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.

VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN

James McAvoy as Victor Frankenstein 

VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN (2015). Director: Paul McGuigan.

"An exquisite show of depraved lunacy."

Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy) rescues a hunchbacked clown (Daniel Radcliffe) from the circus where he is horribly mistreated, discovers his hump is merely a fluid sac and removes it for him, christens him "Igor" after a missing friend, and importunes the grateful fellow, who also has much medical and scientific knowledge, to help him in his research into cheating death. However, a pious Scotland Yard inspector, Turpin (Andrew Scott), is determined to find out what the two are up to and stop them from their unholy mission. Victor Frankenstein hasn't much to do with Mary Shelley's novel -- no surprise there -- but it is very well-acted by all, including Jessica Brown Findlay as Lorelei, another circus performer whose life is saved by Igor (but who doesn't really fit in smoothly with the rest of the movie); Freddie Foxe as the wealthy and sinister Finnegan, who supposedly wants to help Victor; and Charles Dance [Alien 3] as Victor's highly disapproving father. Victor Frankenstein is entertaining and fairly unpredictable for most of its length, but the final quarter, with the birth of monster Prometheus (Spencer Wilding), is very busy but not as thrilling as intended because of insufficient direction and editing. The scenic design is striking, however, and there's a nice enough throbbing score by Craig Armstrong with some very pretty end title music. McAvoy [X-Men: First Class] continues the recent tradition of rather handsome Victor Frankensteins, such as Harry Treadaway of Penny Dreadful.

Verdict: Doesn't quite cross over into camp. **1/2.

X-MEN FIRST CLASS

X-MEN FIRST CLASS (2011). Director: Matthew Vaughn.

This installment in the X-Men series takes us back to 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis and shows us how the group of mutant super-heroes was formed. But first there's a prologue in 1944 in which Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), apparently posing as a Nazi named Schmidt, induces young Eric Lensherr to unleash his magnetic powers by murdering his mother in front of his eyes. [It makes no sense that the boy would then kill the guards but leave Shaw alive aside from the fact that the plot seems to require this.] Years later Eric (Michael Fassbender), soon to be known as mutant terrorist Magneto, is an ally of Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), both of whom are working against Shaw and his sinister aides Emma Frost (the unfortunately named January Jones), and Azazel (Jason Flemying). Other X-characters include a pre-furry Hank McCoy AKA the Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Mystique AKA Raven (Beth Goddard), mutant researcher Moria MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), and a female Angel (Zoe Kravitz), whose being a former lap dancer seems to ensure that she'll go over to the dark side (yawn). Aside from some slips, X-Men First Class intelligently transfers and slightly transforms the mutant universe from comic book page to theater screen, and it does so with great dramatic flair and some excellent acting. Sensitive McAvoy and an intense Fassbinder are as splendid as Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen playing their older counterparts in the earlier films, Bacon is superb, and Jones displays just the right amount of confidence and attitude as Frost; other cast members are also on the money. Some very exciting and adroitly directed action sequences as well. Let's hope we see more X-action on the screen. Previous films were X-Men, X 2, X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Excellent score by Henry Jackman.

Verdict: First class indeed! ***1/2.