SPOILER ALERT: Three things made the 80s and important time period for many people: A crazy fashion sense, rising nuclear tension, and the return of a several thousand year old mutant named Apocalypse that was ready to destroy the world. Luckily, we get to see all three in X-Men: Apocalypse.

The film released on May 27th for the US, and although it dominated the box office and surpassed the first weekend results of X-Men: First Class (the first of the Bryan Singer “re-do” trilogy), it didn’t do as well as X-Men: Days of Future Past, or as well as any other superhero movie this year, for that matter. Before the release of the film, skeptics were criticizing the film heavily (earning this film a 52 on Metacritic and a 48% on Rotten Tomatoes), and although they may have been a bit harsh, they have a point. In the film, we start off with seeing Apocalypse back in the time of Ancient Egypt, preparing to switch his consciousness and his power into the body of a mutant who can heal from wounds, which would ensure that he could live forever and not have to switch into another body again. However, he is betrayed by some of his disciples, and although he switched into the new body, he was left trapped under tons of rubble from a pyramid that fell on top of him.

Flash forward to 1983, we see Moira MacTaggert, whom you may remember from X-Men: First Class, in Cairo, trying to find clues about Apocalypse and his followers in the present day. Of course, she accidentally awakens the most terrible force that the X-Men have ever faced. If there’s one thing that makes absolutely no sense in the film, it’s the fact that Moira obiously brings back Apocalypse to life yet no one gets angry at that fact. She doesn’t even feel regret at that fact. Anyways, when he wakes up, he recruits the great Ororo Munroe, or Storm, and you can see that Mystique is a role model to her. This really strengthened one small plot point in the film, that Mystique was a role model to all mutants worldwide. We move onto a young Cyclops that develops his powers while in school, and afterwards, his older brother, Havok, takes him to Professor X’s school.

This was a great small part in the film, because as soon as many fans saw Havok appear in X-Men: First Class, the question whether Scott would ever appear was on many minds. There is a nice brotherly moment between the two. Professor X and Beast meet Cyclops, and take him under their wing in order to help him learn to control his extraordinary powers. We move onto the new life of Magneto, who is living in Poland under a new name and identity, with a wife and daughter as well. However, tragedy once again comes after him, and his powers are uncovered. When the police find out that he was responsible for the events in the previous film, his family is accidentally killed, and once again his rage in unveiled. This really showed Michael Fassbender’s great acting skills.

The emotion in the scene is incredible, and you can feel for his loss. Apocalypse finds Magneto and recruits him along with Psylocke and Angel, and brings him to Auschwitz to help him realize his true strength. This part wasn’t incredibly necessary to the storyline. Yes, it was where he found his powers and became Magneto, but there was no need for him to deface and destroy a historical location. While Professor X enlists the help of Moira to learn about Apocalypse, they look for Magneto using Cerebro. Apocalypse feels this and takes over Cerebro, and forces all nations to shoot their nuclear missiles into space, leaving no one with nuclear weapons. This was another weak plot point.

The exact same thing happened in second GI Joe movie, and was one of the reasons that the movie had terrible reception. Apocalypse comes to the mansion and takes Professor X, and when Havok accidentally blows up the mansion trying to stop the villains, the mansion explodes. Luckily, Quicksilver is coincidentally there to save the day, helping everyone (except for Havok, who dies in the havoc) get out of the house safely. After the destruction of the mansion, returning villain Colonel Striker comes and captures Mystique, Quicksilver, Beast and Moira. Luckily, Nightcrawler, Jean Grey and Cyclops are able to follow and rescue them. Thanks to a mind trick by Jean, they aren’t seen by any of the guards. When they get to where the mutants are being held, they release Wolverine in order to help them get their friends. However, in this continuity, this makes absolutely no sense.

At the end of DOFP, Wolverine is with Mystique, yet he still ends up with Striker somehow. This is once again another dent in the storyline of the X-Men franchise. They’ve always had continuity problems, and although DOFP tried to rectify these mistakes, they’ve come back once again. Returning to the story, Apocalypse is trying to use Xavier and switch into his body to gain his power as well, so he could then amplify the telepathic powers and control the world. After giving Magneto a lesson in how to use his powers, Apocalypse orders him to mess with the magnetic waves of the Earth, shifting the ground in several different locations around the world. Mystique and Quicksilver try to stop him by talking to no avail. However, one incredibly annoying tidbit of the film is that Quicksilver had the chance to tell Magneto that he is his son. This could’ve saved much of the fighting, as Magneto would most likely turn against Apocalypse right away, and make sure his son leaves unharmed.

When the X-Men travel to Egypt to stop Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen, a big fight ensues, with the X-Men first trying to stop Apocalypse from switching into Xavier’s body, then trying to kill Apocalypse himself. The film uses the (almost) transition of consciousness as a way of getting rid of Xavier’s hair and giving him the signature bald look. After being saved, Xavier tries to take Apocalypse down mentally, but he is too strong. So instead, Xavier tells Jean to unleash the Phoenix Force onto Apocalypse, which disintegrates his body. Psylocke escapes, and Quicksilver is left with a broken leg. The fight at the end is great, as it is the first time since the original X-Men trilogy that we see a proper team working together to fight a threat, everyone pitching in to take down Apocalypse. In the end, the mansion is rebuilt by Magneto and Jean, and Xavier gives Moira back her memories that he stole at the end of First Class.

The final impression of the film as soon as the film ends is great, but like any other film, when looking back, there are several nitpicks that should’ve been changed. The continuity was a definite problem for the film. Jubilee was wasted as a character, seeing as how there was so much advertisement for her character, yet she has no significant actions in the film. In fact, she doesn’t even get to show off her powers in the film. Another missing member that should’ve been added into the film is Bobby Drake, or Iceman. He is seen in the original X-Men films, as well as DOFP, seemingly the same age as Cyclops, Storm and Jean. One important flaw concerning Apocalypse himself is the weak dialogue he was given. Every word he spoke concerned either gaining more power as a mutant or destroying the world and building a better one.

If Ultron seemed like a boring character, then Apocalypse would put one to sleep. It was a slight waste of Oscar Issac’s acting talent, and a slightly disappointing character in total. However, there weren’t only downsides to this film.

The young replacements of Cyclops, Jean and Nightcrawler are incredibly refreshing, especially Nightcrawler’s character. Seeing Wolverine as a crazy Weapon X project was also great, and we get a few seconds of Jean and Wolverine staring into each other’s eyes. Psylocke was also a great addition, as she was a character we haven’t seen before. Lastly, the addition of Essex Corp. in the post-credits scene (hinting at Mr. Sinister), gives us hope for a great sequel to the film, where we might even see X-23. Overall, the film gets a 8/10.