X-Men: Apocalypse

Its a celebration people, this review is my 50th one... holy crap, time does fly, soon I'll be up to 100, but that is a while away. For now, I am here to discuss another super hero film, and this genre really doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. Now Fox, who has dropped the ball a few times with genre already. This newest installment of the X-Men franchise, was it a great movie, or was it a genre killer? Lets dive in:

X-Men Apocalypse- Well, the X-Men have fought some powerful foes before, but their toughest villains of all was Apocalypse. He was the world's first mutant with the power of immortality, and he found an alien spacecraft in the desert. When inside the ship, he bonded himself with the alien technology giving him the ability to manipulate his molecules and concussion force blasts. He also used the technology to upgrade other mutants, he would enslave, to become his four horsemen. Well, that whole character plot was completely thrown out the window, and Fox went a completely different direction. Why do they do this? Why? Why? WHY?





Plot- In the year 3600 BC, a ceremony is taking place for Apocalypse to transfer his consciousness into another mutant, so he can continue living and gain a new power to his laundry list of powers. He is betrayed by the people, seeing him as a false god, and he is buried alive for centuries. He awakes in the year 1983, to find the world is run by "weak gods", and vows to wipe the world. Starting a new one as Apocalypse as the ruler. The X-Men have to come together to stop him.



There was many things I enjoyed about the film, and there were things I hated. The things I enjoyed was the extremely emotional story for Magneto. This poor bastard has been put through the ringer in these films, constantly something tragic happens to him. I'm surprised he hasn't gone on a murderous rampage, but he endures the pain of loss. This makes him the most "human" of all the characters in the movie. The acting was great. All of the cast, were chosen incredibly well, and they all portrayed the characters awesomely. I actually liked Apocalypse's look. It was breath of fresh air to see something NOT CGI, and I think that's probably the best it could've done without it. Of course, the movie had another AMAZING, Quicksliver scene, it doesn't disappoint.





The things I hated, now these are a comic fan gripes, but I despised how Angel was done. The story line with him and Apocalypse is far sinister and disturbing. Now we will never get to see that. Storm was from an African village, not roaming the streets of Egypt, and Apocalypse did not "power bust" Storm, giving her signature white hair. Mystique does not EVER, teach the first class to become X-Men, and if so then why don't remember her in the previous films. Fox you done fucked up, the plot holes are now bigger than the ones in our o-zone layer. Plus, the storyline with the phoenix is one of the best story lines ever in X-Men comics history. This would be the perfect way for Fox to contend with Marvel's Avengers franchise. NOPE! They just take the lazy way out by saying its Jean Grey unleashing her full potential. DUMB! That's why they will never be better than Marvel, because they shit all over the source material. I wish Fox would do what Sony has done, and give the rights back to Marvel....sigh oh, and lastly, YOU CAN"T KILL APOCALYPSE! He is immortal! Schmucks! That's right you threw away that huge factor, never mind!






Final Verdict 6.7/10, If you know nothing about the X-Men, then I'm sure you will enjoy the film, but it will be hard for you if you're a fan. The movie is still worth watching in theaters due to special effects.

Next movie on my hit list has four brothers and a rat, fighting to save New York City once again. This is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to!

X-MEN: Days of Future Past

Hey, everyone welcome to another edition to Phil Goes to the Movies, and I hope everyone really likes the new lay out of the blog. I want to thank an amazing woman I was blessed with for giving a woman's touch, and making this blog prettier on the eyes. Thank you sweet heart, I love you! Today, I return to review another super hero title. This is the second of the superhero movie block busters coming out this summer. Did it make me rejoice in its victory, or did I want to back in time to stop myself from ever seeing this movie? Lets dive in:

 X-MEN: Days of Future Past- Ok, when i saw this trailer back in January, I couldn't wait to see this movie. The songs chosen for it stirred emotion and got me amped up. Because when i was younger, three comics i loved to read were Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk, and X-MEN. Well, the casts from both the X-MEN trilogy and the newer X-MEN: Origin movies come to together in this film. I love everyone they chose to play the characters on the silver screen. I love it even more they are the same people for the last 10 years still playing this parts. So important for any kind of sequel to successfully work, so they were already on the right track.

The plot, real simple, is humanity created Sentinels to defeat the mutant threat once and for all, but the Sentinels designed to protect the human race turned on them. Now they have declared war on both human and mutant alike. Due to the fact that humans give birth to mutants, therefore, logic dictates destroy them all to wipe the threat for good. The surviving mutants devise a plan to send someone back in time to stop this terrible future from ever existing.

