X-Men: Dark Phoenix

RATING: C-

The argument could be made that the X-Men franchise should've ended with "Logan." It makes sense; after all, the entire series has mostly been a character arc for Wolverine (aside from First Class and Apocalypse--and even then, he had cameos in those). That movie concluded his story, and given that there didn't seem to be plans to go back to the older X-Men cast again after Days of Future Past--or to properly explain what happened before then in the new timeline--this series had basically run its course anyway.

Still, Fox was pressing forward with the younger X-Men anyway. And their next step? Retrying the Dark Phoenix saga, which X-Men: The Last Stand didn't handle the best. And while it sounds like at one time this movie was more close to getting it right... it got screwed both by meddling from Fox higher-ups and also by fate. Because then Disney bought Fox. And it became pretty clear quickly that Dark Phoenix would've been cancelled if it hadn't already been too far along in production to stop (and Marvel eventually did confirm this version of the X-Men series was ending).

So essentially what we get here is a lame duck entry movie--which is a kind of bizarre thing. This is a movie that once upon a time may have had a reason to exist--but now it has no reason, because this series was declared over before it even came out. And Dark Phoenix wasn't even supposed to be the end, and it shows.

But the fact remains that this movie isn't that good even on its own terms. While we don't have the extra subplots of a mutant cure to contend with this time, the Phoenix story is in essence still the same; and while Jean's backstory is done differently, things otherwise aren't really done any better. The Phoenix power is still held back a bit much here--until the very end, when we finally do see the proper extent of it... for about three minutes. And then the movie's over, basically. So I guess in a sense, they did get marginally closer to doing the Phoenix story right this time. But the problem is that this movie still is not good. And while The Last Stand had its share of problems, it was still at least generally enjoyable.

Part of it's the writing. There are some poor bits of dialogue here, but some characters just seem to be written differently. Mystique is suddenly telling Professor X "you're wrong" again... a lot. And Professor X's actions in meddling with Jean's mind to prevent disaster prior to this movie are ridiculously vilified. It's understandable as to why other characters wouldn't be happy about his actions, but it gets taken to insane levels here. And it doesn't make much sense, because Professor X's actions here arguably make *more* sense than in The Last Stand--and yet the fact that he's "completely wrong" here is a huge plot point and is barely up for debate somehow.

But another big problem is the villain. This can also be blamed in part on the troubled production; originally Jessica Chastain was going to be playing Lilandra, then a Skrull leader (then I guess they found out Captain Marvel was using them), and then for a while even she didn't know who she was playing. But they settled on Vuk and the D'Bari aliens -- which are basically discount Skrulls. I liked Chastain in Interstellar, but she plays Vuk way too monotonously here. Not to mention the fact that she starts off trying to manipulate Jean/Phoenix--by spouting empowering-related cliches repeatedly, most of which don't make much sense either in context. And while the D'Bari turns out to be a powerful bunch, they're also very forgettable and don't do much to stand out. 

It's a shame the way the movie turns out, because it's not like it's without good moments. It actually starts off pretty promisingly with an opening action scene that takes in space that is actually really well done and makes use of each mutant's ability. After that... not much else that's particularly interesting, aside from the ending train scene, which does feature some cool moments--such as younger Nightcrawler getting to shine. Quicksilver doesn't really get much to do after the opening this time, unfortunately.

What's also of note is the music. Hans Zimmer does it this time, and despite the movie being arguably the weakest entry and certainly the most meaningless in the series, he ends up giving this movie the franchise's best soundtrack ever. If only it hadn't practically gone to waste on a movie that no one really cared about.

The acting is also worth discussing; despite the prolific cast, it's pretty hit-or-miss. Some actors/actresses seem to be phoning it in; a lot of that probably comes from the reshoots, at which point everyone knew that this was a lame duck entry. What's surprising is seeing James McAvoy phoning it in. As a matter of fact, Michael Fassbender and Nicholas Hoult are two of the only ones who look like they are taking this fully seriously (and Sophie Turner herself).

Dark Phoenix isn't quite as awful as it's been made out to be. But it's still definitely a mess, and probably the worst X-Men entry (though Origins: Wolverine isn't far off). And it's quite a shame things had to end this way. It doesn't make me feel better that this franchise will later be rebooted with new castings all over again by Marvel--if anything, it makes me feel worse. While this film might not be the biggest waste of time, it's still difficult to recommend to anyone due to its meaninglessness. My advice is to just pretend this franchise ended with Logan. Or Days of Future Past, if that works better for you.