Movie Review: X-Men Apocalypse

Around the House
I am excited as the final touches are coming together for the Second Edition of Cursed.  It is going to feature two new stories that help to tie everything together.  My editor is so excited.  We have now approved the Cover Art and are trying to find that perfect release date.  We are thinking some time this fall or the holiday season.  Are you ready to get Cursed?  I know I am.  I am looking for a few people that would like to preread the book and write a review online.  Let me know if you are interested.

My Thoughts
For those of you that do not know, I am a huge fan of Marvel Comics, and I grew up reading X-Men comics of the 90's.  I was first introduced to the X-Men like many other people through the cartoon.  I quickly became obsessed and had to have it all.  Well since the 2000's I have moved away from the comics and enjoyed the movies.  I still enjoy a read of the database to see the changes, but other than that I do not play in the land of comics outside of the TV and Movie worlds.

Now, I was excited to see the changes to the universe that Fox rolled out.  It was their chance to give them a fresh start.  Unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe that are still have trouble making one concise universe that the comic fans can be proud of watching.  Unfortunately, X-Men Apocalypse falls into that bucket.  I have two main issues with the movie.  The first is that for the length of the movie they do a very pour job introducing new characters or highlighting why they are where they are.  It is one thing to bring in Phoenix, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Cailban, Psylocke, Angel, and Storm, but you need to give them some type of back story and explanation of their powers.  While they did an okay job with Storm and Nightcrawler they failed to really dive into the depths of why they are at the school.  Additionally, they never properly explained the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse which has been a major X-Men story arch repeatedly.  It is one thing to start a fresh take on the universe which they are doing a good job of, but it is another to have a wonky timeline where the changes don't make sense - like Cyclops being the younger brother of Havok or how we have a Nightcrawler without Mystique knowing it is her son.

Overall, I say the move was fair.  For a 2 hour plus movie we needed more action and growth from the characters to really love them.  The whole seen with Wolverine didn't feel like it made sense for the storyline, and where are the characters we love from the original movies that should be popping up if we have Jubilee - Rogue, Iceman, Colossus, and Shadow Cat (Kitty Pryde).

Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

Check Deadpool which was a great movie though!

Movie Review: X-Men First Class

Around the House
Working on editing and reviewing submissions for the fall Anthology, so I am busier than I expected to be this summer.  Things are taking me way longer than I planned for and my editor has been on my butt about it.   I am very excited to see that Gilbert Press has their website up and running.  I really hope that authors are submitting great works so that my editor has something else to worry about.  Make sure you check out my page on there as well as the links posted.  Also, I am starting a new job in July which has me very excited.  I can't wait.  Otherwise, I am trying to get out to enjoy the weather some, though the rain in Chicago has made that a bit hard.

My Thoughts
Growing up as a die hard X-Men fan, I was very worried about this movie.  The trailers made it seem like they were going to be making a real mess of this movie.  I should have known better.  Marvel did an awesome job on it.  The back story was fleshed out in a way that allowed anyone watching the movie fall right in for the first time while keeping those who have enjoyed the rest of the stories enthralled.  I am wondering how they are going to handle the Havok item though.  Since having him a teen and Jean Grey a youth when Xavier is older makes me wonder how old they plan on portraying Scott.  Is he now going to be a younger brother?  Or is Xavier just going to age extremely quickly after his accident.  I am very curious to see how it all comes together.  I did especially enjoy the tie in to the first X-Men movie with the expanded story of Magneto.  It makes you wonder when and if they are going to have his kids popping up in the franchise, especially with the kick off of the Avengers movie.  I am rather excited to see.  The Internet is also spawning rumors of X4 and 5 along with turning the first class into a trilogy.  If they keep the stories going, I am down for the ride.  Also, I hear talks of New Mutants.  BRING IT ON!

Rating: 8 out of 10