Sunday, January 3, 2021

X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX (2019)



Written & Directed By: Simon Kinberg Cinematography: Mauro Fiore  Editor: Lee Smith 

Cast: James McAvoy, Nicholas Hault, Jennifer Lawrence, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Michael Fassbender, Alexandra Shipp, Evan Peters, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jessica Chastain, Halton Sage, Brian D’Arcy James, Lamar Johnson, Scott Shepherd, Ari Rassendoh 

Jean Grey begins to develop incredible powers that corrupt and turn her into a Dark Phoenix, causing the X-Men to decide if her life is worth more than all of humanity.

This feels like a homework assignment that had to be done but none has any energy or interest in the project. At least if it was extra credit you know why it was being done and there might have been effort.

One of the most beloved and highly anticipated X-Men stories finally makes it to the big screen and it fails horribly. It doesn’t even feel like anyone is trying to make this compelling. More just finishing off these series of films that actually go past a trilogy. So this was set up in the last film and now just feels extra. 

It feels like kids playing grown up on a huge playground. As they are out of their depth and fields.

This franchise a reboot of the original trilogy of films that had already felt work by their film. Here it feels the same or rather it feels like it jumped the shark with the Previous film APOCALYPSE. As each new film in the series feels made to add young fresh faces to the franchise. Who comes off weakly as familiar classic characters and for fans of the original comic books plays too much with the timelines and continuity with these all Of a sudden new origins.

The film and the franchise play too fast and loose with the known history of the characters and the storylines from the comic books. It would be one thing if the film managed to change it for the better but here it’s Much worse and no real emotion behind it. As we were introduced to this character in this iteration in the last movie and the death of a beloved character feels only here to make some kind of impact and seems strategic from the beginning.

Some characters come off as satisfying in their own, but always feel restrained or never as sting as any of the comic books

The absence of Hugh Jackman as wolverine is felt. Even Jennifer Lawrence seems eager to close out her character arc. As she proves to be the only memorable part of the film. Especially her fate, She provides the only actual emotional resonance. 

The film is built more around Sophie Turner’s character Jean grey who becomes possessed with the power she can’t entirely control and ends up coming off like an intergalactic femme fatale. It's more a young adult version as the characters and the film come off as juvenile and simplistic.

This is a story that should feel epic and yet it feels smaller, episodic, and put together by a marketing team. At least the X-Men apocalypse movie felt a little stylized and bad. This doesn’t even have that. 

Even his fall is unnatural though the film does have impressive special effects that at this point also kind of feel routine. 


GRADE: D


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