The Hollywood Reporter’s behind the scene look into Dark Phoenix’s doomed production solidified how the rich X-men franchise has been mishandled over the rears. After massive hits (Logan, X2: X-Men United) and massive failures (X3: Last Stand, Apocalypse), one producer summed it up beautifully when it comes to the franchise’s move to the MCU: “There is no rush to bring the X-Men to the marketplace after this. And when they come back, it’s going to extend Marvel’s run another 10 years.” The Dark Phoenix saga could have (and should have) created AMAZING movies, but Fox’s final entry into their X-Men universe will not create a “3rd times the charm” after this mediocre rehash of Dark Phoenix.
Starring Sophie Turner (Jean Grey), James McAvoy (Professor Xavier), Micael Fassbender (Magneto) and newcomer Jessica Chastain (Vuk), The X-Men must battle one of their own when Jean Grey develops incredible powers that turns her into the dangerously formidable Dark Phoenix.
The film opens with the X-Men on a rescue mission to space that culminates in Jean absorbing a solar-flare like energy that gives her the Phoenix powers and unlocks dangerous memories from her past. But those who are keen enough to remember, Jean Grey had already demonstrated her Phoenix powers at the end of X-Men: Apocalypse, immediately making this inciting incident a huge plot hole. From there, the way-too-short hour and 52-minute run time rushes the layers-deep Dark Phoenix storyline into a hurried wrap-up film filled with simple oversights, uninspired acting, and fluctuating character motivations.
Instead of the fleshed-out source material masterfully represented in the 90’s animated series, Dark Phoenix is a series of characters “doing things” with little-to-no connective narrative tissue. Jennifer Lawrence is obviously collecting a paycheck to finish out her contract as Mystique. McAvoy, previously a perfect younger version of Patrick Stewart’s Xavier, yields the most least likeable Professor X represented in any medium. Chastain is so wooden that I didn’t even know her character’s name until I looked it up to write this review. The young X-men, specifically Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) and Storm (Alexandra Shipp), are relegated to the sidelines in favor of the headliners (HOW DO YOU ABANDON EVAN PETERS’ QUICKSILVER 10 MINUTES INTO THE MOVIE??).
With such a stacked cast, the movie is surprisingly saved by intermittent strong scenes despite the mostly phoned-in performances. After one of the many well put together action scenes demonstrates the dreadful consequences of Jean’s full powers, she abandon’s the team to try to find solace in Fassbender’s Magneto, who was granted a government-issued isolated mutant society after the events of Apocalypse. But he soon realized that Jean could bring down the “mutant utopia” he has built, and the ensuing scenes between the two show flashes of the depth and intensity the Dark Phoenix saga could have brought to the big screen. Unfortunately, these scenes are few and far between the boring and bland reworking of the thin story that X3: The Last Stand presented more than a decade ago.
Dark Phoenix is better than both its predecessors (Apocalypse and X3) but doesn’t come close to the potential we have seen with Professor X and Co. You end up leaving the theater caring about what happened as little as the cast cared about their roles. It’s time for the X-Men franchise to take a bit of a break until Mr. Feige and Marvel Studios can come with a fresh new take in about 5-10 years. I am giving Dark Phoenix 6/10 Evan Peters Quicksilver slo-mo scenes.