Saturday, 8 June 2019

X-Men: Dark Phoenix - The scoop and digest

Simon Kinberg's directorial debut is yet another take on The Dark Phoenix Saga.

James McAvoy - Professor Charles Xavier
Michael Fassbender - Eric/Magneto
Jennifer Lawrence - Raven/Mystique
Nicholas Hoult - Hank/Beast
Sophie Turner - Jean Grey
Tye Sheridan - Scott/Cyclops
Alexandra Shipp - Ororo/Storm
Kodi Smit-Mcphee - Kurt/Nightcrawler
Jessica Chastain - Vuk

Summary

1975.

A young Jean Grey inadvertently uses her telekinetic powers and causes a car accident, killing her mother (and apparently father).  In the aftermath, Charles takes her under his wing to hone her psychic abilities.

1992.

During a space rescue mission, Jean is corrupted by the Phoenix Force, making her incredibly strong.

Following a heartbreaking reunion with her father, Jean loses control and kills Raven.

Meanwhile, shape-shifting alien race the D'Bari Empire have landed on Earth, with leader Vuk wanting Jean's power to rebuild her race.

Opinion is divided on Jean's popularity, but guys and gals agree to protect red head from hostile invaders.

UnXciting

An improvement over Apocalypse and The Last Stand (which this kinda remakes), but still mediocre.

Performances and special effects are good, but structure is messier than a dirty nappy.

Employing gore would have made running time a helluva lot more fun, but the only time we see blood is result of Raven impaled on wooden fencing.

Jean launching like a fucking rocket smacks of Chronicle and when going psycho bitch, gesticulation is bizarrely Carrie (2013).

Climax originally played out in space, but was obviously re-shot.

To be fair, train sequence boasts lots of cool stuff, particularly when Magneto uses guns against Vuk.

So where does this fit into notoriously confusing timeline?

9 years after Apocalypse and 30 years after First Class.

With that said, Charles and Eric haven't aged much have they?

Just apply prosthetics for fuck's sake.

Following Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Josh Boone's The New Mutants will apparently end the possibility of any further sequels.

I remain skeptical.

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