Dark Phoenix
Directed and Written by Simon Kinberg
A funny story from the dark days of my childhood in the 80s was that for my allowance I was paid in weekly comic books. I can't remember exactly how many but I was allowed to get 4-5 comics and there wasn't a comic store near me in those days so I just had to make do with whatever I could find at my cornerstore. They didn't get the same titles every month so you couldn't really "follow" any books.
For some reason none of the stores I ever went to had X-Men. The closest I ever got was Amazing Adventures which reprinted the early issues of the X-Men from the 60s. The first issue of the "New" X-men I got was issue 138, which was the issue AFTER the end of the whole Dark Phoenix saga. From what I remember it was the aftermath of her death and Cyclops was leaving the team. To this day I've still not ever read the original comics this movie was based on. I just know its general outlines. But I do have the trade on Kindle so it's gonna be my next comic read. From issue 138 and the arrival of a comic store finally I started reading X-men and was a big fan up till around issue 170. Now there's so many X-titles and Jean Grey is alive in 20 different forms that I no longer care about what's going on with the comics.
I've never been a big fan of the X-men movies except Logan and Apocalypse. The others to me have been mediocre at best. But I try to keep an open mind so even after hearing that this movie sucked and that it was bombing I wasn't going to let that deter me.
The time is 1992 and while the X-men are rescuing a disabled American space shuttle in orbit, Jean Grey is struck by what they first surmise to be a large solar flare. It was actually something a bit more insidious. At first her friends think she is dead but Jean is MORE than alive. Her powers have grown to an almost godlike level. She's not really the best instrument for those powers because she's always had a problem controlling herself, which led even to the death of her parents at the beginning of the movie. As the plot progresses the mutants become split between those that want to save Jean and those that want to kill her. Throw in some space aliens that want to use Jean's powers for their own ends and you've got a pretty entertaining film, well, relative to the X-Men movie franchise.
I liked this movie, even if Quicksilver (um, does he ever even get a name in these movies), who is my favorite character, gets hurt early on (probably to save money) and is out of action for the rest of the movie.
The space aliens were kind of generic. I thought at first they were gonna be Skrulls but they look more like the aliens from Signs.
The acting was hit and miss. Fassbender and McAvoy were pros and would do a good job no matter what movie they were in. Jennifer Lawrence's performance was so phone it in that I thought they CGed her in from the Hunger Games. At times she seemed a vegetable. Sophie Turner has a slight double chin developing and that's about all I remember about her. She was serviceable. But really, I don't think ANY Game of Thrones actors are going to have much of a future. Because away from George RR Martins epic plots and characters none of them have a bevy of charisma. Having Sophie Turner as your star draw isn't a good bet. Jessica Chastain just looked WEIRD. Like an female albino with man hands. Alexandra Shipp as Storm was interesting and I would like to see more of her, especially if her origin is anything like that of the 80s comics. But most of the mutants in the film were just window dressing and you didn't have a lot of attachment to them. I guess that's why i like Quicksilver so much. Evan Peters for as little screen time as he gets puts a lot of personality and charm into that character.
To me, the problem with the movie or the franchise is its been around too long. The first movie came out like 20 years ago. People that grew up with it are sick of it, and others are too young to have any attachment to it. They've grown up on MCU. And another thing is at least to me, Last Stand doesn't seem THAT long ago, or maybe it's just that the Dark Phoenix saga is such a part of comics mythology that I don't need to see ANOTHER movie about it. But I wonder if in 10 years the MCU will be experiencing the same symptoms of declining returns as the X-men is currently. I wouldn't be shocked. I think you have to give a franchise or universe time to breathe.
Star Wars took a 10 year break between Revenge of the Sith and The Force Awakens and had a lot of pent up demand. I think with the way Disney works today, there is no pent up demand. People start taking the movies for granted. There's no hype because there is no waiting time. There's ALWAYS a Marvel movie on at the theaters. Hell, at MY theater Captain Marvel is still on AND Avengers Endgame. It's the Call of Duty and Madden sickness. Put out a movie every year even if it stinks. I will see a Marvel movie completely bomb in my lifetime. They put out so many there's bound to be a dud. Hubris never ends well.
This is not a bad movie. It was better than Avengers Endgame. And a tiny bit better than Captain Marvel. Is it something I'm going to buy for my home or ever watch again? Probably not. But there aren't a lot of movies that stand up to second viewings these days. I still have a lot of hope for the DCU because at least they're still finding their way and fumbling in the dark is much more interesting than following a formula.
I'm definitely going to be reading the original Dark Phoenix Saga comics and will review that trade soon.
My Grade: B
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