REVIEW #62 X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)

X-Men: Dark Phoenix is the final instalment from 20th Century Fox, before they were purchased by Disney. Directed by Simon Kinberg, it explores the Dark Phoenix energy which takes over Jean Gray. Unable to control this power, she begins hurting those closest to her which drives her into the arms of an alien race attempting to take that power for themselves. 

CAST & THE ACTING 

The same cast returns for this instalment, which includes James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Sophie Turner, Nicholas Hoult, Evan Peters and Tye Sheridan, with Jessica Chastain as the main villain. The acting as a whole was okay, there wasn’t any outstanding performances but there wasn’t any notable bad performances either really. Sophie Turner did play a conflicted Jean Gray quite well, struggling to deal with this new power but also with the memory of killing her mother, which is restored after the Dark Phoenix undone all of Charles Xaviers work in Jeans Mind. I touched upon this in the Apocalypse review but Tye Sheridan again didn’t really live up to the Cyclops mantle, maybe that was him being let down by the storyline but it always seems as the character is portrayed as Jean Gray’s boyfriend rather then the courageous leader he is in the comics. 

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

My main issue with the plot was it was yet another film around Jean Gray and her struggle to control her powers, just like the X-Men: The Last Stand film. It was executed poorly then and it wasn’t done any better this time round. I just think there were so many other storylines that would have been better then revisiting something they have done before. Granted it introduced the Dark Phoenix energy, which we hadn’t seen before but that was just overlooked by the feeling of repetitiveness! The one element I enjoyed was how it showed the flaws of Charles Xavier and how he justifies his actions. This created an interesting dynamic between the team, especially between him and Beast who before this film always had an unbreakable bond. In summary I just think it was a poor storyline to go for, the focus on Jean meant that other characters were let down, such as Cyclops and Storm. 

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

There was some great visuals throughout this film, especially when the power of the Dark Phoenix energy was at the forefront of the scene. This worked hand in hand with the special effects which were also really good. There are quite a few examples, most of the scenes set in space looked great, both at the start of the film and at the end. The juxtaposition between those scenes at the start and the end of the film, nicely highlights how at the start the energy takes control of Jean and at the end Jean takes control of the energy. With such emphasis on Jeans powers, I do think there wasn’t much cinematography and special effects utilised for the rest of the characters, compared to Apocalypse where we saw some visually outstanding scenes from an array of characters. Perhaps that was the directors intention, to highlight Jeans powers only but I feel like there could have been some great scenes created from the other mutants powers!

OVERALL (7/10)

This film was received really badly by critics and in some aspects I can see why, however for me the cinematography and special effects meant that it’s entertaining to watch and looks far better then the film’s predecessors like First Class for example. I think they chose the wrong storyline, that’s what went wrong! It felt repetitive because it was very similar to The Last Stand in the sense it was about Jean losing control of her powers. Which I think the audience picked up on and disliked. The acting was pretty average and there was such little focus on the other characters in this film that they kind of just got lost in Jeans story, which was disappointing. Overall it is entertaining to watch for sure but it doesn’t really get you hooked and invested in the characters, so it doesn’t have much substance at all. So an average score from me, pulled up by the effects and cinematography and the fact I do love the X-Men films! 

Thanks for reading.

Callan