X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

Michael Fassbender as Eric Lensheer aka Magneto

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (2014). Director: Bryan Singer.

"So, you were always an asshole?" -- Logan referring to Erik.

Around 2027 mutants and their human supporters are besieged by robots known as Sentinels and the world is in a terrible state. To prevent this scenario from ever coming about, Logan (Hugh Jackman), is sent back in time -- or rather his mind is -- to inhabit his body in 1973. The plan is for Logan, with his knowledge of the future, to help Charles Xavier (James McAvoy of Victor Frankenstein) and Erik Lensherr (formerly known as Magneto, although he is not referred to as such in this movie) prevent shape-shifting Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence of American Hustle) from murdering the creator of the Sentinels, Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage). Logan's first task is to break Erik (Michael Fassbender) out of prison, where he has been shut away after allegedly murdering JFK (he claims he was actually trying to save him). But can these three men prevent an angry Mystique from bringing about the very future they fear? This movie is very loosely based on a classic storyline in the X-Men comic book, but it eliminates the Brotherhood (of Evil Mutants) and adds a tense climax wherein Magneto lifts up an entire stadium and places it around the White House. The movie makes other changes as well. Quicksilver (Evan Peters) is Russian in the comics, but in this he's American and can run as fast as DC Comic's Flash. Another big change is that in the comics Trask is of "normal" size whereas in the movie he's a "little person" -- what that's supposed to mean except perhaps for the indication that people who are different can still discriminate against other people who are different?  -- but the movie never explores his feelings in that regard. The performances throughout the film are excellent, with Fassbender taking top honors as Erik. Ian McKellan appears briefly as the older Magneto, a role he created on film, and he's fine, as is Patrick Stewart as the older Charles Xavier (although one can't quite see James McAvoy turning into Patrick Stewart no matter how many years have gone by). Nicholas Hoult [Jack the Giant Slayer] scores as Hank McCoy, better-known as the Beast, and there are what almost amount to cameos from Halle Berry (Storm) and other characters/actors from the earlier films. This has an interesting and moving conclusion, and a good score by John Ottman.

Verdict: Those X-Men just keep on comin'! ***.

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE

A Really Bad Guy: Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac)

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE (2016). Director: Bryan Singer.

In 1983 Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender), also known as Magneto, a mutant terrorist, has been leading a quiet life with his wife and daughter when his true identity is discovered and a confrontation with police leads to their deaths. Now his mind is in the perfect place for him to team up with En Sabur Nur (Oscar Isaac of Star Wars Part VII), the world's first mutant, born in 2500 A.D., and better-known as Apocalypse. Nur wants to remake the world over by demolishing human society, and Magneto -- at first -- is only too willing to help him. His former friend, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and even fellow terrorist Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) are out to stop the two men and their mutant allies. The trouble with X-Men: Apocalypse -- the sixth X-Men movie (the 8th if you count the two Wolverine films released before this one) -- is that it suffers from over-familiarity and despite a somewhat impressive main villain, lacks a really strong story or sense of desperation. This is another prequel, with younger actors completely taking over from those cast in the first X-Men -- Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan are nowhere to be found. The X-Men comic and its many spin-offs (Apocalypse actually first appeared in X-Factor) have been published for so many decades now that the movies have their own interpretation of the characters, hence Peter (Pietro) Maximoff --  apparently Magneto's son -- is no longer a brooding, unpleasant Russian but a hip teenage American, who (as in the last film) has been reinvented to be more like The Flash. The movie's most striking sequence has Flash -- I mean, Quicksilver (Evan Peters) -- rescuing all of the students from Xavier's mansion when it explodes. I don't recall Professor Xavier ever being able to stop time in its tracks the way he does in this movie. X-Men: Apocalypse isn't bad, but it does take a long time to get started, and despite some decent effects, the pace isn't great and the action scenes not that well delineated. Fassbender, who is quite good as the conflicted Erik, has emerged as the dynamic star of the X-Men movies. Hugh Jackman only appears briefly as Logan and was given three of his own films.

Verdict: Perhaps one trip to the well too many? **1/2.

SUPERMAN RETURNS

SUPERMAN RETURNS (2006). Director: Bryan Singer.

Hearing reports that astronomers have discovered a planet that may be Krypton, Superman sets out to find it -- and doesn't return for five years. Which is understandably upsetting to Lois Lane, as he has left her with child. We never really find out why it took so long for the faster-than-light Man of Steel to return to Earth after discovering Krypton was -- as we all already new -- a shattered husk, but the real problem with the film is that it's lacklustre, disjointed, and slowwww. There are some good rescue scenes however, such as the business with the space shuttle and a tense scene when Lois, her son, and her boyfriend, Richard (James Marsden) are nearly drowned in a tight compartment. Brandon Routh is excellent as Superman, however, as is Kate Bosworth as Lois and Frank Langella as Perry White. Kevin Spacey sort of plays Luthor in the same quasi-camp mode as Gene Hackman before him -- has no one read the comics or seen the cartoons, where Luthor is a much more imposing presence? Parker Posey is even more irritating as Luthor's bimbo, Kitty. The plot has something to do with Luthor using kryptonian crystal technology to create a new continent, which will bring about the demise of everyone else on Earth. (There is no real sense of impending doom or even urgency to this.) The scene when a tough hood plays Heart and Soul with little Jason (the likable Tristan Lake Leabu) is charming, but in the wrong movie, but it does lead into a startling revelation. In trying to be all mythic, Singer (who did a better job on the X-Men films) forgot to be entertaining.

Verdict: Some magical moments, but overlong. **1/2.