The final X-Men movie under Fox Studios debuted this weekend with Dark Phoenix, which should have gone out with a bang, but itās rather a whimper.
Iāll say itās not as bad as I thought it was going to be, and I did like it better than X-Men: Apocalypse. Also, donāt let the 22% Rotten Tomatoes score scare you away, it just means most of the reviews werenāt good, which is understandable.
That said, it is still a pretty bad movie.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix suffers from a rehashed plot, as The Last Stand already covered this, so I have no reason why Simon Kinberg and Fox decided to make this. It wasnāt much better than The Last Stand, and the case could be made itās actually worse. Wasnāt the point to make a better movie?
Dark Phoenix has atrocious dialogue
Dark Phoenix also suffers from some of the most atrocious dialogue Iāve ever heard in a movie. Kinberg wrote this? Keep this guy as far away from Marvel and Star Wars as you can. The forced SJW āX-Womenā line was especially atrocious (completely out of place and didnāt fit with anything about the movie) and ultra cringe-worthy as was renaming the school after Jean Grey. Jennifer Lawrence has to be happy she is no longer a part of this franchise. A lot of the other dialogue was also pretty bad as I felt it was written by a fifth grader.Ā Ā
Dark Phoenix villains are terrible
The villains were also terrible. Were they Skrulls? They seemed like they could shapeshift. Oh, wait. Disney used the Skrulls in Captain Marvel, so Fox Studios (probably) was forced to change them to the obscure alien race known as the DāBari. So that explains the release date getting pushed back. Similar to Captain Marvel, Dark Phoenix also gender-switches a male character in the comics to a female character, Vuk, who was played by Jessica Chastain. The character and villain of Vuk had to be the blandest villain ever used in a movie, and to boot, they never even gave us a good look at its alien form. They probably didnāt have a lot of time (or money) to change the CGI from the SkrullsĀ to the DāBari (or whatever they are) is my guess. Now we know why Jessica Chastainās role was kept a secret, probably because she didnāt even know who she is playing. Sheās the only alien named in the film as well (lol).Ā Ā
Dark Phoenix action is at least pretty cool
Sophie Turner? I do like her as an actress, but I donāt think this was her best performance. I recall she said she was cast because she has a bigger social media following than the other actress that was up for the part. Iād be curious to know who that is. Iād be curious to know if Sophie Turnerās social media following actually helped with the box office of this movie. I will say it was cool seeing Turner using the cosmic powers of the Phoenix Force.
Speaking of the action, I did like most of the action and was especially pleased by Michael Fassbenderās Magneto who had some really cool scenes. Other favorites include Nightcrawler and Quicksilver. Itās too bad there wasnāt more of a budget to use Quicksilver at the end of the movie. Evan Peters is great as the character, and the special effects for his speed are done well. If you donāt go in expecting much (I didnāt), I think the action alone is worth it, which is why I liked Dark Phoenix better than Apocalypse (I loathed the makeup of Apocalypse especially after learning they could have gone with the comic book look but chose not to).
In addition to the dialogue issues, I think Dark Phoenix also had a bit of editing trouble, which I particularly noticed with Beast jumping at the end of the movie. Some of the scenes with characters talking also didnāt look right at times. Iām guessing this flick was rushed as Disney was taking over and nothing more could be done.
Goodbye X-Men
Regarding Disney taking over, itās thought the X-Men will see a complete reboot. Iām okay with new actors, but I am afraid of what Feige will do with the characters and story following how he has let Captain Marvel, and an extent Avengers: Endgame, destroy the MCU. #RIPXMen
I give Dark Phoenix 5.5 stars out of 10.
