10 Moments From X-Men: Apocalypse That Are Actually Amazing

You can’t have failed to notice that reviews for the latest installment in the X-Men franchise, X-Men: Apocalypse, have been incredibly polarized. Unlike the previous three entries in the series (including Deadpool), this film is not receiving universal praise. Instead, it's coming under criticism for emphasizing a bigger scale at the expense of such trifling matters as characterization and plot development. However, notice how we said "polarized" rather than outright negative. While a lot of people aren’t fans of the film, many are also of the opinion that it's still an enjoyable ride. It might be the weakest of the First Class trilogy and be so full of plot holes that you could call it a sieve, but that doesn’t mean it's wholly terrible. In fact, some moments are actually downright amazing, and here, we've listed 10 of our favorites. 10) Mutant Cage Fight Our first glimpse of Mystique in the film sees her visiting a mutant cage fight in Germany where Angel makes quick work of the Blob. Next, Nightcrawler is sent in to face him – and comes out victorious, accidentally shredding Angel’s wings on the electrocuted cage. The scene is an entertaining one as it introduces us to several of the film’s main players in a way that will make X-fans happy. It also shows off Angel’s wings and Nightcrawler’s bamfing abilities to great effect and gives us our first look at these new takes on the characters. Ben Hardy’s Warren Worthington might be hugely short-changed later on, but here he shows a lot of promise. Nightcrawler, meanwhile, really steals the scene, with Kodi Smit-McPhee more than living up to Alan Cumming’s previous fan-favourite version of the character with aplomb. 9) Magneto Once Again Perhaps Apocalypse’s best scene happens when the mutant formerly known as Magneto is surrounded by police in the sleepy Polish town he now calls home. He’s been retired from supervillain-y for the past decade and has raised a family, but selflessly using his powers to save a colleague at work has drawn the authorities to him. In the arrest, his wife and child die – causing Erik to snap. This is simply one of the most powerful scenes in the whole franchise. Sure, it’s annoying when female characters are killed off just to advance the male character’s story, but you can’t fault the way this sequence is done. Michael Fassbender makes us feel the pain of the situation… and then the wrath he experiences when slitting the cops’ throats with his daughter’s locket. Magneto has always been a tragic figure, but we’ve never seen him this human and broken. 8) Sweet Dreams Remember the scene in Days of Future Past where Quicksilver frees Magneto from the Pentagon in slow motion? Of course you do, it's the outright best sequence in the film. For Apocalypse, they had a tough job on their hands try to top it, but they just might have succeeded. When Apocalypse’s gang destroys the X-Mansion, Quicksilver gets up to his old tricks again and saves all the students in a flash - as well as finding time to have a drink and indulge in some moonwalking. Just like he listened to "Time in a Bottle" in Future Past, this scene plays over Eurythmics’ "Sweet Dreams" to mark the switch to an 80s setting. 7) “We Had A Little Help” As you'll know if you’ve seen the last spoilerific trailer for the film, Wolverine makes his obligatory appearance in Apocalypse when the X-kids rescue him from Alkali Lake. It can’t be argued that this scene really adds anything to the overall film, but it’s always great to see Wolverine. It also allows us to glimpse him in full Weapon X mode, which we haven’t really seen before, as he lays waste to the entirety of the military base. Plus, there’s a nice moment where Jean calms him down, foreshadowing their future love affair. This doesn’t make a lick of sense considering the twist ending of Days of Future Past, but you can’t really blame them for finding a place of Hugh Jackman here. It's sort of the law that he has to appear in every X-Men movie. 6) Battle Of The Mind Another moment spoiled in the trailers is when Apocalypse grows to an enormous size, as per his ability in the comics, and pins Charles to the floor in a darkened, dream-like version of the X-Mansion. In the movie, this actually takes place in a telepathic battle where the Professor tries to stop the big blue bad guy through the power of his mind. The result is a surreal and imaginative sequence (imagination being something other parts of the film could do with). It's also a clever way to get Professor X in a physical fight with Apocalypse, when he's usually not that kind of a hero. Sure, the scene is a little silly and it brings to the fore certain plot holes, but it's a visual treat that makes a welcome change from the rest of the climax, which bores your eyes with an endless amount of collapsing buildings. 