Dark Phoenix

A second attempt at a popular comics storyline gone wrong. I’m here to talk about Dark Phoenix, the 12th film in the X-Men franchise, adapted from the 1976 to 1980 comics, The Dark Phoenix Saga. It was released on June 7th, 2019 and is rated PG-13. Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Sophie Turner, it takes place in 1992.

After the events of X-Men: Apocalypse, humans now look to the mutants as superheroes and Professor X is desperately trying to keep it that way. After the X-Men go on a dangerous mission more daring than any they’ve previously done, Jean Grey absorbs a mysterious energy source. This causes her to regain memories she had been blocked from mentally as a child by Professor X. The new powers and resurfaced horrifying memories cause her to become a darker, evil being called the Phoenix. The X-Men must find a way to help her in controlling these new powers and ensure that they can end this without having to kill her. Will Jean’s actions cause the humans to once again turn against mutants? How will this all end?

The first adaptation of The Dark Phoenix Saga was X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006, which was heavily disliked. With a new timeline set for the series, thanks to X-Men: Days of Future Past, the possibility of a much better adaptation was something for fans to anticipate. Unfortunately, this second attempt is also not well done, however I don’t think it is as bad as X-Men: The Last Stand. I had such high hopes for this movie that it upsets me that it is a disappointment. Let’s talk about some of the things that went wrong with this film.

First of all, Professor X has always been very likable in this series. He always looked for the best solutions that would ensure peace between humans and mutants and he cared a lot about his team. Here, he is willing to sacrifice them for his ego. That’s not the Professor X I know and love. There are several scenes that don’t ring true to his character and may make some fans furious. A really poor example of the writing is that the X-Men berate Professor X multiple times for blocking Jean’s memories as a child which was actually understandable from my point of view, but completely overlook what they really should have been upset with him about, which was endangering all their lives by sending them on the dangerous mission that set the events of the story in motion. There are also 2 great characters that barely appear in this film. Magneto goes through the exact same character arc he went through in a previous movie, making it repetitive and boring. Killing is said to be wrong one time, but is seen as completely fine another time. What were the writers thinking when they wrote this movie?! It’s as if they weren’t familiar with these beloved characters at all. Now, let’s talk about some things that work in this film.

One of the positive things about Dark Phoenix is that the story does focus entirely on Jean Grey. The previous attempt to tell Phoenix’s story in X-Men: The Last Stand was muddled and distracted by way too many plot points and new characters presented in the same film.

The action in this movie is both fun to watch and intense, making it a good blend in the film. The intensity works with the darker storyline. The special effects are very convincing, bringing life to the mutants such as Mystique, Beast, and Nightcrawler. The performances are also strong, especially Sophie Turner, whose role as the Phoenix brings forth both someone very scary and someone who needs help. We both fear her and feel sorry for her. They also improved on certain elements from the other adaptation, like making Magneto more likable and not killing off characters just for the sake of killing them.

The filmmakers had a second chance at adapting a story that had potential and they completely botched it up. To be fair, the franchise has been hit or miss. This movie isn’t as unsatisfactory as the film mentioned above or X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but it still is a miss. I would rank it below X-Men: Apocalypse. As this is the last film in the main series, this is not the sendoff we wanted for characters we’ve grown to love in both their younger and older versions. Logan would’ve been a much better end to this series, but instead we got a second inadequate Dark Phoenix story. What a disappointment!