X-men: Apocalypse (2016)

The X-men franchise returns, with another solid entry that doesn't reach the heights of Days Of Future Past, but is certainly on par with First Class. One again helmed by Bryan Singer, the film is set in the 80's and deals with popular X-men villain Apocalypse.
Now Apocalpyse was one of my favourites as a kid, but the issue with using him, is that he's not the most dynamic of villains and he fits the cliche 'I want to rule the world, cause I'm powerful' archetype.
This means the film struggles to make itself stand out from other superhero films by taking a more generic approach to things. Having said that I think Oscar Issac does a good job with his portrayal and Apocalypse definitely has a very demanding and threatening presence here, that makes him more compelling and memorable than most other generic supervillains.
The film also features more younger versions of characters from the previous films like Jean Grey, Cyclops and Storm all played well by their respective actors and I thought all performances across the board were fine too, with the one stand out being Michael Fassbender who as usual has the strongest performance, managing to really bring the emotion out in certain scenes.
I think the film has a good mix of drama, humour and action, with some fairly brutal moments for a 12A and is very entertaining throughout. It is a little inconsistent and messy, has some some hokey dialogue and more should have been done with the Four Horsemen but other than that, I  once again managed to become engrossed within this universe and thoroughly enjoyed the film. A solid entry in the franchise, nothing spectacular but still damn good. ***1/2

X-men Day Of Future Past (2014)

Bryan Singer returns to the series and helms another great X-men movie, probably even my favourite X-men film. Everything is handled exceedingly well, the story is great, with the time travel element being handled quite well, the acting is great, with particular praise to Michael Fassbender, James Mcavoy and even Evan Peters who does really good as Quicksilver. There's a good mix of action, drama and humour with a fair amount of depth and very consistent pacing. It's tense, emotional and thoroughly engaging, an all around great movie. Bring on Apocalypse.
****1/2

The Wolverrine (2013)

So I found this to be a very standard affair and don't care that much for it, I mean the acting is fine, the action is fine, it's well shot and I really liked how Jean Grey was implemented. But I think the film is a tad overlong and quite a few of the exposition filled scenes just seemed to drag and nothing really stands out at all. Overall, It's alright but nothing special
**1/2

X2 (2003)

Now here's a great superhero/comic book movie. The story is really good and within it quite a few characters have their own little things going on, which could have easily turned it messy and overwrought (x-men last stand anyone?) but it's all kept together really well and brings out  alot of good performances. There's a nice amount of action, a strong dramatic core and a good layer of humour, leading to a thoroughly enjoyable film and one the best films of its type.
****

X-men (2000)

The movie that helped spawn the reemergence of superhero movies and a very solid one at that. Everything is handled really well and the film flies by quickly due to its 90 minute run time (excluding credits) which very rare run time for a superhero film.There's a nice mix of drama, humour and action and overall it's a very solid film.
***1/2