DARK PHOENIX REVIEW
Starring: Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, & Jennifer Lawrence
Directed By: Simon Kinberg (Feature Film Debut)
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour 53 minutes
The Dark Phoenix Saga is the best X-Men Story ever written.It is the tragic story of Jean Grey’s powers growing and consuming her into a new persona, The Dark Phoenix.In wrestling, it’s called a heel turn.The X-Men then have to decide what to do with this Phoenix, can they save her?Or does she need to die because of her actions?It’s a great morality play.Which is what people love so much about comic books.
This story has been told quite a bit in various forms of media.The 90s animated series based on the X-Men is the greatest version of this story.It was the subplot of the second and third X-Men movies in 03 and 06 respectively.But with it being the secondary storyline, it didn’t really pop the way it could on screen.So Fox with their one last X-Men movie went all-in on The Dark Phoenix Saga.Get as many butts in the seat as possible based on the knowledge that this X-Men story is superior to all the others.A few problems with that strategy, if everyone knows this is the last one then why try?We’re all out of a job, so there’s a lot of phoning it in here.
The base problem with this movie is lazy writing.The script is not great.It overexplains the simple things that we get, and underexplains the complicated nuances that audiences need dumbed down for them.I said “Who the heck is that” more times than I should in a major motion picture.Dark Phoenix also does not commit to a villain until the final scenes.I’m not sure if it’s a purposeful decision on their part or a forgetful one, you tend to lose the benefit of the doubt sitting through this movie.At times, it’s Dark Phoenix, at times it’s Professor X, at times it’s other X-Men, then I think there’s something that’s supposed to be a twist, but it doesn’t come off like a twist, at all.So we’ve got a poorly written movie.
That script is complicated by actors who know this is their last turn in these roles.It was no secret that Fox was going to be bought by Disney.It was no secret Marvel wants those X-Men stories.It will spice up future phases of Avengers movies for sure.I’m envisioning the making of this movie and I’m not seeing a lot of second takes being given.A lot of this movie feels like the actor walks on set, says “Ok, I’m going to read this line one time, then we’re moving on.”
Jennifer Lawrence is probably the biggest offender here.She does not seem to care and if I remember correctly, she has openly said she would not have signed up for this many films if she could go back and change things.Sophie Turner, from Game of Thrones, is the star here.She plays Dark Phoenix.A lot of her delivery is the opposite of what you would think it should be.Lines needing to be screamed are whispered.Lines needing some subtlety are shouted.A lot of that can be attributed to be first time film director, Simon Kinberg.Who was, logically, probably told to keep this movie on time and on budget.No need to overspend when you’re losing the rights to these characters.
The story is, sadly, probably the most faithful to the comic book that we’ve seen so far.There’s things the animated series wasn’t allowed to do, there’s things the previous movies didn’t have time to do.This movie takes its time to do what it’s supposed to.Some scenes are genuinely captivating, the effects are really good.But no scene in this movie is longer than five minutes.It’s a quick moving movie.Some of it actually works, but a lot of it doesn’t.I don’t think it’s AS bad as a lot of people are saying.But it’s nowhere near good.Don’t confuse the two.
On a scale of "See It/Stream It/Skip It" – Skip It -- nothing to see here, folks.Keep it moving.
If you liked X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: First Class, or X-Men Origins: Wolverine you might like Dark Phoenix.
1.5 out of 5 stars – our expectations of comic book movies have grown significantly over the last 20 years.This might have been fine in 2000, but by today’s standards is woefully lacking.The story is an all-time comic classic.It shouldn’t be this hard to turn it into a decent movie.