Dark Phoenix
X-Men: Dark Phoenix feels like the endgame for 20th Century Fox's tenure owning this Marvel franchise (and actually is, unless the repeatedly delayed The New Mutants actually gets released).
In Dark Phoenix, the X-Men are viewed by the public as heroes and Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) is enjoying the attention, believing he has finally begun to bridge the divide between mutants and humans. However, when team member Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) returns from a rescue mission in space, corrupted by a powerful cosmic entity, she becomes a threat to humanity, forcing a difficult choice upon those closest to her - can Jean be saved or must she be stopped for good?
This film was written and directed by Simon Kinberg. Kinberg is no stranger to this franchise, having been a writer on previous X-Men films (Apocalypse, Days of Future Past and The Last Stand). This is, however, Kinberg's debut as a feature film director, his only previous directing credit being one episode of the 2019 The Twilight Zone television reboot.
The cast does a commendable job with the material and direction they were given, but some lines of dialogue, including an awkwardly used "f-bomb", could not be salvaged by their performances.
A gimmick of the recent X-Men films is that they are period pieces, each set in a new decade; First Class in the '60s, Days of Future Past in the '70s, Apocalypse in the '80s and Dark Phoenix in the '90s. The respective time periods were reflected well in the previous three, whether through fashion, soundtrack choices, background television broadcasts, world events or which US president is in office, these factors made each one feel "of the time" they were set. This cannot be said for Dark Phoenix. There is nothing outright "'90s" about it. For example, in a series that accurately features Richard Nixon as president in the '70s set film, it would have made sense to have an actor portray George Bush Senior in the film set in 1992. This does not affect the quality of the film, nor should it, though it is more noticeable when compared with the other three.
A gimmick of the recent X-Men films is that they are period pieces, each set in a new decade; First Class in the '60s, Days of Future Past in the '70s, Apocalypse in the '80s and Dark Phoenix in the '90s. The respective time periods were reflected well in the previous three, whether through fashion, soundtrack choices, background television broadcasts, world events or which US president is in office, these factors made each one feel "of the time" they were set. This cannot be said for Dark Phoenix. There is nothing outright "'90s" about it. For example, in a series that accurately features Richard Nixon as president in the '70s set film, it would have made sense to have an actor portray George Bush Senior in the film set in 1992. This does not affect the quality of the film, nor should it, though it is more noticeable when compared with the other three.
This is the second feature film adaptation of the acclaimed comic book story The Dark Phoenix Saga, written by Chris Claremont in 1980, the first being the aforementioned X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and many fans of the original source material would argue that it has yet to be done well.
In this case, the story hinges on the emotional weight affecting the relationship between Jean and Scott Summers (played by Tye Sheridan), though, despite also appearing in the previous film Apocalypse, we have not seen much of their relationship or character growth, making it rather difficult to empathise with them.
The main positive I have for this film is that the fight scenes are nicely choreographed and, despite the fact that the final battle takes place in narrow train carriages, display nicely the various powers of each mutant, some of which are used rather brutally.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix is an okay film. It is acted well enough and the action scenes are somewhat entertaining, but it is quite a forgettable affair.
The main positive I have for this film is that the fight scenes are nicely choreographed and, despite the fact that the final battle takes place in narrow train carriages, display nicely the various powers of each mutant, some of which are used rather brutally.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix is an okay film. It is acted well enough and the action scenes are somewhat entertaining, but it is quite a forgettable affair.
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