10 Things That Still Make No Sense In X-Men: Apocalypse

After X-Men: Days of Future Past proved to be far and away the biggest financial success in the franchise, 20th Century Fox understandably wanted a sequel - and fast. So, considering how quickly director Bryan Singer and writer Simon Kinberg ended up putting X-Men: Apocalypse together, it's no major surprise that the final result is a tad messy. What's surprising though is just how nonsensical Apocalypse is, and how often. The film frequently reads like an early draft of a script, rather than the finished article, with plot holes and gaps in logic galore. Given that it's been out in theatres for several weeks now, we've had the chance to catch X-Men: Apocalypse several times already and still, to this day, these 10 things make absolutely no sense. 10) The Return Of Moira MacTaggert Just why is Moira MacTaggert in Apocalypse? She was a minor character in First Class - so minor that she didn't even return for Days of Future Past - and so memorable that a casual viewer might well be baffled by Rose Byrne suddenly turning up in the latest X-Men movie. But even putting those things aside, and taking into account all her contributions in the latest film, you still have to ask: just why is Moira MacTaggert in Apocalypse? Anyone could have been parachuted in to play Charles Xavier's romantic interest (and that whole business could have been approached in a less complicated way had Charles' interest not been someone whose mind he'd erased), or explained the roots of En Sabah Nur. At the end of the day, it seems the MacTaggert character's only role in Apocalypse is to take up room in an already too-large ensemble. 9) Ageing If you thought Days of Future Past had an ageing problem - the problem being namely that the X-Men franchise had lurched forward more than a decade since First Class and the characters appeared hardly any older - then Apocalypse takes the issue to a whole new level. Wolverine and Mystique are good, seeing as how they don't grow old, but what's everyone else's excuse for defying the ageing process? How do you explain the fact that Charles, Erik, Hank et al appear to have aged just five years (the gap in production between the 1962-set First Class and the 1983-set Apocalypse) in twenty-one? If these characters were in their 20s and 30s in First Class, then they're logically in their 40s and 50s in Apocalypse - yet they look almost as fresh as they did back in 1962. Makeup could have done the trick, but Bryan Singer doesn't seem to have made even minimal effort. 8) Inconsistent Powers Apocalypse can decapitate people, drop them through floors and bury them in walls. He can manipulate others, including mutants, with ease. He should be able to defeat the X-Men without any problem at all. But at various points in the film, Apocalypse just seems to forget how powerful he is. In the end, he's defeated by mutants who he would quite easily be able to vanquish with a simple wave of his hand. En Sabah Nur isn't the only one whose powers are inconsistent in Apocalypse, either. Near the beginning Nightcrawler remains in the fight club through threats that he'll be killed if he tries to leave, even though he could easily just teleport out. Mystique, meanwhile shapeshifts into Psylocke without ever once meeting her, and Magneto manages to manipulate any metal in the surrounding area during the climactic sequence, all except the X-Jet that comes in safely to take him out. 7) Michael Fassbender's Accent We all know Fassbender's accent was bad when he first took a crack at playing Erik Lehnsherr. Swinging from stiff upper lip Brit to irate Irishman and never once sounding Polish (the nationality of his character) or like Ian McKellen (the man who preceded him in the role), Fassbender was sorely in need of a dialect coach on First Class. Thankfully, by Days of Future Past, the problem appeared to have been solved, no coach required. For the sequel to First Class, Fassbender took it upon himself to study McKellen's subtle Lancashire-by-way-of-RSC twang, to the point where he delivers a fairly spot-on imitation of the actor. Finally, a coherent, believable-sounding Magneto. Unfortunately though, in Apocalypse, it's all gone to shit again, as Lehnsherr once more spends his time trying to figure out whether he's from Ireland or some particularly well-to-do corner of the UK. 6) The (Un-)Altered Timeline Days of Future Past changed things for X-Men in much the same way J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot shifted things for that franchise: the film virtually rendered all the movies that had come before moot, wiping the slate clean so Bryan Singer and co. could start over. This has allowed the director to take the characters in new directions, but he also now has a problem: the timeline of the world as we know it should be altered, too. Only, in Apocalypse, it isn't. The end of Days of Future Past found Richard Nixon almost assassinated and mutants making their presence felt for the very first time. Major events, which would have changed the world. However, by Apocalypse, everything has shifted back into place: Ronald Reagan is president, Return of the Jedi is out in cinemas, Eurythmics are on the radio, and everything is exactly as it was in the real-world 1983. It's as though Days of Future Past never even happened. 