Captain America: Civil War kicked off the 2016 summer movie season in grand fashion with an impressive $179 million dollars for the film’s opening weekend earnings.
Hollywood hopes this is the first of what will be a box office wave of currency as there are several blockbusters waiting in the wings.
Let’s take a look at some of this year's summer movie offerings.
X-Men: Apocalypse
Opens on May 27
Official synopsis:
Worshiped as a god since the dawn of civilization, the immortal Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) becomes the first and most powerful mutant. Awakening after thousands of years, he recruits the disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and other mutants to create a new world order. As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Professor X (James McAvoy) and Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) lead a team of young X-Men to stop their seemingly invincible nemesis from destroying mankind.
The Buzz:
Age of Apocalypse is one of the most popular comic book crossover storylines and fans have been itching to see the big blue baddie on screen for quite some time. While we’re finally getting this long waited moment, perhaps it’s too little too late.
The last film, Days of Future Past reset the timeline thus erasing the events of the Brett Ratner directed The Last Stand. However, we also saw far into the future with our heroes safe and alive. Presumably this makes the introduction of the new Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) and Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) an uphill battle because any of the life threatening stakes they encounter in the film have already been spoiled since we know they survive.
The same can be said for Professor Xavier, Beast, Storm, and the world that Apocalypse is trying to destroy and rebuild for that matter. When we walk into a movie theater, plop a bucket of popcorn on our lap, and wait for the house lights to drop, it’s a given that the good guys are going to win. This usually isn’t a bad thing, but we were essentially told the results of this film two years in advance.
Director Bryan Singer has had more ups than downs with the X-Men movie franchise. But all of his creative ingenuity will have to focus primarily on the journey of these characters in order for the audience to be invested in future films.
It’s a task that is easier said than done. Can Singer pull it off?
FOG! editor Stefan Blitz reviewed the film this week, and the verdict wasn't good.
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