'X-Men: Apocalypse' storylines would have benefited from major pruning

( PG-13 ) ( Monitor Movie Guide )

'Apocalypse' features the return of franchise stars such as Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, and Michael Fassbender. The group must battle villain Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), an Egyptian god.

|
Alan Markfield/Twentieth Century Fox/AP
'X-Men: Apocalypse' stars Jennifer Lawrence (l.) and Evan Peters (r.).

Mutants galore infest “X-Men: Apocalypse,” but the pile-on quickly becomes wearying. Bryan Singer’s latest installment in the Twentieth Century Fox franchise is chockablock with the old standbys – even Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine makes an uncredited appearance – but the storyline, such as it is, would have benefited from major pruning. 

It seems that Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), an Egyptian god newly awakened after 5300 years in slumberland, wants to wipe away the world and all its awfulness and start afresh. This god definitely has a God complex.

With supermutant powers beyond the paltry abilities of his X-Men combatants, he proceeds to wreak havoc. He does, however, teleport all the world’s nuclear missiles into outer space, out of harm’s way, so you have to give him that.

He’s aided by some handpicked mutant recruits, not that he needs help. Magneto (Michael Fassbender) is his biggest catch. In a particularly distasteful scene, Apocalpyse brings Magneto to Auschwitz to seethe over the hellhole that wiped out his parents. Using Auschwitz as pulp fodder is remarkably clueless.

Some of the franchise stalwarts, such as Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique, are given too little to do. Most are given too much. Grade: C+ (Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence, action and destruction, brief strong language and some suggestive images.)

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to 'X-Men: Apocalypse' storylines would have benefited from major pruning
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2016/0526/X-Men-Apocalypse-storylines-would-have-benefited-from-major-pruning
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe