Dark Phoenix (2019)

[baumer]

Which episode is this, chronologically?  

[Avatree]

i honestly thought this was decent. First X-men film I've seen where the X-Men seem like a family who support each other.

Good action sequences too.

 

Didn't understand anything about the villains or the whole dark phoenix powers thing. The fact that I enjoyed it despite that, speaks to how good it was, I guess.

[Webslinger]

After its tumultuous journey to the screen, it’s disappointing to report that Dark Phoenix is… just… meh; it’s neither strong enough to triumph over its well-documented production and post-production woes, nor enough of a wreck to prove fun as a hate-watching exercise. Under the direction of Simon Kinberg – no stranger to coming into troubled productions as the rumored ghost director of the re-shoots of the ghastly 2015 Fantastic 4 film – Dark Phoenix is an efficiently made but artistically pedestrian attempt at covering one of the source material’s most famed arcs. At the risk of inciting fanboy rage, I actually think the Phoenix material was executed much better in The Last Stand (also co-written by Kinberg). While that film may have been rushed, at least it used the Phoenix storyline as payoff for character arcs traced effectively across the prior films in the franchise; this one, on the other hand, jumps feet-first into the storyline despite not developing Jean Grey (nor the newer characters) as much more than a supporting player in the previous film, and just about every beat consequently feels forced. Even the characters who had been developed at length in the previous films are saddled with bizarre motivations that seem out-of-type – like Xavier’s hubris and Magneto’s inconsistency in wanting violence and vengeance. Now that the timeline has moved so close to that of the original X-Men film, it’s hard not to compare the characters and performances here with the corresponding ones of that film – and with very limited exceptions, they pale in comparison to their predecessors despite arguably higher star wattage. Sophie Turner does her best with the title role and occasionally locks into Jean Grey’s existential anguish over her dual natures, but the script sadly does not give Turner much to work with. Most of the cast looks like they don’t want to be there, but they still put forth professional, workmanlike performances that sometimes show glimmers of the more complex and satisfying film that could have been made had this film felt like a vital piece of the universe rather than an awkward postscript designed to tie up the franchise’s loose ends after the divided reception for Apocalypse. By the end, there’s a palpable sense that all involved are just ready to be done, and that’s how I felt as a viewer as well. It’s sad to see a film made with as much resignation as Dark Phoenix because there’s so much talent involved and so many possibilities the film could have explored, but instead it’s just bland film that ends with a whimper what First Class began so strongly eight years ago.

 

C

 

Stray Thoughts:

- Having just re-watched all the X-Men films this week, I really was baffled by many of the decisions with the established characters. I know Days of Future Past reset the timeline, but these characters hardly feel like they're even following their arcs from First Class onward.

 

- So I guess the public really likes the X-Men now? That's... odd given what we've seen in all the other movies and where mutantkind is heading if we assume that Logan exists in the same post-Days of Future Past timeline.

 

- I'm not sure why this movie was set in the '90s. No one looks like they've aged ten years since Apocalypse and the First Class folks - McAvoy, Fassbender, and Hoult - sure as hell don't look like they've aged thirty. There's also nothing that really marks this film as one with a '90s setting.

[baumer]

I'm just done trying to give the time lines a pass.  If DOFP reset everything then it really fucks with the originals and I guess that's the point.  But putting me off almost halfway through the movie was the death of Raven.  I think this is why fans have been deteriorating over the years.  You just can't fuck with the stories this much, imo.  

 

As for the film, I'll echo most of what Webslinger says.  It's kind of slow, kind of dry and kind of pointless in a way.  It gets much better when Erik finally shows up and the last 20 minutes is really good.  The final battle with the X-men and the aliens is really xhilirating and well directed.  When Magneto finally is allowed to go full Magneto, it does two things....it makes you cheer but it also makes you realize that the film was missing him and his wit and his anger and his powers, very badly.  

 

I also give it a C or a 6/10

[Avatree]

15 hours ago, baumer said:

I'm just done trying to give the time lines a pass.  If DOFP reset everything then it really fucks with the originals and I guess that's the point.  But putting me off almost halfway through the movie was the death of Raven.  I think this is why fans have been deteriorating over the years.  You just can't fuck with the stories this much, imo.  

 

As for the film, I'll echo most of what Webslinger says.  It's kind of slow, kind of dry and kind of pointless in a way.  It gets much better when Erik finally shows up and the last 20 minutes is really good.  The final battle with the X-men and the aliens is really xhilirating and well directed.  When Magneto finally is allowed to go full Magneto, it does two things....it makes you cheer but it also makes you realize that the film was missing him and his wit and his anger and his powers, very badly.  

 

I also give it a C or a 6/10

Until he appeared I had completely forgot that magneto was even in X-men. But was glad he was there once he appeared.

 

Edited June 8, 2019 by Avatree

[Kravetz]

I really liked this film, and yet I did find one small flaw. I couldn't stop comparing it by the Avengers' Standard. and by that standard this film fell short. 

 

This film is the fourth in the prequel Universe (First Class, Days of Future's Past, and Acropolis) We know the original cast were in the DFP so there is one universe, but for casting and continuity, this is it's own universe. This film tackled the Dark Phoenix storyline from the comics that was also tackled in the first trilogy. Despite those cast doing a time travel thing in DFP, the fact that the storyline is tackled with this cast (set in the past) puts it on a separate continuity. That may be a damaging prospect for fans, that hope crossovers could still happen. 

 

The battles are amazing, and best compare (yes, compare) with the first Avengers' ensemble. This is because their big battles are around civilian population and how law enforcement reacts is a part of the story. By that comparison, the alien adversary is not as threatening, and least of all understood beyond basic who (by name) and why (generic Zod conquer/rebuild plan). This film also moves a bit too quickly through the motions of Jean Grey going from the all powerful enemy to the understanding/forgiving much-needed ally. While this is nice in the film, some of the conflict between Iron Man and Captain America was prevalent through many films. They barely resolved things before (spoiler alert) dying off from future films. this movie simply wraps everything up all at once, causing my greatest disappointment with the film. At that point, walking out of the theater, I realized that the Avengers [ Dam you forever] set the bar too high for me to like anything else. 

 

Looking back on the film as a whole, it was a tad short in length but epic in scope, amazing action scenes, conflict and resolution was tidey and I feel like I got my admission price back in entertainment. The length counting against it is another comparison thing, but the action was much more enjoyable at times than this summer's all inclusive epic battles. It exceeded the bar here. Now I don't want the worst of Avengers to happen in Xmen by bringing back dead heroes, but I miss Mistique and wish she could return. this leaves me, who knows nothing about comic storylines to draw from, to hope for another movie.  So it gets an A.

[Kravetz]

On 6/7/2019 at 6:32 PM, Webslinger said:

good point, I missed that. At least we had baldness. 

 

 

On 6/7/2019 at 6:32 PM, Webslinger said:

 

- I'm not sure why this movie was set in the '90s. No one looks like they've aged ten years since Apocalypse and the First Class folks - McAvoy, Fassbender, and Hoult - sure as hell don't look like they've aged thirty. There's also nothing that really marks this film as one with a '90s setting.

 

[Kravetz]

On 6/7/2019 at 8:34 PM, baumer said:

I'm just done trying to give the time lines a pass.  If DOFP reset everything then it really fucks with the originals and I guess that's the point.  But putting me off almost halfway through the movie was the death of Raven.  I think this is why fans have been deteriorating over the years.  You just can't fuck with the stories this much, imo.  

 

Resetting things is one thing, but this is different. They could have new Patrick/Ian stories set in the new timeline created through time travel in DFP. that would be nice in print (actors age out). Their story was that Jean Grey mutated her powers and had them contained by the prof. This story claims an alien force (that created the universe and destroys worlds) did this to her. Like the origins of the Fantastic Four, this is total mind messing for fans of comics. I was a fan of original films (cannon?) and feel messed with.

 

If she doesn't want to do more movies, just replace the actress as her ability would allow that easily. add one pithy line of dialogue: "I like that new look" and respect the timeline. Every actor in this kind of franchise should fear replacement and stop squabbling over how many million they are worth. . 

[filmlover]

This is the antithesis of Endgame by being a finale that completely sputters at the finished line. While not terrible, Dark Phoenix definitely represents a massive step down from both First Class and Days of Future Past and is even a big step down from Apocalypse as well. The whole thing feels like everybody just wanted to get it over with so they could collect their checks and go home, as it rushes through everything on its way to the finish line. This represents one of the lowest points of the entire inconsistent X-Men franchise, including The Last Stand (which this happens to have a ton in common with).

 

There hasn't been a superhero movie this completely devoid of energy since the last time Fox botched Fantastic Four. The action scenes have little life to them. The actors, including James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and the rest all appear to be drifting through the movie on autopilot. Sophie Turner is alright with what she's given but clearly doesn't have the acting chops to be the center of a big enterprise such as this. Jessica Chastain hopefully got well-compensated for the boring villain role she's saddled with.

 

And with this, the X-Men Fox franchise that began promisingly nearly 20 years ago (and pretty much kicked off the superhero movie craze we are at today) has ended with a total whimper. Granted it had as many misses as it did hits but still disappointing. Oh well. Onto the MCU reboot in a few years, which will hopefully give this tired franchise the fresh perspective it deserves. C-

[angeldelmito]

And to think I couldn't stop smiling during the first 10-15 minutes of this. Whew. Oh well. Let's get into this, girlies.

 

Pros:

- The. fucking. score. was. phenomenal. At least one thing remained consistent with these damn X-Men films. God, Zimmer never disappoints. Bitch imagine if Endgame or Infinity War had this shit. Music that elevates the scene and further immerses the audience into the movie rather than it just being background "fluff." True potential could've been reached. Anyways.

- The acting was great, the cast did what they could with what they were given, lol. 

- They finally gave my bitch Storm more shit to do. Love ha ass, regardless of who's portraying her. I STAN.

- CGI was good lol but that's expected with a film with this premise and a big ass budget. 

- I loved alll the scenes where the X-Men were working together as a team. 

- All the action scenes were pretty great, but the ones that stood out to me was the X-Men vs Jean scene in her neighborhood and the whole train sequence.

- A lot of people blame the writing for the reason why this movie was weaker than the others, but in truth it was the direction. The writers, imo, tried. And I like that they stayed true to many of the characters, (except arguably Prof. X) especially that of Mystique, Jean herself, Beast, Storm, and etc. 

- I liked how even though this timeline's Raven stayed with Charles instead of Magneto, a rift started to tear between the two. She still kinda embodied Erik's ideals with the whole "Mutant-kind over mankind" thing. Planned to leave his ass over it nd everything. It goes to show that regardless of what she did in the 70s, her path would've probably eventually brought her back to Erik.

 

Cons:

- Okay, with this whole ass concept, and the "solar flare" in space and everything... I can get behind the idea that the cosmic entity or whatever that entered Jean sped up the process of her becoming the Phoenix. But I can't 100% get behind the notion that it was the actual Phoenix itself, regardless of how it was in the comics. In the canon X-Men universe (which, at least between DoFP, Apoc, and this one, can be seen as consistent enough) it was shown all throughout X-men: Apocalypse that she already had the force inside of her. She even used it to kill Apoc! So that's a mind-fuck. And a plot-hole. C'mon miss Kinberg. 

 

 

To get a little nitpicky,

- lol I was annoyed when they didn't do the little x-men tune at the end of the 21st Century logo. Like bitch, hellooooo?? If you're gonna market your shit as the "final X-Men film" then don't throw away all the gimmicks that made the other X-Men films stand out! Logan had an excuse because the X-Men weren't really a "thing" anymore in his film; it was just him and Charles. 

- AND THEN they didn't the cool ass title sequence that they usually do! but i'll forgive that I guess, because of Zimmer's score or whatever.

- They didn't have to do my good sis Mystique like this:

as if a superior look wasn't already done decades ago........ 

cuz I mean sis.... like DP's Raven isn't terrible but...

 

- Like I've seen others say, it's true that the new director kinda did manage to drain the emotion out of like, every scene. I kept finding myself fighting to care for what was going on, even though I was already attached to most of these characters.

- How did they manage to kill my good sis Mystique off.... and make me not give a damn about it?

 

-  The "civil war"-esque action scene between the X-Men and Magneto nd his goons was.... a cute concept, but poorly executed because you could barely see anything.  

 

- These heffas (being the writers, director, and whoever the fuck else) are reaaallly fucking lucky that the end of DoFP happens 30 or so years after the events of this movie otherwise I woulda been cussing everybody out. Subtly messing with the continuity is one thing but don't be fucking stupid. Killing off Miss Grey like that. Making it seem like Charles dun retired or sumn. Making Beast the new professor. As if Logan didn't come back to something entirely different.

At least they showed miss thing in the sky. So I guess that means that eventually she'll come back in her human form or sumn. They almost had me fucked up. 

 

Anyways, regardless of the hiccup that was this movie, I'm still an X-Men fan nd I'm still looking forward to New Mutants. But I'ma give this a 62% (C-).

