There is no doubt that X-Men movies are some of the most critically acclaimed action movies out there. The cast, special effects, soundtrack, and storyline all tend to be praised by the media critics. Unfortunately, this was not the case for "X-Men: Apocalypse." Many critics have called the new installment of the X-Men franchise a frustrated setback in comparison to the previous X-Men movies.

"Much of what makes 'X-Men: Apocalypse' legitimately interesting also makes it frustrating and lopsided," wrote the A.V. Club writer Ignatiy Vishnevetsky when referring to the movie. He expressed that the newest X-Men movie completely disregards two of its main characters, Magneto and Xavier, to simply give a surface look at a new or younger group of mutants. While he celebrates the fact that Apocalypse is finally making use of more female power he critiques the size of the cast and calls it "ballooning, and unmanageable." He finally tops his review with comparing it to the two most recent Superhero films "Batman v. Superman" and "Captain America: Civil War." He wrote that X-Men sets itself apart from these two movies by rejecting the big flashy superhero standoffs of will v. ideology by staying true to its comic book like adaptations. Overall the A.V. Club gave the movie a B-.

Another Critic that didn't take much of a liking towards the newest X-Men movie was Rolling Stone's Peter Travers. He subtitled his critique "Everyone's favorite mutants are back for a new, overstuffed entry in the superhero franchise." Travers argues that the movie has one too many story lines. Not only does it count with the return of James McEvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult, who will be reprising their roles as Xavier, Magneto, Mystique and Beast respectively, but also includes the story of a "new" group of mutants. Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), and Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) are just a few of the people joining the already star-filled movie. Travers thinks that the only "saving grace" in the movie was Oscar Isaac (A.K.A. "Star Wars'" Poe Dameron) who portrayed the villain, Apocalypse. Of Isaac's portrayal, he said, "Isaac is such a focused, centered actor that he eradicates the FX noise around him". Travers enjoyed Isaac's acting so much that it seems like Isaac is the only reason he gave the movie two-and-a-half stars instead of no stars.

It seems that Movie Critics seem to all have a similar attitude towards "X-Men: Apocalypse." Helen O'Hara from Empire Online called it unclear and confusing and also takes a jab at the amount of storylines presented in the movie which in her opinion, prevented the movie from accurately assembling the characters. She stated that "X-Men: Apocalypse" is "...messier and heavier than 'Days Of Future Past,' this is not so much the next step in the X-Men’s evolution as a failed callback to past glories." She particularly points to the fact that the movie seemed redone and overused the same old mechanics that have been used in previous X-Men movies. Empire Online gave "X-Men:Apocalypse" a mediocre two stars.

Associate Editor of Variety, Geoff Berkshire, seems to agree with almost every single point made by the previous critics. In his review, he says that "Bryan Singer's fourth X-Men film disappoints with too many characters and an over-reliance on visual effects," which is basically an echo of what Empire, RollingStone, and A.V. Club had to say. He said that the movie makes you feel like you have a case of "been-there-done-that-itis". He echoed what many critics had already said by saying that the movie lacked coherent storytelling and character development. He even suggested that Director Bryan Singer should have quit while he had the success of "X-Men: Days Of Future Past" and he almost pairs this new installment with what many call the worst X-Men movie ever "X-Men: The Last Stand." Berkshire and Variety gave "Apocalypse" an overall negative review that described the movie as mediocre in comparison to its previous installments.

Overall, it seems like most critics found "X-Men: Apocalypse" to be a setback in the X-Men movie universe and was mostly received with mediocre reviews. That plus a 51 percent score by Rotten Tomatoes and a 52 percent by Metacritic seem to point out the mediocrity in the quality of this movie, and it makes me think that I should just wait for the movie to come out on Red Box instead of wasting $8-10 to watch a movie that I will halfway enjoy.