X-Men: Dark Phoenix Review – A Wasted Opportunity

When the first X-Men movie directed by Bryan Singer, from the original trilogy hit theaters in the summer of 2000 and became a blockbuster; it started a global phenomenon. Movies based on superheroes and comic books had lost their way somewhat in the 1990s and then X Men captured our imaginations and kick-started “The Age of the Superhero Movie.”

Almost two decades later, we find our fascination with the genre still not satiated. Avengers: Endgame, the last movie in the 22 movie long Avengers saga, just pulled massive numbers at the box office. Given that one would expect the last film in the X Men Movies that 21st Century Fox (Any further X-Men movies will be made by Marvel Studios, as Disney now owns both) has made to be a head turner as well. Sadly, Dark Phoenix is not the bang that our favorite group of mutants deserve as a farewell, it is more of a whimper.

Dark Phoenix is an origin story of sorts for Jean Grey and uses the comic storyline of “The Dark Phoenix Saga”. The original trilogy ended with a universally panned storyline for Jean Grey and the events in X Men: Days of the Future Past allows a reset of the Jean Grey/Phoenix storyline. Unfortunately, even the second time around Jean Grey gets the short end of the stick. Barring a few action sequences, this film is very disappointing because it lacks any substance in its storytelling and loses the plot very quickly.

In terms of acting too, Dark Phoenix misses the mark. James McAvoy (Charles Xavier / Professor X) and Michael Fassbender (Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto) were inspired choices to play younger versions of the characters in First Class but they both phone in their performances here. Sophie Turner (Jean Grey / Phoenix) has had a phenomenal 2019 so far with Game of Thrones and her nuptials but as Jean Grey she disappoints. The very talented Jessica Chastain as the main villain, is completely wasted in this movie. My most favorite character in these prequel movies has been Evan Peters (Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver) but he only gets a few throwaway funny lines and is absent for a lot of the action. Tye Sheridan (Scott Summers / Cyclops) and Nicholas Hoult (Hank McCoy / Beast) try to provide an emotional core to the movie and are its only saving grace.

At the end of the day, the final installment in the X-Men saga follows the formula of its predecessors to a T and that makes for a very boring watch. How many times can the audience watch the same story play out? I wish this movie had taken more of a risk or explored the darker side of its title character but it does neither. Hopefully, the upcoming MCU reboot of the X-Men franchise will take note of where this movie fails and brings our favorite characters back with more flair.

Rating – 1/5 | Grade – D

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