5) Quicksilver's Music This was a problem in Days of Future Past that still very much applies to Apocalypse. There's no doubt that Quicksilver has been the highlight of the past two X-Men movies, thanks to Evan Peters' sparky performance and the inventive, humorous way Singer approaches Peter Maximoff's super-speed scenes. There's just one slight technical issue with how those play out, though. When Quicksilver goes into hyper-fast mode, he moves at many times the speed of everybody else. We see from his perspective that time as we know it is moving incredibly slowly - and yet the music playing through the scene, the music he hears, plays at regular speed. Really, Peter should be hearing Eurythmics playing much, much slower than usual, as the tape runs at normal speed in comparison to his irregular movement. 4) Apocalypse's Plan It's never exactly made clear what it is that En Sabah Nur wants with the people of 1983. At first, having witnessed what it is that humans have been up to during his long slumber (on TV, no less), he vows to build a better world "on the ashes." Then he takes control of all the nuclear weapons on the Earth, seemingly poised to carry through his plan, and just fires the payload into space - thus saving mankind from itself. Far from wanting peace on Earth, Apocalypse then has Magneto begin destroying the world anyway, in order to build a giant metal citadel for himself. At this point, Apocalypse reveals he wants to transfer himself into Charles Xavier's body, thus taking his powers, even though Sabah Nur and his Horsemen are about to wreck the planet and leave no one for Apocalypse to use any new powers on. Honestly, it's all very confused and we still can't figure out what exactly the guy's plan was. 3) The Fate Of Wolverine Do you remember what happened to Wolverine at the end of Days of Future Past? It appeared Logan was going to end up in the hands of Col. Stryker, until it was revealed that the 'man' taking charge of Wolverine was actually Mystique in disguise as the Colonel. Somehow, despite Raven saving Logan in 1973, we find Wolverine captive in Apocalypse, inside one of Stryker's facilities. Did you have all this in mind when you were watching Apocalypse, as though the scene with Mystique never happened? Because it seems like Bryan Singer forgot. Otherwise, it makes no sense - from a storyteller's perspective - that the idea Mystique was going to save Wolverine from Stryker would be introduced at the end of Days, only for Apocalypse to entirely ditch it without explanation. And at this point, we still don't know how Stryker got Logan. 2) The Motivations of the Horsemen As with Apocalypse himself, it's never entirely clear what the motivations of the Horsemen are in X-Men: Apocalypse. Psylocke becomes a Horseman after a mere short demonstration of En Sabah Nur's power, while Storm, Angel and Magneto all join up after he upgrades their own powers. Apparently, that's all it takes to convince them to help Apocalypse destroy the planet. Somehow, it feels the recruitment process is a little too easy. There is, of course, the possibility that the Horsemen aren't making their own decisions at all, and that they're simply under En Sabah Nur's spell. But if that were true, how come both Magneto and Storm have enough control to eventually defy Apocalypse in the final battle? It suggests the Horsemen are doing all this of their own free will, making their motivations unclear from the start. 1) Magneto Says Goodbye for Some Reason Like the other Horsemen, Magneto's motivations aren't often clear in X-Men: Apocalypse. He goes from a reformed family man to an avenging villain in a matter of seconds, from a moody welder living in rural Poland to one of En Sabah Nur's genocidal cronies, all as a result of one single act. Then, inexplicably, he turns on Apocalypse at the end of the movie, firing two girders at him that defiantly spell out the letter 'X,' before helping the X-Men to utterly wipe the big bad out. It's nonsensical, but at least we in that moment know which side Magneto has chosen to be on, who he has accepted as his 'family,' Finally, Magneto's motivations seem clear. So, why does he then turn away from Charles and his mutant friends at the end of the film? Where exactly does Erik have left to go, and why would he want to go there when he's just re-allied himself with the X-Men? Clearly Singer wants to keep the option of having Magneto as a future villain open, but it makes absolutely zero sense for the character in that moment.