Alan Markfield/Twentieth Century Fox Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy and others are back to inspire, teach and most importantly, kick some evil mutant butt in X-Men: Apocalypse, the third film in a prequel series.
In the movie, which is set in 1983, the two reprise their roles as Mystique and Professor Charles Xavier and strive to mentor a new group of mutants so they can defeat a new but very old enemy, named, yep, Apocalypse. The new movie stars a slew of franchise newcomers, such as Oscar Isaac, who plays the baddie, Olivia Munn, who plays one of his allies, plus Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alexandra Shipp, Ben Hardy and Lana Condor.
Other returning stars include Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Evan Peters and Rose Byrne. X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters Friday.
Check out what five critics said about the film.
1. ReelViews' James Berardinelli gives X-Men Apocalypse three out of four stars.
"As a superhero movie in general and an X-Men movie in particular, Apocalypse delivers everything a viewer could reasonably expect from it," he writes. "If it disappoints, that's because, unlike Christopher Nolan's Batman movies and this year's Deadpool (which features a couple of X-Men), it fails to transcend the genre."
"It's a safe bet for early summer entertainment—a loud, colorful, fast-moving spectacle. It should satisfy fans—both die-hard and casual—but there's nothing special about this production and many will (rightly) see it as 'just another comic book movie,'" he added. "However, for those who love this brand of wild, escapist fare, that's a badge to be worn proudly."
2. USA Today's Brian Truitt calls X-Men: Apocalypse "just X-meh" and gives the movie two out of four stars.
"The new film comes undone with too many characters and not enough nuance or freshness," he writes. "(Deadpool is the best X-Men effort this year. Who saw that coming?)"
3. IGN Movies' Daniel Krupa gives the film a score of seven out of 10.
"As a conclusion to a trilogy, Apocalypse falls somewhat short," he writes. "It marginalizes key relationships in favor of establishing new ones, and lacks the depth and distinctive historical flavor of its immediate predecessors. But taken as the next chapter in the series, Apocalypse is an undeniably fun and entertaining adventure and does a pretty good job of establishing Xavier's next class."
4. ScreenCrush's Matt Singer gives X-Men: Apocalypse a score of five out of 10.
"Thirteen years later, the X-Men are bigger, and the effects used to bring their powers to life are even more convincing," he writes. "But what's missing at this point is that sense of awe and wonder from those early days. For all the fighting and blasting and bamfing, we've seen it all before—sometimes literally."
He was also unimpressed with the new villain.
"As a general rule of thumb: When you cast one of the most handsome and charismatic actors on the planet, don't put him beneath 50 pounds of latex and blue paint and have him give a one-dimensional performance of hissing and screaming and arm waving," he writes. "Completely unrecognizable in his makeup and armor, Isaac never gets a chance to use any of his many gifts as a performer; almost anyone could have played this part. Apocalypse can look cool on the page, but in live-action he seems kind of silly."
5. Collider's Perri Nemiroff gives X-Men: Apocalypse a score of C+ and says the movie "starts off so strong and then devolves into total nonsense."
"Overall, the X-Men: Apocalypse narrative starts off strong with highly enjoyable introductions and a fun 'getting the band (back) together' kind of feel, but then it fizzles out and turns into a mind-numbing montage of poorly choreographed combat and outrageous, widespread destruction," she writes, adding, "It feels as though [director Bryan] Singer and his team went out of their way to have the fight take place in an unrealistically empty landscape and have certain characters involved at very specific times in very specific ways."
However, she says, there "are enough successful hero moments and well-timed jokes, especially from Peters and Smit-McPhee, to keep the film afloat and even spark some interest in another installment."