Slam-bang ‘Apocalypse’ wows

“X-MEN: Apocalypse” brings back the fighting factions of mutantkind in summer blockbuster form, a less thematically heavy film than the first two parts of the prequel-reboots, but one that’s still a worthwhile addition to the franchise.

While 2014’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past” reset the mutant movies’ timelines—made messy by rash story choices for “X-Men: The Last Stand” and conflicting details in the first “Wolverine” movie—this film corrects previous mistakes and partly focuses on the connected origin stories of fan-favorites like Cyclops (now played by Tye Sheridan), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) and Storm (Alexandra Shipp).

Bryan Singer’s “Apocalypse,” set in 1983, is a breather from the darker, hero-versus-hero fare of recent months, although technically, there are still X-Men versus X-Men battles—some of them just haven’t joined the team yet in this incarnation. In any case, these 20th Century Fox-produced X-films continue to improve.

Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is now an active mentor to young trainees in his school for the gifted. Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) also helps out her kind as an independent agent. But the resurfacing of an ancient menace called Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) and Charles’ old friend/foe Magneto (Michael Fassbender) results in conflicts that will affect mutants and humans alike.

It’s straightforward and action-packed, but still centers on the heavy price that these powered outcasts and misfits must pay. Standout actor Fassbender reminds us why Magneto is rife with conflict; he has been consistent and real since the first time he appeared as the Holocaust survivor-turned-avenging mutant.

Isaac also does a good job as the arch-villain—he’s not always imposing, though, which is acceptable, but Apocalypse lacks dimension, apart from his psychopathic might-gives-right mindset. He and his Horsemen underlings tend to stand statically before artificial-looking backgrounds a lot, oddly.

Still, it’s great to have clear hero-and-villain lines, for once. The flashy, popcorn moments demonstrate how most of these live-action versions are fulfilling their potential. Scenes that involve Angel (Ben Hardy), Psyclocke (Olivia Munn) and Quicksilver (Evan Peters) are simply fun to watch.

The Horsemen costumes look great, either giving a nod to the source material, or are given an Egyptian twist. But most of the X-uniforms still look generic—a flaw that is also rectified, however briefly.

In this age of colorful superhero flicks, it’s about time the X-Men embraced more adventurous threads.