Viewers have been flooded with superhero movies in recent years, but the latest one set to hit screens is getting a thrashing in early reviews.
X-Men: Apocalypse is the third prequel-movie from director Bryan Singer and eighth movie in the X-Men film series, so you'd think they'd have gotten it right by now, but according to film critics, that is not the case.
So far Apocalypse has received an unfavourable 41 per cent approval rating on the movie rating website Rotten Tomatoes. It's an obvious drop from the previous prequel films, First Class (2011) which scored 87 per cent and Days of Future Past (2014) which possesses a 91 per cent approval rating from critics.
Sophie Turner and Kodi Smit-McPhee in a scene from the movie X-Men: Apocalypse.
Apocalypse features a star-studded cast of James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner and Star Wars: The Force Awakens actor Oscar Isaac, as the film's villain.
But it seems things aren't looking so good for the on-screen mutants, with the film being called "a franchise-killing disaster".
Entertainment Weekly slammed the film writing: "Apocalypse isn't quite a dog. But it is a movie with way too much of everything except the things that should matter the most - novelty, creativity, and fun."
Empire Magazine noted why Apocalypse falls flat, "The more the film harks back to other X-instalments, the more you'll wish you were watching those instead."
"Apocalypse isn't quite the end of the world for X-Men fans, but it might be the end of the line," The Daily Telegraph mused.
Forbes hated on the film calling it "a franchise-killing disaster", adding that it is "easily the worst 'team' X-Men movie ever made" and that it "makes X-Men: The Last Stand look like X-Men: First Class".
Slant Magazine wrote that the director was to blame for the film failings, writing: "The issue with X-Men: Apocalypse is that Bryan Singer suggests so many possible directions to go in and still chooses the least interesting one."
Actor James McAvoy in a scene from the movie X-Men: Apocalypse.
"Marks a shocking letdown from Singer's earlier contributions; what once soared now slogs" TheWrap also wrote.
Variety added that the film "disappointingly [succumbs] to an exhausting case of been-there-done-that-itis".
However, there were a few who did enjoy the latest X-Men flick:
The Village Voice wrote: "What makes X-Men: Apocalypse so exciting isn't really any one thing but rather its cohesion, its storytelling verve."
While the Guardian praised the film's intensity: "The idea of an apocalypse means every dial has to be turned up to 11 and this film certainly provides bangs for your buck, although there is less space for the surreal strangeness of the X-Men to breathe."
Digital Spy wrote that "X-Men: Apocalypse can't reach the levels of maturity and sophistication of Civil War, but it has a messy charm all of its own, and maintains the quality set by the post-Last Stand films."
X-Men: Apocalypse is out in New Zealand theatres May 19.