[Captain Craig]

I do not get the giant sized bag of hate by RTcritics(23%) on this film. Frankly the audience one either, 64%.

 

Grade: B or B- at the worst.

 

The plot is laid out and easy to follow. There are no twists, no narrative points one should be scratching their heads about.

The action is solid. The f/x was only questionable in one spot that I observed for about 2 seconds.

 

I think the real "problem" for this film...isn't this film. Days of Future Past is the problem for this film(maybe Apocalypse to some level as well). By killing of Raven/Mystique you've just drastically and fundamentally altered everything. EVERYTHING.

When we thought DoFP might only be making minor adjustments this film shows that no, no, no...major alterations are in play.

We are either in an alternate universe or the main one just doesn't exist as we know it anymore. If so then where does Logan exist? Main timeline or alternate?

 

Literally I'm not going into Pros/Cons for my B grade as they are more minor. The death of Raven is really why I feel audiences are down on the film. Critics I'm not sure cause it's not because there is a plot issue or poor acting. 

 

If you showed this movie to someone in a vacuum they could follow it just fine, be entertained and not be upset.

I think the fussiness is all related to "how does this all work now within the wider X-verse".

[Rorschach]

This isn't the complete disaster I was expecting it to be but it's still a dull, boring mess of a film made worse knowing this is the last time we'll be seeing this iteration of the X-Men on-screen. I know that wasn't the filmmaker's intentions at all and they were planning a more fitting ending for these characters later on down the line before Disney entered the equation but its no excuse for how badly this film turned out to be. In the end, I think a reboot of this franchise is probably more of a good thing now the more I think about it: it definitely deserves a fresh start.

 

D+

[dxmatrixdt]

*i don't think BOT believes in science

 

this one hit well enough on my 'Star Wars Spectrum' to give it >9.5, but it had enough frustrating moments to keep the score down.  as an honest series, it should be designed to be my favorite x-men movie.  the writing was off in a few places, maybe they were dubbing over it.   Too bad nothing can just blast off towards Star Wars independence.

 

Star Wars / Burger King scale

96% - Dark Phoenix

96% - Logan

95% - X-Men: Apocalypse

95% - X-Men: Days of Future Past

95% - X2: X-Men United

95% - X-Men

95% - X-Men: First Class

94% - The Wolverine

(93% - Batman vs Superman)

93% - Deadpool 2

(93% - Justice League)

93% - X-Men: The Last Stand

(93% - Man of Steel)

92% - X-Men Origins: Wolverine

(92% - Suicide Squad)

92% - Deadpool

Edited June 23, 2019 by Slave Animal Rights

[Avatree]

11 hours ago, Slave Animal Rights said:

this one hit well enough on my 'Star Wars Spectrum' to give it >9.5, but it had enough frustrating moments to keep the score down.  as an honest series, it should be designed to be my favorite x-men movie.  the writing was off in a few places, maybe they were dubbing over it.   Too bad nothing can just blast off towards Star Wars independence.

 

Star Wars / Burger King scale

96% - Dark Phoenix

96% - Logan

95% - X-Men: Apocalypse

95% - X-Men: Days of Future Past

95% - X2: X-Men United

95% - X-Men

95% - X-Men: First Class

94% - The Wolverine

(93% - Batman vs Superman)

93% - Deadpool 2

(93% - Justice League)

93% - X-Men: The Last Stand

(93% - Man of Steel)

92% - X-Men Origins: Wolverine

(92% - Suicide Squad)

92% - Deadpool

 

Now this is podracingfilm reviewing.

[elcaballero]

I now hold the opinion that Dark Phoenix is better than Endgame. Come at me, rest of the world. Dare I say that Dark Phoenix is shot better, has a better score, and it being about 45 minutes shorter is a major plus. The only major negative is that it is obscenely boring.

 

I legit enjoyed it, though. It's like a counterstatement to Endgame going big and all-in on the comic book silliness. Dark Phoenix is super small-scale and has the look and feel of a dark drama. Debatable as to how good that drama is, but I found it interesting nonetheless. It's not grimdark or tryhard, it's just dramatic. There's not an ounce of levity in the entire film, and I actually give it major props for that.

 

At the end of the day, the movie is not some grand conclusion to an epic two-decade saga; it's just a simple, boring, self-contained story. It is sad to see Fox's X-Men go out with a whimper, but at least it's a watchable whimper.