There was some really powerful scenes when the Sentinels were just unleashing on the mutants, and killing them just brutally. You felt the hopelessness they portrayed as each hero was being struck down one by one. The acting was top notch, and there were a lot of laughs here and there between characters with playful banter. Unfortunately, I can't go too deep about the things in this movie because it might give things away!

The only thing I had a problem with, and this is very small and very trivial. Kitty Pride aka Shadowcat, some how had the ability to send someone's conscience back into the past. I was unaware she had this "ability", but like i said its only something me as a fan had a problem with... so I'm just sharing as a fan.

Final Verdict- 9/10, it was hands down the best X-MEN movie to date. Brian Singer returning as director was the best thing for this franchise. I highly recommend for everyone to see this in theaters whenever they are able too.

More movies to come this summer block buster season, and I will be there for all of them for you guys. This way you know which movies are worth your hard earned money! For now this is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have too!

The Wolverine

Welcome to another edition of Phil Goes to the Movies, today, I get to review my favorite movie genres, comic book movies. The big super hero fad cash in, which is going on, and boy are they making ridiculous money doing it... so no way will this ever end any time soon. Now, one of my favorite comic books was the X-Men, and for 10 years now they still haven't really made an X-Men movie that good... I mean "X-Men: First Class" was pretty good, but still there were things that annoyed me about the movie.... then again, those things were just fan boy things, the movie itself was fine. Well, lets tackle the newest installment of the X-Men movies... 10 years later did Hugh Jackman disappoint?


The Wolverine- The movie starts out with Logan in exile, in the middle of no where, living like a mountain man. He's still haunted by dreams and visions of Jean Grey, so this movie definitely takes place some time after X-Men: The Last Stand. Now, as a fan of X-Men, i absolutely hated X-Men 3, and just pretend it was never created. Hell, i had to google the title of X-men 3, because thats how much i have erased it from my memory.

Now, Logan has made a vow to the late Jean Grey, he would never kill again. He gets into a bar fight, and before he breaks his vow, a mysterious woman comes to rescue him in a sense. I like this character, shes looks like a cross between being a vicious killer and your best friend's kid sister that grew up. I don't know what it was about this character, but she was a blast to watch kick a ton of ass.

Now, the obvious thing i loved about this movie is Hugh Jackman, this guy jsut owns the character as Logan/Wolverine. Its been 10 years, and he is as charismatic as he was in first the X-men movie. I dunno, he just seems to nail down the rage factor, and really gives the character life. I mean, his performance really reflects from the actual pages from the comic... Hugh is the wolverine, just like Kevin Conroy is the Batman, and Mark Hamill is the Joker. It would be hard to see someone else playing these roles.

The plot of the movie, it was fast paced and well done.Unfortunately, in these movies the villains are very important, and the villain was a female named Viper. Nothing was special about this character, I mean she did some cool snake like things, like peeling her skin to recover from injuries. She had some crazy poisons, but overall she was really blah and forgettable. The only i can remember about her was the actress playing the part was really hot. Other than that, whoopie-freaking-doo! Then, of course enter the Silver Samurai, another boring villain, and they completely changed him around from what he is in the comics. Unfortunately, if i dive any more into the villains the plot, i will give away the twists, so take it from me... it was pretty was weak and predictable. I did think it was funny how quickly Wolverine forgot his vow to Jean, and began slices mother fuckers up real quick. Then what was the point of the vow then? Waste of time that lil plot point was....stupid.

There were some great action sequences, my favorite had to be hands down the bullet train, and everyone fighting on top of it. The one thing this movie needed and some people might agree or disagree, but it needs to be rated R, not PG-13. To truly get to see Wolverine slice and dice, we need the ability to see some true violence and gore.... thats just me!

Final Verdict- 6/10, it was a good movie, but there are better super hero movies out there. To me this movie lacked a true villain.

There were many other things that happened in this movie, which aggravated me, but they didn't persuade me in my decision of rating the movie. The flaws just disappointed me as an X-Men fan. Scroll down past my sign off and see the things that bothered me. The summer movie season is nearly finished, and there some more i need to review. This is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have too!


Spoilers



I hated the Silver Samurai was a body suit keeping the sick old man alive. This villain is a bad ass his mutant powers, and ability to cut through anything. Instead we get a weak ass plot device!

Now, mutant powers can be taken, stolen, or moved from one person or another. Plus, they didn't even explain how the hell thats possible. Because the powers are in the person's genes, and by taking his healing powers, kills him? WTF

I cant stand that Adamantium can destroy itself, which now Wolverine's claws were cut off, and they grew back as the bone claws. Wonderful!