Coming nineteen years after the first X-Men movie, X-Men: Dark Phoenix wraps up the superhero team saga without any mention of Hugh Jackman’s Logan/Wolverine (Jackman retired from playing the character after 2017’s Logan) in a more toned down adventure that, at times, seemed derivative of past (and better) X-Men movies. It’s the far-flung future of 1992 and the X-Men are called to rescue the crew of the space shuttle, which has come under attack from a strange cloud of energy from outer space while in orbit above Earth.
Jean Grey’s (Sophie Turner) already considerable physic powers receive a major boost when she’s exposed to the otherworldly energy. And not only is she more powerful, but she can also see through a lie that Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) had created within her mind as a child in order to “protect” her. This incites Jean to become very cranky, which is not a good fit for a person who’s now armed with the powers of a god. Vuk (Jessica Chastain), the leader of an alien race hiding out on earth, is real eager to meet with Jean, and it’s not to get an autograph.
The reason XMDP takes place in 1992 is because it’s following the timeline set down by the previous three X-Men films: First Class (the 1960s), Days Of Future Past (the 1970s), and Apocalypse (the 1980s). Yet there’s no explanation for why everybody still looks as young as they were twenty or thirty years ago (do mutants age slower?). Jennifer Lawrence, who reportedly was initially reluctant to do this flick, phones in her performance as Mystique--and even her mutant make up looks like it really didn’t want to be here. And the movie itself feels very half-hearted at times, as if it’s just tediously going through the motions by treading over familiar story beats that were better played in other superhero movies.
However, having said that, I still enjoyed it. While it’s not in the same league as the better X-Men films, XMDP still manages to be an entertaining superhero romp with some good performances, such as the wonderfully creepy vibe that Jessica Chastain gives as the unearthly Vuk, and the endearingly sympathetic performance from Sophie Turner as Jean. The toned-down story line of XMDP is also a welcome change of pace from the universe-threatening, cast-of-thousands climaxes of some recent overwrought superhero films (such as Avengers: Endgame). As a result of this, XMDP has a leaner, more focused story. Yes, XMDP has its problems, but I think it’s still far from being the worst of the series--for me, that “achievement” goes to X-Men: Last Stand, which badly bungled the Dark Phoenix story line the first time out.
This film was originally meant to be the start of a new trilogy featuring the younger cast of X-Men, but thanks to re-shoots, the ending has been changed to reflect the end of an era. It’s also pretty obvious that Disney gobbling up Twentieth Century Fox (the studio that originally made XMDP) played a big part in bringing a close to this almost twenty year old cinematic saga. But I take no comfort in knowing that the X-Men are now in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After watching with disgust how Marvel turned the spectacular Spider-Man into nothing more than Iron Man Jr. in their films, I find myself dreading what will happen to the distinctive X-Men once they’re placed on the assembly line of the Merry Marvel movie factory. --SF
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