The rest of the X-Ensemble doesn’t help matters much either, providing weak backup either in cameo appearances for a cool light show with their powers or a Greek chorus stating the obvious.Īll this, coupled with lackluster cinematography and special effects, lead to performances that have the air of “let’s just get this done and over with.” (It leaves me wondering just how much everyone knew about the Disney-Fox merger at the time of filming, and what effect those developments had on morale.) The output is a product that leaves audiences confused as to direction and tone for the movie, and bored with its execution. The heroism that comes first in the Dark Phoenix saga is nowhere to be found, leaving the tragedy of her downfall bereft of relevant context. The steps in that journey are disjointed, without a glue to hold it all together. As a result, the emotional beats that we should feel as she works through this conflict – – fear to frustration to anger to love to her final sacrifice – – just don’t land. But Dark Phoenix is only the second on-screen appearance of Sophie Turner’s teenage Jean. It strips out that social commentary the X-Men are known best for, but the promise is there for a decently executed character-driven story. In light of these framing elements, the focus of the film shifts to Jean Grey and her inner torment with the effects of her gift. But stripping everything down to just the bare bones story doesn’t live up to that promise of a more faithful adaptation, not in an era where fans know and laud multilayered worldbuilding and storytelling. With just under two hours to get it all on screen, some aspects do need to hit the cutting room floor. Indeed, there is a lot going on in the comic. No Hellfire Club, no Mastermind and Emma Frost tapping into Jean’s mind, no Cyclops-Mastermind psychic duel.
Dark phoenix movie#
And that’s all the movie touches on – – the basics. If you’re not familiar with the Dark Phoenix storyline, here’s the tl dr version that this iteration presents: X-Men go to space, Jean Grey gets exposed to a deadly solar flare, her telepath powers intensify to the point past her control, and then there’s death and destruction. What we get instead is a melodramatic, watered-down version of that source material with some sideplots added to the mix in an effort to close out this current era of X-Men films. And with the current desire for superhero films that embrace and celebrate deep thematic and social commentary, 2019 seems prime for a new, more precise look at Dark Phoenix. It’s one of the gold standards of X-Men stories. The source material is complex and rich, exploring feminism, the extremes of human emotion, and humanity versus immortality. It is a shame, for the Dark Phoenix saga is one of the most celebrated American superhero comic storylines of the 20th century. To borrow from the musical A Chorus Line, the movie dug right down to the bottom of its soul but it felt. That’s what I experienced with this final installment in the X-Men Cinematic Universe. To be in a theater where there was hardly any reaction to what took place on screen makes a very telling statement about a film.
I love it when I see other fans reacting to movies it adds to the shared experience of what is on the screen. I clap, I cheer, I laugh, sometimes a little too loudly for my better half’s tastes. I’m a person who reacts to movies in the theater.
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