Well the X-Men are back and better than ever!
Said no one… Man, I don’t even know how to approach writing this article without maintaining my composure because I hated this movie. So let me try and stay sane and get through this.
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Fox’s X-Men have returned after having it’s release date postponed twice and we finally get to see a second attempt at the infamous and incredible Dark Phoenix storyline from the comics. Did they stick the landing on the second go-round? No. Absolutely not. As a matter of fact, I think X-Men: The Last Stand did a better job. Sure, the Last Stand sucked, but at least they had a coherent story driving the film. This movie just drags and has no real purpose. It’s lazy, lacks solid direction, horribly written, and quite frankly an insult to the actors, who all tried their hardest, but it just didn’t work.
My biggest question is how the hell did Simon Kinberg get the directing job? Where was Bryan Singer? Matthew Vaughn? With a storyline this complex, it needed a polished veteran director who could develop the story properly and meticulously craft the essence of Jean Grey’s complex saga. I’ll never understand why Fox let Kinberg take a stab at it. You don’t give first-time directors a job like this. That’s like McDonald’s suddenly promoting a fry cook to regional manager with no background or experience. Sure, Kinberg is a solid writer and I mean no disrespect towards him, but man this movie lacked the direction and writing it needed.
Let’s talk characters real quick. The villain was so bland I immediately forgot about her and who she was when I left the screening. I think the movie should’ve done a better job on developing Jean Grey to be the true and final villain, leading to a tragic climax. The alien-subplot wanting to use her powers was so overplayed and ridiculous. Bleh. All of our favorite X-Men return as well, including Quicksilver who is once again shafted early on. But hey, we’re used to it now. No surprise there.
Speaking of Jean Grey, I think Sophie Turner did a decent job with what she was given. Sure the writing sucked, but you can tell Sophie wanted to at least try and put on a performance. Same goes for James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. They’re always great. But yeah, that’s about it.
Overall, I’m glad to see Fox close out their X-Men saga so we can let the X-Men rest for a few years. Fox did give us some great entries (Logan, Days of Future Past, First Class, X1 and X2), but for the most part, it’s been a messy ride.
But looking ahead, I’m so pumped and elated to see the X-Men make their debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a few years time. Hopefully Kevin Feige and the MCU team will do the X-Men justice. Until then, save your money on Dark Phoenix and wait for a streaming release.
I’m going to give it a 4/10 stars and grab my shovel so we can finally bury this franchise.