Film Review - Xmen Apocalypse

As with Civil War my first comment has to be, 'Why the hell can't DC learn from this?'. There is nothing particularly clever about this movie and yet it is on a completely different level to their recent efforts. 

This second strain of Xmen continues to move along nicely by building around its existing characters while slowly introducing new ones where necessary to the greater story. There is development of the older characters. Even those where we have already seen their distant future the story builds within that framework and it's own internal consistency (allowing for the alternate timelines at least).

There is a villain with a clear and understandable motivation of his own. 

There are some great 80's references. My favourite was the Michael Jackson / Eddie Murphy leather jacket that Nightcrawler wears but there were many others. Star Trek and Knight Rider on the background TV screens almost pipped the jacket. 

There are some great in jokes. 'The third movie is always the weakest'.

There are some subtle nods to the comics just for the fans. Jean Grey's Phoenix is the obvious one, other than the appearance of Apocalypse himself. 

There are some great links back to previous movies. 'I feel a great swell of pity for the poor soul who comes to this school... looking for trouble'.

There is a brief, but largely pointless, Wolverine appearance. 

And of course, there is Stan Lee!

So that is 8-1 for Marvel vs DC if you just take this film against BvsS. And I give DC their one point for the subtle nods to the comics but they weren't subtle at all, they were so blatant that someone might as well have been waving the comic book at the screen during them, at least that might have made more sense than the Flash and his weird time vortex smashing right through the middle of the film. 

Anyway, enough ranting about how Marvel have again taken worse source material than DC and turned it into a vastly better film. 

Overall 7 out of 10, because it wasn't quite an 8.

Film Review - Eye in the Sky

Lots of heavyweights, a couple of Oscar nominees, the obligatory Game of Thrones actor.

The story goes at a decent 'real-time-ish' pace even when things are being kicked upstairs.

A few niggles with the beyond-realistic tech making it feel a bit like a superhero movie rather than a drama. And that in turn leads to some plot issues

And a bit of a squeak in the story when they finally realise that a slight change in target might get them the desired effect. I had figured out their eventual solution almost an hour before the team of professionals and I can still offer 3 or 4 better tactical solutions that they don't even consider. The second strike option that suddenly materialises then makes that even more of a glitch. 

I like the idea, it raises good questions about the politics and ethics of drone strikes and much of the execution is solid. It just is a bit of a damp squib considering the power of the material and the personnel involved.

Overall 7 out of 10. 

Fim Review - Captain America Civil War

Can't really write a review of this as I will be hugely biased as a fan of the Marvel series. So much so that I went to see this twice in 4 days. 

Once again they managed to juggle a multitude of characters and personalities, from the very original and now ageing Iron Man through to the brand new Black Panther and the rebooted Spiderman in a film driven by Captain America while fitting them all into an over-arching story that makes sense, drives the action and fits well within the greater universe.


Basically I loved it, and the biggest gripe I have is that it makes DCs rush attempt to jam their characters into Batman vs Superman seem all the more terrible.

9 out of 10.