Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

X-Men: Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie Review

Don't they know it's the end of the world?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 4, 2016

Does it even matter anymore which timeline, arc and/or universe X-Men: Apocalypse is a part of? In a franchise so stuffed to its gills with characters, individual storylines, ping ponging eras and actual completely different outcomes for various characters (depending on which timeline is being detailed), it may simply not be feasible any longer to try to get everything to make “sense”. That may be one reason why parts of X- Men: Apocalypse seem almost like yet another reboot of The Mummy (maybe with just a hint of Darth Vader thrown in for good measure), with an ancient Egyptian mutant resurrected in the 1980s and havoc of course therefore being wreaked. X-Men: Apocalypse had its own “end of the world” (or at least end of the franchise) traumas when it was released to critical assessment that was less uniformly enthusiastic than many of the previous X-Men films had enjoyed, and at least part of that reaction may be due to the fact that at this point in the franchise’s history, there are so many competing stories that watching any given X-Men outing is like experiencing the cinematic equivalent of ADHD. Despite that somewhat frayed ambience, there’s no denying that X-Men: Apocalypse has a lot of exciting elements, and it’s also clear that director Bryan Singer has lost none of his passion for the franchise, one he’s credited with resuscitating with X-Men: Days of Future Past. And in fact X- Men: Apocalypse can be seen as a sequel of sorts to that film, using its story set in the 1970s as the background for events that take place around a decade later. Before that can happen, though, the film indulges in some Egyptology, with a prelude that introduces this film’s arch- villain, the supposed “Patient Zero” of mutant-dom, En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac), a superpowered baddie who has all sorts of special talents, but who is nonetheless unable to attain immortality, something which forces him to transfer his consciousness into new, younger bodies at regular intervals. Such a ritual is in process as the film begins, but evidently the rank and file Egyptians, or at least a renegade group of them, are having none of it, and they attempt to interrupt the transfer before it’s complete. That leaves an apparently moribund En Sabah Nur buried in the wreckage of a pyramid that experiences an implosion worthy of a Las Vegas hotel being decimated to make room for something grander. Of course, En Sabah Nur isn’t quite dead yet (to purloin a phrase), and his “awakening” several millennia later is a major spark setting the end of the world conflagrations aflame as the film continues.

Some indication of just how many competing plot points are at work in X-Men: Apocalypse can be gleaned by simply detailing a few (not all, mind you) of the characters in the film and what they’re experiencing. Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) has assumed a pseudonym, and it’s not Magneto! Instead, he’s a working stiff supposedly named Henryk who has made a simple but apparently quite happy life for himself in Poland with an attractive wife and sweet little girl. Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) isn’t feeling worthy of the hero worship that’s been accorded her after the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past, and is tooling around the globe looking for other mutants in various predicaments in order to help them. That brings her into contact with Angel (Ben Hardy), a winged mutant who has been kept captive in a kind of cage match where he’s pitted against other mutants. It’s there that he “meets” Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a Teutonic devil who can teleport (bringing those holding on to him with him). Meanwhile (there’s a lot of “meanwhile” in this film), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) and Scott Summers (Tye Sheridan) are both desperately trying to learn how to control their powers. Scott at least ultimately gets some supercool sunglasses that help keep his Cyclops proclivities in check, but Jean is left to suffer through nightmares, afraid that even allowing a hint of her capabilities to emanate will cause disaster. Almost an afterthought in the film’s early going, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) ultimately has a more central part to play, one that of course involves challenging En Sabah Nur (who also goes by the name Apocalypse, just in case you were wondering), but which also dovetails into his relationship with CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne). Those are quite a few plot threads that screenwriter Simon Kinberg attempts to weave into an organic whole, and the result is expectedly kind of vignette laden as a result.

A number of other supposedly salient subplots also enter the fray, including one involving Peter Maximoff (Evan Peters), who is trying to come to terms with being the son of Magneto, but who of course doesn’t tell Magneto he’s his son when he has the perfect opportunity to (that’s what sequels are for, right?). Maximoff’s Quicksilver set piece in this film is an obvious homage (a nice word for rip-off) of the inventive antics of X-Men: Days of Future Past, played once again to an era appropriate pop tune. In fact, large swaths of X-Men: Apocalypse seem crafted intentionally out of leftovers from the previous film, including the almost maddening wishy washiness about whether Magneto is a good guy or a bad guy.