5) Moira’s Memories Rose Byrne’s Moira McTaggert makes a welcome return in Apocalypse, as she assists the X-Men in taking down En Sabah Nur. She hardly gets to do anything, of course, but it rounds off the trilogy quite nicely after her appearance in X-Men: First Class. You might recall the end of that film where Charles wipes Moira’s memories of him and the X-Men for the sake of his school. It always seemed like a bit of a dodgy abuse of his power, so thankfully, at this film’s climax, Charles finally gifts her those memories back. Oddly enough, she doesn’t seem annoyed at him for manipulating her mind in the first place, but it's a stirring scene nonetheless. It also suggests that the character will be back for future installments and that her and Charles might find some happiness together. 4) “I Betrayed Them” Magneto’s arc comes to a close in a fitting way towards the end of Apocalypse. After Mystique and Quicksilver (who he doesn’t know is actually his son) speak to the good in him, Magneto turns against Apocalypse and finally helps the X-Men defeat him. En Sabah Nur berates Magneto for “betraying” him, but Erik declares that he actually “betrayed them” in the first place. To show his new allegiance, he holds Apocalypse in place with two metal bars that form an X. It’s always great when Magneto changes sides and teams up with his old friend’s team, and this is no exception. This change of heart might be the most significant of all as he actually ends the film on pretty good terms with Charles. He doesn’t stay behind at the X-Mansion sadly, but let’s hope the next movie doesn’t disregard this ending and keeps him as an ally. 3) The Phoenix During the film's climax, Magneto’s efforts don’t hold Apocalypse forever, which means the X-Men have to turn to an even more powerful force to stop him – resulting in a fan-baiting tease of a future plotline. After what Professor X told her earlier in the film about embracing the full extent of her powers, the conflicted Jean Grey unleashes her pent-up telekinetic abilities and seemingly kills Apocalypse in the process. The would-be destroyer of the world is awed by the sight and ambiguously says “it's revealed” as he sees Jean’s powers take the shape of bird made out of fire. A phoenix. X-Men fans will know that this is foreshadowing the Phoenix Force, the huge cosmic power that Jean possesses which eventually turns her to the dark side. This iconic storyline was disappointingly realized in X-Men: The Last Stand, but let’s hope they can do it justice if they tackle it again in the future. 2) “You’re X-Men!” It’s a strange quirk of each of the prequel trilogy films that they all end with a scene suggesting the X-Men have now been properly formed. Unlike previous endings, however, the last scene of Apocalypse really does feel like the X-Men as they should be are finally here to stay By this, we mean that the scene finally decks them out in proper comics-accurate outfits. Cyclops has a visor, Quicksilver has an X across his chest and even Mystique has put some clothes on, as per the original character. And, of course, Professor X is now suited and balded to match up with Patrick Stewart. What’s more, Mystique now proclaims them to be the X-Men, as they face some test dummy Sentinels in what fans will know is the Danger Room, the X-Mansion’s training area. 1) Something Sinister This Way Comes As any self-respecting superhero movie fan knows, there's always a scene after the credits and X-Men: Apocalypse is no exception. Much like Days of Future Past, this movie uses the slot to tease upcoming installments – getting us excited for what’s to come in the process. In the scene (which you can see in the video above), an officious-looking fellow retrieves a vial of Wolverine’s blood from Alkali Lake and puts it in a briefcase with two other vials of glowing liquids. The briefcase is marked Essex Corp - a reference to the one and only Mr Sinister, perhaps the best X-Men villain not yet in the movies. A twisted geneticist, he's obsessed with creating his own mutant clone army. Word has it that the villain and his corporation will play a part in the upcoming Wolverine 3 and the Gambit solo movie. How he'll factor in is currently unknown, but we're thrilled to finally see him introduced into this universe.