The comic book blockbusters continue to flood the box office, with the release this week of the new X-Men: Apocalypse.
The follow-up to Days of Future Past and from the same director, this latest X-Men has yet another evil villain to protect the world against.
Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters will once again have their studies interrupted, but the coming of apocalypse is a pretty good excuse to skip class.
A bad-as super-mutant buried under an Egyptian pyramid gets woken up, and his evil plan of a few centuries before swings back into action.
Of course, the professor will have none of that nonsense, and along with a few new recruits and some old ones, he will rally the mutant troops.
Set in 1983, mostly, this X-Men carries on the timeline of the last chapter, and also introduces younger versions of the characters made popular in the earlier films -- Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm for starters.
The always useful Quicksilver returns to the fray too, along with Raven, and there's no show without Magneto.
I loved both the last two X-Men movies -- First Class and Days of Future Past -- but it felt like director Bryan Singer and his writers just phoned this one in. Perhaps there's a little comic book saturation underpinning my apathy, but this outing just had no heart, no zing -- the story both dull and derivative.
Two-and-half stars.
X-Men: Apocalypse:: Director: Bryan Singer :: Starring: Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Evan Peters, Rose Byrne, Olivia Munn, Nicholas Hoult, Oscar Isaac, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Kodi Smit-McPhee:: Rating: M - Violence,offensive language and content that may disturb:: Running Time: 144 minutes:: Release Date: In cinemas now
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