REVIEW: X-Men: Apocalypse

Have you ever gone out and purchased just one heck of a marvellous cheese?  I'm not talking just about your generic cheddar, but let's say it's aged ten years.  Or even, and one of my favourites, jalapeño havarti.  Now it's a blessing to have such a wonderful treat, but what you have on your hands can be instantly ruined and rendered moot.  If you slice it up and put it on the cheapest hotdog you can find, accompanied by a stale bun, you may have just as well used something else.  What you have done is wasted that cheese.

I understand that it is not the greatest analogy, especially for those who don't roll the dairy, but that is how I felt when it came to the main villain in X-Men: Apocalypse.  What the film makers did was take Oscar Isaac, who is one of the best acting talents of today, and put him in a roll that could have easily been filled by anyone.  There was nothing about Apocalypse that allowed for any subtle nuances from Isaac, who was destined to just deliver monotone lines and show limited facial expressions.

Does that mean the movie as a whole is bad?  Not at all.  What it does mean is that the main source of tension in the film drags and adds little energy, which does affect the film as a whole.

As the movie begins, we find director Bryan Singer hurling visuals at us, almost as though the movie is setting a tone that it is going to flex its CGIed muscles throughout.  It felt a little overkill and distracting, especially when it went into a Monster Energy Drink lead-in to the opening title.  There was worry, I am not going to lie about that.  I asked, 'what have I gotten myself into?'  Luck would have it that the computer generated pace of the opening sequence was disingenuous to the tone of the rest of the movie and things died down until the third act when it turned once again into visual effect soup.

They looked pretty enough, but they were massively abundant and took away a lot of the intimacy that the story deserved.  The cast of characters involved was deep, and the talent selected to play each part was well thought out.  Each of the X-Men felt like there was some attention paid to them to create heroes that we could root for.  The same could not be said about the mutants that were enlisted by Apocalypse to help him.  For whatever reason, the man needed help.  Even though he was near all powerful.  His character and the reasoning for his actions were most certainly underwritten, once again making me ask why Llewyn Davis (or, to use an example that may be better known, Poe Dameron) himself was cast for the role.

It was the quieter moments of the film where I felt the true story was being told.  There were enough of them to make me happy, and I enjoyed the inclusion and story of Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) and Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee).  Both are incredible young talents who brought depth to their characters enough to stand properly alongside other brilliant cast members, such as James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence.

Possibly the most underplayed aspect is the time period.  It is set in the 1980s, and we are more shown that, rather than truly feeling it.  The previous movies focused greatly on playing into the emotions and feelings of their times, giving the viewer a rich environment in which to watch the story roll out.

Ultimately, there are enough decent aspects of the film to bring even keel the downside of a villain that lacks charisma and understanding.  It is not the strongest of the new X-Men movies, but it does hold a character of its own.  During a summer that is filled to the brim of special effects spectacles, it is X-Men: Apocalypse's shortcomings that will keep it from being too memorable.

Rating - 2.5 out of 4 stars

Mud

Well, right now I should be at my parent's house, eating some home-cooked cookin', but sickness has kept me at home eating BBQ flavoured chips - yep, I don't necessarily take care of myself when I am ill and my wife is out of the house.  She is at my parent's home right now, visiting with them and our niece and nephew, who I always enjoy seeing.  That means my proof-reader is not here, so my apologies on anything I may have missed.  Today's movie is Mud, which came out in limited release back in late April, and is currently one of the highest rated films of the year on Rotten Tomatoes (98%) and is currently available to rent.

Mud is about a young boy who lives on a houseboat named Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and his friend Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) who live on southern waterways, and head on an adventure to an island to find a rumoured boat that is lodged high in a tree.  After finding the vessle that had been relocated thanks to flooding, they find that someone has been living in it.  As they are leaving the island, they meet the man from the boat, Mud (Matthew McConaughey) who is quite filthy and quite hungry.  Ellis feels compelled to assist the man.  As he brings him food and visits Mud, Ellis starts to get an understanding of the predicament that would cause a fellow to hide on a remote island and takes it on himself to assist Mud in connecting with his girlfriend, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon).

The main theme in the film is love, as Ellis' perception of the emotion and relational commitment are being challenged by the degrading marriage of his parents as well as his own exploration with it.  His understanding of what love is and should be is what drives him to help assist Mud, whom is driven by love as well.  It is when all the relationships around him have crumbled that he even starts to appropriately use the word.

Since I have mentioned that it is about love and that it stars Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, it is important for me to inform you that it is not a romantic comedy, and these are not the typical rolls which we are used to seeing these two in.  Mud is a very simple, yet still complex character who we see covered in dirt and seeming quite pathetic at times.  The performance of McConaughey is phenomenal, and he brings out the powerful moments of pity, rage, caution, and protection.  There is a little bit of Oscar talk around this roll (although his roll in Dallas Buyer's Club is getting a lot more conversation), and he shows a wide range of abilities as Mud.

The true acting performance in this film that needs noting is that of young Tye Sheridan.  I am saying this right now, keep an eye on this young man because he may be a future heavyweight in film.  It is the journey of Ellis that we follow, and Sheridan delivers his role in a way that grabs the audience and ultimately has us desiring a positive outcome for him.  His future looks great, and he seems to choose quality films to be a part of.  His only three movies are Mud, the Oscar nominated Terrence Malick film Tree of Life, and most recently a film that got decent talk around it at the Toronto International Film Festival, Joe, with Nicolas Cage.  A lot of times young talent seems to be coming up through Disney properties, but this one is quite possibly going to be gunning for awards before too long.

With great performances in the forefront, we are also treated to great locations and backdrops that make us feel a connection to the life on the water that Ellis knows.  We get a tactile feel of the blue collar life that Ellis lives within, which is contrasted when he is in town and interacts with others his age.  The film shows poverty, but also a beauty in the landscape and a connection to the earth and water that the characters have.

In the end, I give this film a very hearty recommendation.  It is a touching tale of the innocent, but naive, view of what love is.  Sadly, it is that naive view that we should really be aspiring to, but young Ellis finds out that the reality of life's circumstances put a somber reality to what love ends up being.  It is interesting, and it is touching, which is odd for a film that focuses on broken relationships.  Maybe what causes it to work is that we have too good an understanding of broken relationships and care enough about Ellis and Mud to hope they end up with something better.

Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars