DARK PHOENIX (2019) ***

Dark Phoenix isn’t the final X-Men movie (unless The New Mutants gets shelved permanently), but it kind of feels like it (and I’m not saying that just because it was a box office dud either).  Set in 1992, eight years before the original film, it brings the series full circle.  After the last few big budget spectacles, this one returns to the dark, low-tech vibe of the first film.  Instead of the bright costumes of the past few sequels, we’re back to tattooed mutants wearing biker and S & M gear.  I kinda liked that.  The lower budget (at least it looks lower budgeted) does help make it look like it logistically was made BEFORE the original.  Major fight scenes occur in a deserted small town, a cordoned off block of city street, and on a train.  It definitely feels like something out of a ‘90s flick.  

Critics savaged it, but Dark Phoenix isn’t nearly as a bad as they’d lead you to believe.  I’ll admit, it’s far from perfect.  It suffers from serious déjà vu from X-Men 3 as Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) causes another death of a major character with her out-of-control mutant powers.  I guess it’s residual ripple effect from Wolverine going back in time in Days of Future Past.  Stuff that happened before is happening again, albeit in a slightly modified form.  I can concede that first-time director Simon Kinberg (who’s been a producer on the series for years) brings little of the pizazz that Bryan Singer and Brett Ratner gave their X-Men entries.  

Still, there are enough interesting bits here to keep it all from feeling stale.  I liked how Jean’s rampage causes the X-Men to become divided.  Professor X (James McAvoy) is too full of hubris to admit he made a mistake with Jean.  Magneto (Michael Fassbender) certainly has a point as he rallies his Brotherhood (and X-Men alike) to take Jean down.  It’s been a theme throughout the series that Professor X and Magneto want the same goal, just go about it in different ways.  Dark Phoenix gives their relationship an interesting wrinkle in that Magneto is in the right and he just goes about it in the wrong way while Professor X is revealed to be a less than perfect father figure (although he was only doing what he thought was best), and yet he still tries to do the right thing by Jean. 

We also have the subtext of men constantly telling a woman to control her emotions until she finally snaps and lays waste to everything around her.  Professor X thought he was helping Jean by holding her back, while in hindsight, he should’ve been nurturing her.  The fact that the Professor is too proud to admit he was wrong gives him a unique character flaw that allows him to feel fresh.  You can see why Magneto and Jean would rebel against him, even if he was only trying to save the world from Jean’s awesome powers. 

The casting of Jessica Chastain as the villain had promise.  Too bad the execution is kind of disappointing.  She’s a great actress and tries her best, but she isn’t given much to work with.  (Her character supposedly received a major overhaul in post-production.)  Turner is good, although she pales next to Famke Janssen‘s portrayal of Jean in the original trilogy.  As much as I loved seeing Evan Peters once again as Quicksilver, unfortunately he gets sidelined for much of the film. 

On the plus side, the rapport between Fassbender and McAvoy is as good as ever.  Their scenes give the film the juice needed to propel it along. Nicholas Hoult also manages to find some new ways to inject life into the character of Beast.  (Oh, and there’s at least one great cameo in there that I wouldn’t dream of spoiling.)  If this is indeed the last film with this cast, it will be a shame.  However, it ends on a nice enough note and serves as a decent send-off to our beloved characters.

X-MEN MOVIE SCORECARD:

X-Men: Apocalypse: ****

Deadpool: ****
X-Men: Days of Future Past: ****
X-Men 2: X-Men United: ****
X-Men: ****
X-Men 3: The Last Stand: ****
Logan:  ****
X-Men: First Class: *** ½
Deadpool 2: *** ½
X-Men: Origins: Wolverine: *** ½
Dark Phoenix: ***
The Wolverine: ***

2019 Comic Book Movie Scorecard:
Avengers:  Endgame:  ****
Alita:  Battle Angel:  ***
Captain Marvel:  ***
Shazam!:  ***
Dark Phoenix:  ***