And we are with the latest comic book blockbuster of this year's Summer season. X-Men: Apocalypse sees Bryan Singer essentially brings to close the cycle of films that began with First Class.
An in film joke references the fact that the last in the trilogy is often the weakest. Is that the case here? Well, Apocalypse probably isn't as solid as First Class and Days Of Future Past but it's far better than Last Stand was.
It films like a natural continuation of the story from it's two predecessors whilst introducing a new wave of character as the world is threatened by Oscar Issac's Apocalypse. However whilst some of the cast get concluding chapters to their story others like Fassbender's Erik\Magento seem to just go through a repeat of the same arc from the previous entries.
Also Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique spends most of the film in her 'desguised' human form in a move that seems move motivated by the actresses wish to avoid the hours of make-up again rather than the story. You do also have to question the revealing outfit she appears in her first scene. (It's even within the same sequence to something more conservative which actually fits in with the location much better).
New comers Tye Sheridan and Kodi Smit-McPhee don't get a huge amount to do as the new versions of Cyclops and Nightcrawler but acquit themselves well. Unforutnately whilst Sophie Turner's Jean has the most interesting part to play of the newcomers her performance comes across flat, even seeming bored at some stages.
In terms of the action it is true that once again it's sequences based around Quicksilver that steal the show, full of imagination that so far the rest of the year's comic book releases have lacked. Although other sequences aren't helped by Apocalypse's grab bag of abilities never really being clearly defined.
Generally Singer hits the right tone matching to balance the drama, humour and sense of peril. It is fair to suggest that the level of disaster at the end of the film does seem a little like it's pushed too far and with a coda between Magneto and the Professor you do wonder why the latter doesn't seem to be interested in the former being responsible for hundreds if not thousands of deaths.
