Overall verdict: 6/10
A decent though disappointing sendoff for the First Class
The Good: A more personal portrayal of the phoenix force manifestation, great acting, decent action, excellent music, good closure for the "First Class" cast
The Bad: bland directing, lacks narrative focus, lacks thematic depth, inconsistent execution of story, cannot decide if it should be a character driven drama or a team based action spectacle.
***********Review***********
DARK PHOENIX ends the Fox Studio’s X-MEN franchise with a train wreck. No this is not a critique of the movie's quality. An actual train wreck is the centerpiece for its climax. I for one did not find this movie to be the "train wreck" so many claim it to be. But it does have its issues. In DARK PHOENIX, set 10 years after the events of X-MEN APOCALYPSE, Professor Xavier has marketed the X-men as publicly visible superheroes. On a mission to save a space shuttle, one of the X-men, telekinetic Jean Grey, merged with a mysterious cosmic entity. She becomes erratic, unsure of herself, impulsive; qualities shared by this movie as a whole.
This movie is unsure of itself. It seems unable to decide what it wants to be. The overall tone is befitting of a smaller, character driven piece centering either on Jean’s slow descent into madness grappling with her new abilities, or Charles Xavier’s pride before the fall where some of the questionable actions he did in the past have come back to bite him. I appreciated this serious darker tone very much.
Another aspect i loved was the portrayal of Jean and the phoenix, contrasting with how they were portrayed in X-MEN 3: THE LAST STAND. In X-Men 3, the phoenix was this sort of hollywood split personality; a completely different side of Jean that she has no control over and is unaware of until it is too late and the personality of the old calm Jean is completely subsumed by the more violent, vengeful phoenix personality.
In DARK PHOENIX, Jean is completely aware of what the phoenix force does. There is no split personality, no excuse for any of the horrors it unleashes. All of it is Jean, whether it be due to losing control, or just lashing out in anger. We see how the power tempts her and how she slowly gives in to the temptation.
The performances by the cast are great, particularly Sophie Turner as Jean, and James McAvoy as Xavier. Every cast member brings their utmost professionalism to their role, imbuing the dialogue and interplay with heightened emotion and gravitas. Sadly, the performances seem wasted thanks to the erratic focus of the movie. In giving more focus to the overall x-team and even a mid movie reintroduction of Michael Fassbender’s Magneto, DARK PHOENIX instead tries to market itself as this big team based action spectacle instead of a character focused piece. Which wouldn’t be so bad if it also didn’t fall short in that aspect.
After past movies with big action set pieces, a pitched naval battle, killer sentinels in the future, and worldwide destruction, DARK PHOENIX movies too slowly for an action movie and only delivers two bland action set pieces; one on an uptown New York street, and another on a moving train. And even with the latter, most of the fighting takes place in the train itself.
Contributing to its blandness is Simon Kinberg’s inexperience with directing such a movie. His camera angles, how he sets up action and even how he films a dialogue seems so cookie cutter like someone ticking off a checklist. If it weren’t for the polished cinematography and special effects, the way DARK PHOENIX is shot reminds me of a tv show. Conversation? Cut back and forth from each character’s close ups. A fight? Jostle the camera a bit to make it seem more intense. There is hardly any creativity or distinct style at play in how the movie is shot. Hans Zimmer’s musical score does a commendable attempt to elevate the movie but his energetic synth and orchestral blend can only do so much.
This movie, in a word, is just “serviceable”. It has too little of emotional depth and intensity to be something like LOGAN, and at the same time it had too little visual and action spectacle to be a big ensemble blockbuster like X-MEN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. It does give some closure to the character arc of Charles Xavier, so if you are fan of James McAvoy’s portrayal since X-MEN FIRST CLASS, as I am, then this was a satisfactory sendoff. Other than that, while this is better than the previous live action portrayal of the Dark Phoenix story, it is only a middling entry at best in the 19 year old franchise
***********Review***********
Entertainment: B+
Story: C-
Acting: B
Characters: B
Music: C
Replay value: B+
"Brains": C-
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