Today, I will be reviewing two sequels to two major movies. I will be reviewing "X-Men: Apocalypse" which is the sequel to the 2014 hit "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and "Alice: Through the Looking Glass" which is the sequel to the 2010 hit "Alice in Wonderland." Before I get started, I'd like to give a shoutout to the Free Gamer's Alliance YouTube channel. Their videos cover everything from walkthroughs, glitches, easter eggs, and various amusing video game related content, all of which is delivered with some colorful commentary while they have buckets of fun doing it. Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/user/FreeGamersAlliance/
Lets start of with "Alice: Through the Looking Glass." Here is the trailer:
- As was the case with it's predecessor, this movie has visual effects that are as good as it gets. This one is a real treat for the eyes.
- I liked the song that played in the credits.
- It felt like the actors were really phoning it in. None of them were necessarily bad but i felt like they were all largely bored the entire time.
- This movie has some serious pacing issues. Particularly in the beginning and the end.
- The characters are all written in a way that they all somehow become very unlikeable and therefore it is really hard to care about what happens to any of them.
- Finally, the biggest problem is the plot. I've read "Through the Looking Glass" and there is a lot of material to work with. This plot barely resembles that which would be fine if the plot were any good. It is incredibly convoluted and it feels really pointless a lot of the time. Finally, the way things get resolved is such a copout and the only word that kept going through my mind at that point was "bullshit."
"Alice: Through the Looking Glass" is has visual splendor going for it. Unfortunately, pretty much nothing else works and it will leave you feeling bored. This movie is an absolute waste of time and money. My recommendation would be to skip it.
Lets move on to "X-Men: Apocalypes." Here is the trailer:
- There are some killer action sequences that are a lot of fun to watch.
- The actors are bringing their A-Game. Nobody is just phoning it in. In fact, there are some particularly intense performances, particularly from Michael Fassbender.
- There are some really cool new characters introduced (though I wish they were more developed).
- There are a few jokes and they usually land.
- Some of the visual effects looked good but there are some that looked really clunky and awkward.
- The main antagonist of this movie is really boring. I do not blame Oscar Isaac for this. Nobody could make that dialogue work, especially while wearing such a silly costume.
- As I hinted at above, there are some characters that I really wish got more development.
- Finally, there is a long scene in the movie where the plot does a complete detour in order to include one character that will sell tickets. This scene was irrelevant and could have easily been cut from the movie. The time saved with that could have been used to better develop certain characters.
"X-Men: Apocalypse" is a hot mess but it is a watchable mess. It is kind of like having a pizza but all of the toppings came off in the box as the delivery guy was driving way too fast. Still enjoyable but sloppy and somewhat disappointing. If you are looking for a mindless action experience, I would say it is worth watching. If you are lookin for more, I'd say wait to rent or watch on Netflix.
Thanks for reading everyone!! As usual, feel free to leave a comment but please be advised that if you read any potential comments, spoilers may be present.