I like to think that the pitch line for
X-Men: Apocalypse was, "Sansa Stark is Jean Grey." Sophie Turner joins the cast of the X-Men as a young Jean Grey. I do love that a sea-change is happening in recent fantasy/superhero/dystopian films. Of course, we have the
Hunger Games with Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence),
Divergent with Tris (Shaileen Woodley), and
Star Wars VII with Rey (Daisy Ridley). But, the supposedly male dominated DC and Marvel superheroes are also beginning to crack. In
Batman vs Superman, Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) shows up to save their bacon, and in
Captain America: Civil War, it is Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) who tries to keep the peace. In the new film,
X-Men: Apocalpse, Professor X ( James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) seem powerless in the face of the ultimate mutant Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac). It is up to Raven/Mystique, played by the indefatigable Jennifer Lawrence to become the de facto head of the X-Men. She gets some help from Jean Grey, Qucksilver (Evan Peters), Beast (Nicholas Hoult), and Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee).
I'm not sure it is worth explaining but the plot of
X-Men: Apocalypse involves the original mutant, who somehow gave birth to the pharaohs before being buried "forever." He is reawakened and with his gang of four, a young Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Angel (Ben Hardy), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), and Magneto. I'm not sure why Magneto joins up. Let's face it, he's not a joiner and he switches sides three times in this movie. Olivia Munn is very scary as Psylocke. Anyway, Apocalypse co-ops Professor X's mental powers to take over the world. Also in the mix, is the evil Colonel Stryker (Josh Helman) who, as usual, has Wolverine on ice. In a typical X-Man cameo, Raven releases Wolverine and he runs off into the woods. Oh ya, since this is a Marvel film, there is a final scene at the end of the credits. The plot makes no sense but I don't really care. It's always nice to see those adorable mutants. I think X-Women might be a better name.
