Day 153: X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

X-MEN-APOCALYPSE-9When I was growing up, I was a fan of DC especially Superman and Batman, but it was one faithful Saturday morning in the early 90’s tat changed everything. The X-Men cartoon quickly turned me from a DC to Marvel fan and that was that. So, it’s safe to say that I was super excited about today’s film X-Men: Apocalypse. The world is a lot different in the 80’s following the events of X-Men: Days Of Future Past as almost everyone has gone their separate ways. Unfortunately for mutants all over the world, the very first mutant ever En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac) otherwise known as Apocalypse has awoken from a deep sleep is displeased with the way the world has evolved. Apocalypse plans to destroy the world forcing the X-Men to finally reunite in order to destroy him. The film also stars James McAvoy (Wanted) as Professor Xavier, Michael Fassbender (Prometheus) as Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games) as Mystique, Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road) as Beast, Rose Byrne (Neighbors 2) as Moira Mactaggert, Evan Peters (American Horror Story) as Quicksilver, Sophie Turner (Game Of Thrones) as Jean Grey, Tye Sheridan (Mud) as Cyclops, Lucas Till (Walk The Line) as Havok, Kodi Smit-McPhee (Paranorman) as Nightcrawler, Ben Hardy (EastEnders) as Angel, Alexandra Shipp (Straight Outta Compton) as Storm, Lana Condor as Jubilee, Olivia Munn (Magic Mike) as Psylocke, and the film was directed by Bryan Singer. 

xmen0002I am going to start this paragraph by giving you a spoiler alert because if you haven’t seen the film by now then stop reading ahead for fear of spoiling any details for you. As far as the film is concerned, I actually really liked the film. It’s not the greatest superhero movie out there, but in my opinion it was a lot of fun. It was like seeing a comic book unfold before your very eyes and how can you not love seeing them in the 80’s? I was just excited to see Jubilee finally on screen, but I sort of wish that they had done more with her if you ask me. Oscar Isaac was well he’s Oscar Isaac! The guy can go from playing the hero Poe Dameron in Star Wars to playing the villain in X-Men. He is such an amazing actor with so much talent. One of the exciting moments of the film was seeing Hugh Jackman as the Weapon X version of Wolverine in the film when they go to Strikers facility to rescue the other X-Men. I have to say that when the X-Men do a battle they do it right because the battle against Apocalypse and his horseman was pretty killer. Evan Peters and his Quicksilver was an awesome comedic relief for the film where I think I finally accepted him as Quicksilver. I left the theater in a very good mood and that is the sign of how I felt about a film. One thing I want to comment about is that I know the film is rated PG-13, but this film had to be a borderline R rated film just due to the content. Oh and stick around till the very end of the film cause they possibly set up a future film. I am going to give X-Men: Apocalypse an A- for a final grade.

Day 30: Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (2014)

dawn_ofthe_planet_ofthe_apes-2I have always been a fan of the Planet Of The Apes series whether it were the classics or the reboot Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. It took me a little bit to catch the sequel Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, but it’s here. I believe that it has been ten years since the events of the first film and what the humans called the Simian Flu has almost wiped out the entire human race. Meanwhile, Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his family of apes are enjoying the fruits of their fight by living in the forest across the Golden Gate Bridge. The apes believe that there must not be any more humans until they run into a crew looking to gain access to the dam. The crew led by Malcolm (Jason Clarke) need to gain access to the dam in order to establish a power source for the humans who still live in San Francisco because they are running out of fuel for power. As Caesar begins to allow the humans to work, one ape named Koba (Toby Kebbell) begins to get angry and he rises against Caesar in order to gain payback on the humans for what they did to him when he was captive. Can Caesar and Malcolm stop Koba before he starts a war or will it be too late? The film also stars Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight) as Dreyfus, Keri Russell (Felicity) as Ellie, Kodi Smit-McPhee (Paranorman) as Alexander, Kirk Acevedo (Oz) as Carver, Nick Thurston (White Irish Drinkers) as Blue Eyes, and the film was directed by Matt Reeves (Felicity).

1396985361000-01-bt079-0360-v142-le1027I loved the first reboot film because it obviously explains the story of Caesar who we hear about in the original films. The first one left you in the cliffhanger of knowing how exactly the apes were able to kind of take over (at least part of San Fran). The second one kind of explains the story a little bit more as it is starting to inch over to where it is kind of the planet of the apes. The second really takes us into the psyche of the apes now that they have been free for what they say is 10 winters. They are still adjusting to the freedom and some of the apes struggle with how Caesar handles humans and it turns into a battle. I love the special effects obviously, but one of my other favorite elements of the film are the sets. The set design for the film was phenomenal as they created a post Simian flu San Francisco. Jason Clarke was phenomenal as well as he kind of took the place of what James Franco was to Caesar in the first film. I don’t know about you, but I am certainly excited for the new film War Of The Planet Of The Apes. I am most excited because it continues the story from this film and that means more Caesar and Andy Serkis. I am going to give this film an A- for a final grade.