Stubs - X-Men: Apocalypse

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Olivia Munn, Lucas Till. Directed by Bryan Singer. Screenplay by Simon Kinberg. Based on X-Men by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Apocalypse by Louise Simonson, and  Jackson Guice. Produced by Simon Kinberg, Bryan Singer, Hutch Parker, Lauren Shuler Donner. Run time 144 minutes. Color. USA. Superhero, Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

What happened?

Even before X-Men: Days of Future Past (2013) was even released, the followup was already in the planning stages. According to director Bryan Singer, the next film would concentrate on the origins of the X-Men and feature younger actors in the roles of Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm. The idea was to complete the trilogy of X-Men films that began with X-Men: First Class (2011) and would take place in 1983, 20 years after First Class and ten years after Days of Future Past.

Filming began on April 27, 2015 with Singer back in the director’s chair in Montreal, Canada and production would last until late August, with additional filming in January 2016. The film was released on May 6, 2016 in London and not until May 27 in the U.S.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Following the release of The Wolverine, the next film in Fox’s X-Men series, X-Men: Days of Future Past (DOTP), returns to the greater ensemble cast. Released in 2014 while the concurrent Marvel Cinematic Universe was in the middle of Phase Two (both figuratively and literally), this film notably beats Marvel Studios to the time travel punch by five years, serving as a soft reboot of the X-Men films (while incidentally serving as the literal middle of it) by setting up an alternate timeline. While I was aware of this film as it came out, I did not end up watching it until I began my earnest viewing of the series as a whole, though I did know about the timeline reset going in. While it actually does a good job with this premise, there are places where it gets a little muddy.

X2

Note: This review contains spoilers for X-Men

Like many other superhero films, both past and future, 2000’s X-Men proved so successful that Fox immediately commissioned a sequel, X2 (also marketed as X2: X-Men United). While the production didn’t proceed without its own hiccups, including budget cuts, rewrites and on-set disputes, Director Bryan Singer’s concept of a more personal angle and having a human villain persisted throughout the writing process, with the initial outline based on Chris Claremont’s X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills graphic novel (which we haven’t read at the time of this writing). When X2 finally released in 2003, it received rave reviews, with critics considering it a rare time when a sequel surpassed the original (although this sentiment wasn’t universal). As a modern viewer experiencing the full X-Men film series for the first time, I found myself agreeing with the critics of the time and thought the film actually aged pretty well and felt like a breath of fresh air from other superhero films from recent memory.

X-Men

The early 2000s proved to be quite the boon for superhero films, with the Spider-Man and X-Men films proving that the genre could be financially successful if put into the right hands. While I did grow up during this time, I didn’t have much of an interest in X-Men at the time outside of the X-Men: Evolution cartoon on Kids’ WB (I was more interested in Spider-Man at the time), only ever feeling motivated to watch a select few of the X-Men films years later. After recently watching all three X-Men cartoons at the time of this writing (X-Men The Animated Series, X-Men: Evolution, Wolverine and the X-Men) in their entirety (with X-Men: Evolution still being my personal favorite), I felt more motivated to actually watch the film series in earnest from the beginning, with additional motivation from the upcoming release of Deadpool 3 as well as Spider-Man: No Way Home setting a precedent for the MCU now requiring intimate knowledge of outside film continuities. After rewatching the original X-Men film from 2000 that started it all, I found it to be a solid beginning for the series, one that is still enjoyable over two decades later.

Stubs - Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joe Mazzello, Aidan Gillen, Allen Leech, Tom Hollander, Mike Myers Directed by Bryan Singer Screenplay by Anthony McCarten. Produced by Graham King, Jim Beach Runtime: 134 minutes UK/USA Color Biography

I’m not sure if I’ve ever had this experience before. I can say that I liked the film but at the same time think it took too many liberties with the story. What was supposed to be a biography is really more fantasy than fact. I know that’s what this year’s Rocket Man promises, this isn’t what Bohemian Rhapsody was supposed to be about.

Yes, I did get a new appreciation for the subject of the film, Freddy Mercury fka Farrokh Bulsara. He managed to transform himself from a baggage handler at Heathrow into the lead singer of one of the most popular bands in the world, which is quite a feat. And, as we always suspected, he enjoyed the company of men and ultimately died from the curse of AIDS. It’s quite a story, however, so much of what we learn that fills in all the gaps borders on pure fiction.

Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen served as Executive Producers on the film.

The film takes his story and the story of the group Queen and twists it so that it is nearly unrecognizable as his or the group’s story. While I liked some of the group’s songs, I cannot say I was a die-hard fan but even I know that much of the film doesn’t ring true and the more I learn about the real story the more it feels like fiction, almost for the sake of fiction. And what is the biggest surprise to me is that members of the group, Brian May and Roger Taylor, people who would know the story, are Executive Producers on the film. They were apparently in on the ruse.

Rami Malek won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Freddy Mercury.

This is not to take away from Rami Malek’s portrayal of Mercury. He does a very good job in the role and is to be commended. (Since we’re publishing this after the Academy Awards, it should come as no surprise that he won for Best Actor.) Malek really does his best to become Mercury, with all his faults and talent. The singing is a mixture of Malek’s voice with Mercury’s and new recordings by Marc Martel, a Canadian Christian rock singer who sounds eerily similar to Mercury.

Lucy Boynton plays Mary Austin in Bohemian Rhapsody.

Lucy Boynton does a very good job as Mary Austin, Freddie’s one-time lover who gets pushed aside as Mercury explores his homosexuality, though he still loves her. Boynton, who is also Malek’s real-life love, should have a great future ahead of her based on her performance here.

There is a bit of brilliant stunt casting, Mike Myers as Ray Foster, a fabricated record executive who doesn’t believe in Mercury’s dream. Myers, you may recall, was Wayne Campbell in Wayne’s World (1992) and had that great scene in which the entire carload of friends bang their heads to Bohemian Rhapsody, something that gets referenced backhandedly during one of his scenes.

The more I read about the actual Mercury/Queen story, the more divergent from the truth the film seems to be. One of the big points, Mercury’s AIDS diagnosis, doesn’t come until after the group’s performance at the Live Aids concert in 1985, which serves as both a bookend and as a coda for the story. You might be left with the impression that the group came together for one last gasp but in reality, they were on tour prior to the concert and would continue to tour and record until Mercury’s death in 1991.

Despite its own issues with the real story, Bohemian Rhapsody is really a very good film and one that I would recommend not only to Queen fans but to most movie watchers. While you might not learn the real story of the group you will no doubt come away with a better understanding of Freddy Mercury thanks to Malek’s performance.