To everybody's surprise, the past couple of weeks have brought along quite a few trailers - for superhero movies, as well as for other types of blockbusters. And we are interested, for the moment, in the first X-Men: Apocalypse trailer, which debuted on the 11th of December. And we are interested in it because, after almost a week, the opinions are still divided and the fans haven't settled just yet.
Of course, it is understandable given the scale of the movie - after all, it was and is heralded as the biggest X-Men movie to date, way bigger in scope and from a cinematic point of view than the previous installment, Days of Future Past. And this has to mean something, especially since 2014's mutant extravaganza completely erased the timeline established until then.
And we don't deny that the trailer had a couple of instances when it could have went in a different direction. But, at the same time, we cannot say that it can be completely dismissed. As you might have seen, a clip with the audio from the trailer and images from the X-Men: Animated Series is already called way better. And that says something about the disappointment of the fans.
So what can we say about X-Men: Apocalypse after almost a week from its trailer debut?
Apocalypse
Fox didn't wait like some other big studio in order to reveal the big baddie of the movie - Apocalypse can be said to have been featured heavily in this first trailer. And this is a good thing, we believe, since those who compared the terrifying Apoc with Ivan Ooze can now eat their words. As Bryan Singer said while dissecting the trailer, his version of Apocalypse was always intended to frighten as well as awe. The version which was leaked online after the Comic Con was an unfinished one, without any FX added.
And Apocalypse does look intimidating. We can say from the start that we will love Oscar Isaac, who brings much-needed gravitas to the role. His voice inspires and doesn't seem at all to be the voice of someone who is not even in his 40's.
Of course, parallels can be made even from this point, between Apocalypse and Magneto - the former having the exacerbated morals of the latter. Apoc intends to replace the blind leaders of the strong ones (the mutants) and show them the real path - there is no place for the weak. And if this isn't what Magneto says most of the time, only more explicitly, then we do not know what this is.
In any way we do expect for this movie to become at least the hit Days of Future Past was. And mainly because of the main baddie.
The Four Horsemen
As Moira says it, the Bible might have taken inspiration from Apocalypse - the first mutant always had 4 lieutenants on the field of battle. These are the horsemen of Death, War, Famine and Pestilence. In Next year, Magneto, Angel, Storm and Psylocke. And it is at least interesting to see how Apoc manages to attract all of these mutants on his side, especially the master of magnetism.
However, there is a downside to presenting to the presentation of the horsemen, as seen in the trailer. While the average fans are familiar with Magneto and can guess that the guy with wings is Archangel, who are those two ladies? It is long since Storm had an actual part in the X-Men franchise (just like many, this character merely cameoed in Days of Future Past) and people might have forgotten her - on top of that, the actress was also changed.
But the biggest question marked for the new audiences (and even for those who watched the series from the start) is Psylocke. Not taking the comic books into account, she is a new addition to the universe and it simply doesn't make sense to have her in such an important role (as we believe it is).
Ultimately, out of the 4 horsemen, only Magneto is known to the audiences. And, as the director revealed, the story will be centered mainly on him.
Nonetheless, when so many big characters are involved, will they have plenty of screen time for themselves? We doubt that - and characters such as Psylocke won't receive the attention they deserve.
Origins
As Bryan Singer said, next year's X-Men will serve both as the end of a trilogy and as the beginning of a new one. While some actors might want to stick with this franchise, some others aren't too keen on continuing - Jennifer Lawrence is the best example in here. So new blood is brought - though it is not that new.
While the actors have changed, the characters aren't - they are the same ones from the original trilogy. And while we don't have a problem with that, because their story will now be told from the beginning and from a different perspective, we still have a problem with that - after all, there are quite a few mutant characters out there who haven't appeared on the big screens yet.
Most interesting, this new/young characters haven't mastered their true potential just yet, which is a good thing.
But there is another interesting origin story which might just be skipped - the origin of Apocalypse himself. While we did see him in the post-credits of Days of Future Past building pyramids only with his thought (or so it seemed), his full rise to power also includes the finding of alien technology. Will at least be hinted in the film, thus expanding the Mutant Cinematic Universe beyond Earth? Well, we missed the answer for this question thus far.
We still hope that the Celestials will be mentioned and that the frontiers will be pushed further back.
Mystique
This is the biggest disappointment for most of the fans - that Mystique is yet again at the center of the movie (or so it seems until now). And for good reason, we might add - after all, we still cannot figure why she appears so much in her human form, when she became mutant and proud back during the First Class events.
But this isn't the only issue with the character, one concerning the continuity. The fans are simply tired of the actress. Which we don't get. Just like Wolverine before her, one of the characters needs to be central and, in a way, unite the plots of all the movie.
Speaking of Wolverine, there is the question what did she do with him after pulling him out of the water. Or was that another shape-shifting mutant? Was that Apocalypse himself? This could be a twist and it could explain the concept art with Wolverine facing what seemed to be a spaceship.
Also, apparently, Nightcrawler won't be Mystique's son in here - so there is that again.
The money shot
Civil War had Captain America and the Winter Soldier punching Iron Man. Batman v Superman had the reveal of Doomsday as the big baddie. What does the X-Men: Apocalypse trailer bring to the table?
There are two particular scenes which captured our attention - one featuring Professor X and one featuring him and Apocalypse himself. The latter one showcases the powers of the first mutant - he can change sizes, just like in the comics. However, it may just be that the scene in which he crushes Xavier isn't an actual fight - it is a battle of the telepaths, so to speak (after all, Xavier is standing up when trying to tag Apoc). And if it is so, we might just be disappointed, since it diminishes the awesomeness of the main villain.
The former scene features Professor X using Cerebro and just realizing how strong the enemy is. There is fear and awe in his eyes - literally, as they turn black. What happens afterwards is everybody's guess - but, for us, this is the most interesting scene in the whole trailer. We can suspect that, in some way, he is disposed of by Apocalypse. Does he become a minion himself? Or does he go crazy for a while and pulls his hair off?
As a conclusion
As a conclusion, behind the entire spectacle, the entire destruction, and so on, X-Men: Apocalypse might just be worth the while. However, we cannot shake the impression that this movie will be a rehash of previous X-Men flicks (a character who reluctantly becomes the leader, Cerebro hacked, destroying the bridge again, and so on). Hopefully, we are wrong.
That Quicksilver scene looks fantastic, though - and, after seeing the trailer, we can bet that the best scene in the movie will feature again the speedster.
