X-Men: Apocalypse (Bryan Singer, May 27, 2016) Movie • Page 7

Sounds like I may have to give DOFP a shot. I remember thinking First Class was okay but overall having a hard time getting excited about most of Singer's vision for the X-Men, though I liked the first two movies.

 

This probably isn't the right thread for it and I'm definitely not saying this is your standpoint, but I almost prefer a CGI or heavily made up villain because it helps to dehumanize them. I'm still kind of irked and in awe of the fetishization and romanticizing of Loki. That doesn't seem to happen if a villain doesn't look human.

 

I remember loving DOFP right out of the gate, but then cooling on it in subsequent viewings.

 

I definitely, definitely feel that. I've seen people fetishize or romanticize Kilgrave from Jessica Jones, which is abhorrent and horrible. That aside (not that it isn't a notable issue), when someone has the charisma or acting ability of Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o, Heath Ledger, Tom Hiddleston, Michael Fassbender, Ian McKellen, Jamie Foxx, Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman, Benedict Cumberbatch, James Spader (all actors who have performed as comic book/sci-fi characters), I think the visibility of their physical performance works better than if they're playing a CGI character. Andy Serkis being a notable exception.

Not that I have anything against CGI, I defend it often. But as a viewer I like to see the actors act, and it's tough getting to that Serkis level balance between performance and CGI.

 

@Nathan I definitely agree with a lot of that. In terms of Jessica Jones, that casting was completely deliberate. To show that not all predators are ugly, old men. And I think having Oscar Isaacs not in CGI, especially given some of the marketing choices they've made for this movie, could've caused a similar effect.

 

@Meerkat yeah and I like the Jessica Jones casting for that reason, but that response to his character is super unnerving.

 

I guess to bring it back to the original point, I don't mind when movies take liberties with characters physical appearance. Wolverine is 5'2" but I've enjoyed Hugh Jackman in the role. I think Daniel Bruhl in Civil War works way better as Daniel Bruhl than if they had given him a comics appropriate costume. That's a little tough to do with Apocalypse though, given the nature of his character (also Darkseid whenever he shows up onscreen for DC). So I'm willing to see how the CGI works, if I see the movie.

 

On Darkseid, I think they can, and should, use a more human looking character. A lot of the gods have human looks to them, so it isn't too out there of an idea. I'd rather have a human looking character that nails it over a heavily CGI'd guy who can't even move his neck.

Fetishizing characters like Loki and Killgrave is rough. Attaching names that have ginormous followings really helped with the popularity of the shows. It's unfortunate that it has led to what it has. The make-up and what not prevented that with Lee Pace I guess.

 

I will be the one to fetishize Pace's Ronan.

 

Honestly, I would have hated Apocalypse not looking like Apocalypse. I'm still disappointed that he's as blue as he is, instead of using some gray for his skin, but overall I think their approach to his look is ideal. You can still get a good performance out an actor in makeup. If you would have rather seen Oscar Isaac as Oscar Isaac, is it possible that you're really just saying you don't like this kind of movie that much? I dunno.

As for this film's reception, my expectations have been low since the first trailer, so these early reviews don't really phase me. I'm sure X2 will continue to be my favorite Fox Marvel film, and this prequel/reboot/whatever series will continue to feel like a really bizarre use of this property that I mostly just accept because Fassbender Magneto is great.

 

Man, this was disappointing. I'll elaborate later.

 

You should message me everything relevant to Wolverine. Likewise with Jubilee (I imagine that will fit in one simple sentence, lol). Just sayin'.

 

DM'd

 

Spoiler-free thoughts:

Something about this movie is just void of any personality, which is sad given its cast. None of them are too blame, though putting Jennifer Lawrence as the lead doesn't really work because she seems kind of bored and her character works better as part of the ensemble than as the leader.

There's way too much going on and at time it's ridiculously serious and silly at the same time, but lacks any of the other better entries in the series' humor to break it up, save for a few scenes with Quicksilver.

I also hate to say this but Apocalypse is boring. Oscar Isaac just isn't given much to do besides crush some people, recruit his horsemen and recite ominous monologues. There's nothing interesting about him.

One of the biggest problems is it's almost complete detachment from regular humans. Surprisingly, in a movie where all of humanity is being threatened, we barely see any humans that aren't passerbys in Cairo or military leaders in a war room. The cool thing about the other X-Men movies was how they interacted with regular humans and vice-versa. This is almost always mutant vs. mutant at all times. So when all humans could be wiped from the Earth, who cares?

 

I like a charismatic human villain more than a CGI alien or whatever. Not sure what's good about dehumanizing the villain.

 

I haven't read any spoilers of the actual film but I did read about the post-credit scene. Apparently, the post-credit scene is "Some army guys clean up the mess that Wolverine left in Alkali Lake. Some guys in suits open up a freezer with vials in it - one was labelled "Weapon X" - and puts them in a case with several other vials. When he closes the case, the name on top reads "Essex Corp".
This would excite me due to the fact that Bryan Cranston stated last year that he would like to play Mr Sinister.

 

I want to say that is promising, but not if this is lackluster.

 

I would be very surprised if I liked an X-Men movie more than Civil War

 

The best part of DoFP is the fact that you see everyone die over and over again.

 

DOFP will always be an achievement in my book because it shouldn't have worked as well as it did, considering "X-Men"'s spotty history when it comes to movies and trying to link two different timelines together and having actual stakes (that, granted, they get rid of in the end). To me, it was a triumph.

 

Prior to DOFP, I never kept up with the cinematic version of X-Men because it looked visually opposite of the X-Men that I knew. I heard that DOFP had really good reviews and I really liked the actors in it so I saw it opening weekend without reading a single review. I was surprised by how much I liked it and I still watch it a few times a month.

 

Magneto's speech at the end is one of my favorite CBM speeches.

 

Well said

 

This is more or less how I felt about DOFP. It's not bad by any means, but I remember it feeling much more methodical than I felt it should have (I figure that might be the case with a lot of Singer stuff in retrospect, though), and consequently it didn't truly get to deliver on the promise that the younger versions of the main characters had.

 

Disappointed over the mixed reviews. Something definitely felt off in the trailers though. I remember feeling optimistic after the DOFP trailers and I enjoyed that film. Kind of reminds me of when the Spider-Man 3 trailers dropped and something about them just didn't sit well with me. Then I saw the movie. Well.