In a way, one of the biggest ironies of X-Men: Apocalypse is that it finally offers a menacing villain who seems to balance the scale against the forces of good, but who himself provides an arguably noble attempt to rid the world of nuclear weapons. In fact, En Sabah Nur, who “confesses” at one point that he’s been known by all sorts of god names, has some good ideas, though his “ends justify the means” approach isn’t especially nuanced (this is said with tongue planted firmly in cheek, in case it's not clear). The film perhaps misses its mark with this larger than life character, one who might have been played for a bit more ambiguity, especially considering the fact that he’s trying in his own arch-villainous way to clean up the mess Man has made of the planet. Left in the dust of all of the brouhaha are a number of other supporting characters who just don’t get sufficient screen time to really resonate as fully as might be hoped. Lumped into this group are such characters as Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Psylocke (Olivia Munn) and Storm (Alexandra Shipp).

Despite its narrative stumbles, X-Men: Apocalypse still provides what many adrenaline junkies who go to tentpoles like this want, namely lots of visual and aural excess, most of which is a lot of sound and fury signifying what some may feel is not enough, if not exactly nothing. The film delivers on the spectacle angle without ever really touching the emotions the way the best X-Men entries have. It’s hard to get wrapped up in any individual (or individual’s) story when the movie constantly is moving on to the next plot point like Singer’s personal version of whack-a- mole.

X-Men: Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

X-Men: Apocalypse is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. This is a typical effects laden extravaganza that has generally superb detail levels, with an understanding that some of the ubiquitous CGI tends to look at least a little soft at times when compared to the overall sharpness of the rest of the imagery. As with many previous X-Men entries, there's fairly standard color grading going on, with lots of cool blues and slates in various sequences, and buttery yellows and ambers in others (notably the early Egyptian moments). Detail levels are occasionally a little less evident in some of these moments, but overall things look great, with even the heavily blue shaded looks at Apocalypse revealing nice levels of detail in facial pores and the weird ridge that runs down his face. While a few passing moments don't have great amounts of shadow definition (several long sequences are intentionally very dark), contrast is consistent and black levels strong. In some of the more normally lit moments, like the brief interlude of happiness for Erik in Poland, the palette is very warm and vibrant looking, something that's repeated in some of the early scenes at Xavier's School for the Gifted. Otherwise, though, this film tends to exploit a lot of cooler tones, with an emphasis on blues, purples and teals. There are no issues with compression artifacts or image instability.

X-Men: Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

X-Men: Apocalypse features a boisterous DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track that provides consistent immersion and some knockout sound effects marauding through the side and rear channels. This tendency is on display from the first sequence, where the magical transfusion of consciousness is attended by some cool panning noises, and then the calamitous destruction of the pyramid features an onslaught of LFE. The low end on this track is repeatedly quite impressive, especially in some of the "magnetic" effects that Erik displays. Big set pieces that include the X-Men's jet offer great swooping pans with some very forceful low end. (There are actually some very fun panning noises in the whirlwind opening credits sequence as well.) Dialogue is very cleanly rendered and always well prioritized, even in noisy sequences that offer a glut of sound effects.

X-Men: Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: 20th Century Fox provided only the combo 4K UHD/Blu-ray package for review, and I am assuming that the Blu-ray disc in this package is identical to the standalone Blu-ray disc.

• Deleted/Extended Scenes (1080p; 28:11) feature optional introductions with Bryan Singer (the supplement plays 23:08 without the introductions).


• Gag Reel (1080p; 8:20)


• Wrap Party Video (1080p; 4:46)


• X-Men Apocalypse: Unearthed (1080p; 1:03:58) is a well done multi-part set of featurettes that get into character, plot and a tease or two as to what's coming in the X-Men film universe.


• Audio Commentary by Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg


• Gallery (1080p)

  Concept Art

  Unit Photography

• Theatrical Trailers (1080p; 7:15)

X-Men: Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In any other franchise, X-Men: Apocalypse might have been better appreciated for juggling so many storylines and characters, but the irony is that Singer set such an incredibly high bar for himself with Days of Future Past that this film was perhaps fated to appear less fulfilling. Still, even with its haphazard careening from character to character and plot point to plot point, there's a lot of exciting action going on, even if there's a similar lack of emotional tether to much of anything. Technical merits are first rate and the supplements, while not overwhelmingly bounteous, are enjoyable as well. Recommended.