It’s the weekend again, and that means Film Focus. Here’s Mike Laidman with what’s new in local theaters.
This week sees two new releases after a couple weeks of only having a single new English movie in theatres. And these two are nothing to sneeze at, either. The first is a mystery drama starring everyone’s favourite detective, although in a new light.

The second needs no introduction. The X-Men made the jump from the pages of comic books to the silver screen over 15 years ago, and 2016 brings the third in a new wave of X-Men movies featuring a new, younger cast. Hold on for what promises to be wild ride.

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Mike Laidman

Welcome to another edition of Film Focus. I’m Mike Laidman.

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Mr. Holmes (2015, Bill Condon)
An aged Sherlock Holmes deals with dementia and his final case.

Mr. Holmes is a new twist on the world's most famous detective. In 1947, an aging Sherlock Holmes returns from a journey to Japan, where he has witnessed the devastation of nuclear warfare. Now, in his remote seaside farmhouse, Holmes faces the end of his days tending to his bees, with only the company of his housekeeper and her young son, Roger. Grappling with the diminishing powers of his mind, Holmes comes to rely upon the boy as he revisits the circumstances of the unsolved case that forced him into retirement, and searches for answers to the mysteries of life and love.

This take on Sherlock is focused on the man behind the mysteries, and as such, lacks some of the Baker Street-action that has come to define other movies and shows based on the character. But in giving those up, the audience is left with a gentle, moving story about mortality and a man trying desperately to remember the past.

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X-Men: Apocalypse (2016, Bryan Singer)
The X-Men must unite to defeat Apocalypse, the first mutant.

Since the dawn of civilization, he was worshiped as a god. Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel's X-Men universe, has awakened after thousands of years. He is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto, to cleanse humankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign. Now Raven, along with the help of Professor Xavier, must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.

If this sounds like something you’ve heard before, then, well, it is. Things are always going wrong in the X-Men universe, and this latest installment is nothing out of the ordinary.

There’s a lot of CGI action, more so than in the other movies, and a fairly cliched villain. The performers themselves are strong, though, so if you’re into the X-Men, then this is worth seeing.