[url=http://www.ign.com/blogs/sicron1417/2016/05/26/x-men-apocalypse-review-mildly-spoiler-free]Click here for the IGN link where I wrote it[/url] ([b][u]this is not an IGN review[/u][/b], just something I did on the site since it felt like the right place) if anyone wants to check it out. Same text is below with altered formatting. [b]Prelude[/b] I'd just like to be honest and upfront that before seeing this film I was not all that excited for it. I wasn't necessarily against seeing it, as I went of my own accord, but none of the trailers really caught my interest. I'm happy to say that I enjoyed this film quite a bit. The short of it is that I'd give it a [b][u]7/10[/u][/b]. If you're a fan, it's worth seeing. If you're not a fan, it probably won't change your mind, especially since it, rightfully, relies on previous films. This 7.5 out of ten falls in line with [url=http://ca.ign.com/wikis/ign/Game_Reviews]IGN's own reviewing guide[/url]. It's definitely good but with room for improvement. This review has no detailed spoilers, to a point. If you want to go in entirely fresh, don't read anymore. While I don't talk about what happens in the film itself in detail, I do generally spoil things, though you might already be assuming what I spoil before going in. [b]Story and Substance[/b] First and foremost, I'm a story kind of person. I love a good story. X-Men Apocalypse delivers a good enough story that I enjoyed it the whole way through. All the jokes hit, which was refreshing since a superhero film taking itself too seriously isn't usually a good thing unless it goes dark. Unfortunately, that's the first place I have to knock the film. Some of the serious parts didn't land well while watching. It was nothing major that made me dislike the scene, but it was clear at times that the film was, so to speak, working in a script. In my opinion, a good film should make you forget that the ending has already been determined. I'll get more into this later with Apocalypse's character, but in short, the film didn't feel like it went far enough. Saying you're going to take over or destroy the world is fine, even starting to do it can be interesting, but if the audience never believes that it'll happen, what's the point? There was never a moment while watching where I thought that this film would lead into something like Days of Future Past where the heroes had lost. Still, you can only go so far in a film without closing a franchise at the same time. It's clear from this film that something is going to come after to do with the school and whatnot. They left that aspect open ended. This isn't a bad or good thing. It entirely will depend on what comes after for that. [b]Characters and Cast[/b] Obviously, if you've seen previous films, you know what you're getting into. Overall, the cast was excellent and did very well portraying their characters. Starting off with Sophie Turner as Phoenix/Jean Grey, she rocked it. I feel the need to point this out because I did not expect that. I love her as Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones, but the trailers for this film didn't show off her best line. One particular line in this film that was heavily shown off in the trailers (something about her feeling so much death) always sounded like a bad accent. In the film as a whole, her American accent is mostly fine and she's actually just waking up in that scene, so even then it's acceptable. Overall, though, she had some pretty epic moments that were done very well. By the end of the film, her diverse portrayal of emotions and calm collectedness made her the highlight of this film for me. Then there's Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse. While they never actually call Apocalypse by that title (as far as I remember, though they did talk about his apocalyptic powers), it's clear that it is what he is: And apocalypse. Unfortunately, this was possibly the biggest fault of the film, but by no means due to the actor. Despite seeing just how incredible Apocalypse was, he wasn't incredible enough. Early on, there's a scene were you realise just how powerful he is as he demonstrates his abilities to the viewer (and the world), but it's the fact that, in that moment, he could have done what he'd set out to do from the beginning of the film and for the rest of it that left me questioning why he didn't just "do it". If you need to know what "it" is, reread his name. Otherwise, Isaac did a very good job playing the character. There was something quiet and haunting about just how easily he could kill and manipulate people, while at the same time being able to destroy cities and landmasses if he wanted to. It was enjoyable to see him manipulate and convince his mutant disciples, but that led to another flaw. The way he recruited Psylocke (Olivia Munn) was almost pitiful. Seeing him transform Storm (Alexandra Shipp) into his follower was intense, but Psylocke just sort of "happened". The character was done well and enjoyable, but her first scenes could have been better. Angel (Ben Hardy), as seen in the trailers, was the exact opposite. His introduction was great but the rest of his scenes were sparse and rather bland. His character stopped after the beginning. These issues were most likely due to things like runtime, but they're still issues nonetheless. I felt no connection to him after the beginning. Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Professor X (James McAvoy), and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) were also pillars of this film. Charles Xavier easily got some of the most screentime and some of the best scenes. Jennifer Lawrence was good as Mystique, but there was something that didn't ring true for her in this film to me. I liked her, but sometimes it felt like I was more so tolerating her. There was no highlights for her character in this film, but her leadership role (at times) was an interesting place for the character to be in. I'm not sure how it could have been made better, but my instinct is that, in the end, she really didn't do anything. Raven's character heavily relied on the previous film, to the point that she only had growth and became engaging by the end. Perhaps also that they withdrew a bit too much emotion from the character is what made it feel like she didn't care enough. As for Magento, Fassbender had a wonderfully engaging and emotional character in this film, but his explanations for doing what he does in the film felt a bit hollow, or they just had Apocalypse explain for him. That's not to say there weren't good reasons. It was very clear to the audience why Magneto joined the fight in the way he did, but taking a moment or two to just talk it out could have helped. Magneto was unfortunately isolated into his own bubble that was bounced around between characters. On his own, he was great, but compared to other scenes where characters engaged, it felt lacking. Also, Quicksilver (Evan Peters) and Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) were both great, with Cyclops (Tye Sheridan). All in all, a very good cast with Sophie Turner as the highlight. I'd have liked more development for Psylocke and Angel and more depth to the reasoning and displays of actual destruction from Apocalypse. [b]Closing[/b] In the end, I liked this film. It makes me excited to see what else Sophie Turner can do in the X-Men universe and the new cast of actors are all well placed. I definitely recommend this to comic book, X-Men, Marvel, and superhero fans alike, along with anyone who likes a good action film. With a running time of 2 hours and 27 minutes, parts of this film could have been condensed while others should have been expanded upon. [b]Positives:[/b] • Sophie Turner's acting • Beautifully designed • Emotional and believable • Good humour without oversaturating • Bald Professor X [b]Negatives:[/b] • Intensity and antagonistic ways not always believable • Not enough depth/time with the "villains" • Shallow and drawn out moments that weren't needed, though few in numbers Overall rating: 7/10 - Good and worth watching for fans of the genre [url=https://twitter.com/JayKingIngram]@JayKingIngram[/url]