Directed by: Simon Kinberg
Runtime: 113 minutes
Why? Why did they do this to us? X-Men: Dark Phoenix is the final instalment of this iteration of the X-Men universe after already being rebooted. What a mess. X-Men: Dark Phoenix, to put it simply, is an unnecessary, plot-less mess. I love Marvel as much as the next guy, but the X-Men universe (one of the earlier franchises to kick off the comic book film phenomenon) has always struggled to get a toe-hold in the industry for having compelling narratives. I can just picture the inane discussions in the writer’s room as they were given these comic book characters and lore and had to decide what to do with it. Naturally, the result is a simplistic (or non-existent) plot and an over-reliance on CGI.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix is the worst of the X-Men franchise. Let that just sink in a little. It is the worst. In. The. X-Men. Franchise. Yes, even worse than X-Men: The Last Stand which attempted the Phoenix Force storyline for the first time back in 2006. I am by no means standing by that film and stating that it is a marvellous piece of art. That film shat all over the Phoenix Force storyline and fucked the ashes. But at least that film had a driving narrative that propelled each character and engaged me with some kind of plot.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix begins quite abruptly with the team being sent on a mission in space and asks the audience to make a lot of connections with what happened in previous films. I’m sorry X-Men. You’re no Marvel movie. I’m not re-watching the previous films to remind myself of what happened, and I am not connecting with characters based on some kind of prior knowledge. Your other films weren’t good enough to do that, so you need to explain it and provide some kind of exposition. The film wanders lazily through the plot—mostly through Jean’s perspective—and makes no real movement to explain character motivations, nor to thread any compelling storylines through the perspective of the other characters dealing with this strange new threat. Jean freaks out, she’s crying and sad, she shows some more powers, repeat.
This leads me to question the choice of Sophie Turner as Jean. I didn’t mind her performance in X-Men: Apocalypse, but she did have this unremarkable energy about her in every scene. Jean Grey has always been a character that seemed morose and boring (other than when she had flashes of the Phoenix Force energy) but Turner portrayed her as flat and monotone, something the lead actress cannot be.
Several of the cast members like Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Holt were clearly there because of contract obligations and couldn’t even hide their boredom and lack of enthusiasm. Magneto’s storyline was frustrating, as we’ve seen him in similar situations in X-Men movies of the past. He is in hiding, trying to embrace the quiet life; something happens that brings him out of hiding; he’s on their side and does something awesome; then he leaves again. While I understand the desire to include Magneto in the primary team to make use of his amazing backstory and layers as a character, he doesn’t always seem to fit, and it causes other characters to become less important. Professor X is downright disappointing, coming across too much as a villain in the film’s attempts to make him morally grey. While he does receive some redemption in the end, his character is damaged by this portrayal and he loses a lot of sympathy that cannot be reclaimed.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix was cursed from the beginning. With a difficult comic book storyline that bothered even the most supportive fans, questionable casting choices and Disney’s deal with Fox, this film was never destined to be a work of art. Sadly though, this film still doesn’t come close to providing a decent plot or quality CGI, despite a high budget and a wealth of recent successful comic book films to learn from. As this film closes the door on this iteration of the X-Men, all I can say is that I am excited for what Marvel will now do with the X-Men characters and whether or not we will ever see a successful re-telling of the Phoenix Force storyline.
Leave a Reply