Dark Phoenix (2019) Review

"This is your fault, Charles."

-Hank "Beast" McCoy

During a mission to space, Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) absorbs a mysterious substance that begins to reveal memories that had been blocked out and boosts her powers to extreme and uncontrollable levels.  After multiple tragedies, humans and mutants alike attempt to stop Jean, some wanting to help her, others wanting her dead.  As unlikely alliances are made, a force from another world arrives with their own sinister intentions for Jean.

What Works:

No matter how bad a movie is or how bad a script is, there are some actors that can deliver no matter what.  James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are two such actors.  Every scene they have, they deliver, and the few scenes they have together are magnetic.  They have been two of the best parts of this franchise ever since their first appearance in X-Men: First Class and the remains the case as this series ends.

Sophie Turner also does a good job with the material she is given.  She shows off her emotionally vulnerability very well and makes you feel bad for Jean.  I think she does a much better job with this story than Famke Janssen did in The Last Stand.

Finally, the 3rd act battle on the train is pretty exciting.  We get some cool moments as Magneto (Michael Fasasbender) and Charles Xavier's (James McAvoy) groups are forced to team up.  It's a fun action scene and has far more energy than any of the other action sequences in the film.

What Sucks:

This is the last film in the Fox X-Men series and that is wholly disappointing.  This series has had some of the best superhero movies of all time and the others were still entertaining at least, with the exception being X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  While this movie isn't as bad as Origins, it's still a disappointing way to end a series I've enjoyed so much.

It felt like no one cared about this film.  The movie is boring and generic.  First Class, Days of Future Past, and Apocalypse are felt like period piece superhero movies.  Dark Phoenix takes place in 1992 so I was expecting some 90's nostalgia.  There was none of that.  This movie could have taken place in modern-day and it wouldn't have made a difference.  Plus, apart from the train battle, none of the action sequences are memorable in the slightest.  It's like the film was made on autopilot.

Speaking of not caring about this movie, let's talk about Jennifer Lawrence.  Not only did she not care about this role, but she was given some truly awful dialogue that she didn't even try to make work.  Nicholas Hoult had some bad dialogue too, but he was at least trying.  Lawrence's performance is cringey and probably the worst part of the film.

One of the best characters of the recent X-Men films is Quicksilver (Evan Peters).  He's the best part of Apocalypse and the best part of Days of Future Past is his action scene, so let's give him nothing to do in this movie.  That seems like a great idea.  He gets injured early on and is removed from the story, which I understand, he's very overpowered, but at least give him a fun sequence before knocking him out of the film.

Finally, the villain of this movie is extremely forgettable.  This is not Jessica Chastain's fault, the character itself is the problem.  Vuk is an alien who is just learning English and comes off as very wooden.  This does not make for a good villain.  Nothing she does is interesting and she is hands-down the worst villain of the series.


Verdict:

I love the X-Men series and Dark Phoenix is an incredibly disappointing way to end it.  Fassbender, McAvoy, and Turner all do their best and the 3rd act fight on the train is fun, but it feels like the studio didn't care about this movie at all and didn't even try to make it good.  Jennifer Lawrence is awful, the villain is extremely bland, and there was nowhere near enough Quicksilver.  This is not how you end a franchise.

 4/10: Bad