10 Reasons To Love X-Men Apocalypse

Dearest comic book fans,
Dearest Marvel fans,

**WARNING!!! This post contains opinions on the latest X-Men: Apocalypse. It will be an extensive post and it will have loads of pictures and text so please grab yourself a cup of tea and a warm blanket and Enjoy!**

This one is decidedly for your. From one heart of a comic book lover to yours. On the week that X-Men Apocalypse was released I had the pleasure of seeing it with my better half and we had such a great time that it made me wish to share with you my thoughts.  If you have not seen X-Men Apocalypse yet tread lightly as there are many SPOILERS out there ;) but let's face it,  if you are a fan like myslef you probably watched it and rewatched it already ;))) We went for the usual cinema - Cinema City in Kazimierz - as we wanted to light, non headache version (not the 3D). I was surprised to see that unlike Captain America: Civil War the room was not full of people. For Team Captain we had to book the seats a couple of days in advance and it was almost full. Here I did it one day before and there were only a few others booking... I am unsure if I should blame this on Captain America being more popular than X-Men in Poland or on the fact that we saw X-Men on a Thursday - even if it was Corpus Christi and a free day in Poland. Either way the bottom line was the how empty the room felt - maybe half was full... but not more. But true to a fan nature, I was proud to see them all stay and wait though the very long credits just to get a glimpse of what is coming up next in the Marvel universe. 

Without any further ado though,  let me tell you about 10 reasons why I think you should love the new X-Men Apocalypse:

1. The pace of the action and the mood of the movie - it never seems to lag or cause discomfort for the viewer. I felt like there was always something happening and the transition between the top action moments was done very well, smoothly. It has a much better pace than the rest of the X-Men movies and I really liked that about it ;)

2. The new actors introduced in the series - were all very well selected for their parts and quite nicely presented. Sometimes maybe I would have wished a bit more screen time for some of them... especially for Storm as she is one of my pesonal favourites, but it is nice now knowing them in a "younger version", though it felt odd to see Hugh Jackman playing the younger Wolverine (especially that we have Sophie Turner now as Jean Grey... how's that love interest going to develop considering that Hugh can be Sophie's dad in real life...). 

3. The scenes in Poland - this will come as a fun bonus for the Polish fans of Marvel out there... if in Captain America: Civil War I was saying what a lovely Romanian language managed Bucky to pull... well you could not quite say the same about Magneto (played by Michael Fassbender) and his Polish... though the scenes produce quite a fun and relaxed effect with the Polish crowd at the movies. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Magneto destroyed Auschwitz, but not for destroying the impressive landmark but because he finally unleashed his power and we get to see him produce a magnetic field. I've been waiting for that for quite a while!

4. The unleashing of the energies - we all know that mutants have learned to fall back and close within themselves. They are used to hiding and not knowing their full powers just because they know that people would treat them differently and cast them away. I loved X-Men Apocalypse because it let's every mutant show off their true potential. They have all unleashed their energies, they let go of the fear and they can see what they truly are, in all their beauty. I particularly liked Magneto with the magnetic field and Jean Grey unleashing the Phoenix potential for a noble cause. 

5. The story behind how Professor X got bold - let's face it, they did not have to stick to Professor X being bold, considering the fact that this is an alternative universe, but I loved them for doing this nonetheless. The fight between him and The First Mutant (played by Oscar Isaacs, that you may know as Poe Dameron from the recent Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens) is very well done and you almost think that Charles could kick his arse singlehandedly... fail but great help from amazing Jean Grey!

6. The 4 riders of the Apocalypse - the interesting linkage with the Bible, and the first scene of the movie... it made me sorry we could not hear more about those 4 great mutant warriors that gave their life to save The First Mutant. I would especially liked to know more about the girl that died last... Also the new 4 riders that he selects are beautifully (yet shortly) portrayed. Of course you know them and you recognise them if you read the novels and saw previous movies but... I wanted more :)

7. Quicksilvers scenes steal the show! I am so glad that after the last X-Men they decided to add more and more of him. Obviously he is a magnet for the fans! He gets that from his father... Magneto ;) and the scenes in which he appears are just bloody beautiful and we'll done. I especially love the soundtrack during his scenes ;) they have that old vibe about it that makes you wanna dance along. The scene where he saves everyone from the house being teared down is just... so fun and nice to watch! And the cute bulldog eating the pizza is a bonus ;))) I also really enjoyed him trying to beat the cap out of The First Mutant but I knew where that would lead...

8. The magic onscreen (and offscreen) between Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy). They are just brilliant together, the chemistry is amazing just like it was in the "older" version between Ian McEllen and Patrick Stewart. When I look at them it's like seeing a younger version of them and that is what the team that cast them was striving for and that is exactly what they did right. They are the perfect fit and I do not think someone else could have played them better. Each time you have them together in a scene the whole room lights up with their high level of acting skill.

9. Freaking Sophie Turner playing Jean Grey is quite a revelation! I was not sure how she will be able to pull it and work on such a strong and beautiful character yet... I must admit it, she stole the scenes in which she was in. Officially I can say that Sophie Turner is no longer Sansa Stark for me... she was redeemed! Her talent exists and I wanna see more of her being awesome Jean Grey/Phoenix and saving the day. I must admit I was also impressed about the young Scott in the movie - very well portrayed and a spitting image of the old Scott, in a younger version. 

10. Seeing X-Men in the 80s - including the kick arse awesome soundtrack featuring Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics and a screening of the Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. To be mentioned is also Nightcrawlers Michael Jackson jacket from Thriller and Quicksilver playing PacMan. You let me know if you spotted anything else ;) but let me not forget mentioning that Nightcrawler is an awesome character, totally underused!

Of course it's not all rainbows and unicorns and butterflies... as I told you, I have mixed feelings about seeing old Wolverine as young Wolverine but I am not sure anyone else except Hugh Jackman could play that part... he truly is "Wolfie" - as Fassbender and McAvoy call him ;))) either way X-Men Apocalypse is a movie one should watch at the big screen/cinema and rewatch at home. There are a lot of Easter Eggs in it and of course after the credits roll there is the additional scene... so keep your eyes open and enjoy another Marvel ride! Next... mmm probably Doctor Strange :)

Yours sincerely, 

The Twisted Red LadyBug that loves Marvel and comic books