ReelBob: ‘Dark Phoenix’ ★½
By Bob Bloom
The latest X-Men franchise movie, “Dark Phoenix,” is déjà vu all over again.
You feel as if you experienced this scenario before — an X-person goes rogue — then earns redemption in the last reel, and you’ve heard the same or similar dialogue in other X-Men features.
You know the drill: Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) tells a member of his team that he or she is stronger than he or she believes and has powers he or she has yet to either harness or control.
It seems the franchise is in a rut, simply offering variations on the same theme — that the person defines the powers, not vice-versa.
“Dark Phoenix” centers on a cosmic force that alters the personality and powers of Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) during a rescue mission in space. In many aspects, it’s a reworking of “X-Men: The Last Stand.”
This new development endangers her fellow X-Men and mankind. Not helping the situation is a slumming Jessica Chastain, as an alien in human guise, egging Grey on for her nefarious purposes.
This alien subplot is ill-defined and sloppily plotted.
The difference between the X-Men franchise and the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that the latter offers an overall sense of continually moving forward and expanding, while the X-Men films — with a few exceptions — mostly appear to be stumbling around, seeking the right path and, as if on a treadmill, going nowhere no matter how strong the effort by cast and crew.
All that could change now that Disney has bought 20th Century Fox and may fold the X-Men into the MCU. But, that’s a discussion for another day.
Beside McAvoy, who is rather a prig here, and Turner, all the regulars return in “Dark Phoenix,” including Academy Award-winner Jennifer Lawrence as Raven, who appears so bored that you believe all the actress wants to do is take her paycheck and run.
Also returning are Nicholas Hoult as Beast, Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, Alexandra Shipp as Storm, Evan Peters as Quicksilver, Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler and, of course, Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto.
The cast goes through its paces with professionalism but adds nothing new in defining their characters.
As usual, circumstances pit one group of mutants against another, until they finally realize they have a common enemy and unite.
The film basically plays like a gumbo reworking of “X-Men: The Last Stand” and “X-Men: Apocalypse,” only with a more attractive villain.
The action, CGI and green-screen effects are on par with genre expectations, but “Dark Phoenix,” is too routine. It lacks a “wow” factor and any punch, despite people smashing each other with whatever is handy, including a couple of railroad cars.
“Dark Phoenix” moves at a decent pace. It’s simply unnecessary — like bringing a winter coat to a July picnic. It is a sad and depressing finale to this uneven series of movies.
It’s finally time for the X-Men to go on hiatus. Let a fresh team of MCU filmmakers reboot the series with different blood and a new perspective.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My reviews appear at ReelBob (reelbob.com) and Rottentomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com). I also review Blu-rays and DVDs. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com or on Twitter @ReelBobBloom. Links to my reviews can be found on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
DARK PHOENIX
1½ stars out of 4
(PG-13), intense sequences of science fiction violence and action, language, disturbing images