Back to welcome form for Bryan Singer and the X-men franchise in this ‘reboot’ (though is it a reboot if it has the same director and actors? …) Intelligent action thriller, though if it doesn’t quite hit the mark, it is because:
(1) It has so many characters (and 2x the actors per character due to the dual timelines, 1970s and 2020s) so several of them get short-shrift. E.g. Jennifer Lawrence is wasted by only needing to pout in blue body paint, Peter ‘Tyrion’ Dinklage only has scope to be the token obsessed scientist, and Ian McKellen as the elder Magneto only has time to show us a scowlier Gandalf in futuristic body armor and short hair
(2) There is a little too much fan-service to previous films that confuse the casual viewer and flatten any attempted emotional high notes (e.g. who is that red head again, and why should she matter? etc.)
That being said, the best (and signature X-men) bits are the new super powers that are smartly blended into the action, specifically Blink’s Portal throwing ability (art imitating video games?) and Quicksilver’s lightning reflexes.
For X-men afficiandos, a sequel is already planned, X-Men Apocalypse, which is set in the 1980s of the reset timeline. It hasn’t taken that long, and now comic book movies are just as convoluted as the comic book series inspirations. Don’t know if that’s a good thing …
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