce and focus on the eponymous villain while attempting to fit into the franchise’s warped continuity. The final product is an ambitious, hectic and often poorly structured tale with dozens of glorious geeky goodies on the surface for comic book fans to enjoy. Whether you like that combination or not is entirely down to personal preference.