MovieChat Forums > X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019) Discussion > Attended a media screening ... I enjoyed...

Attended a media screening ... I enjoyed it, surprisingly (spoilers)

posted 5 years ago by JakeSWITCH (504)
15 replies | jump to latest

I didn't think I'd enjoy this but, despite Simon Kinberg's inexperience as a director and the obvious post-production meddling in the film ... 'Dark Phoenix' is a downbeat, unusually thoughtful X-Men film with some juicy drama. It's a lot more satisfying than Bryan Singer's 'X-Men: Apocalypse'.

I genuinely liked seeing a sinister take on Charles Xavier and the inversion of his role with Magneto, who is now a pacifist living on Genosha (the mutant colony from the comics). James McAvoy plays Professor X as a father figure with a growing ego who manipulates the X-Men to take deadly risks as the world's first "superhero" team.

The acting is also unusually strong ... in fact, it's the strongest of the 'First Class' era (minus any film with Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen or Patrick Stewart). Shockingly, the standout is Sophie Turner, whose acting abilities I didn't think much of on 'Game of Thrones' or previous 'X-Men' films.

While Kinberg is great at the smaller moments and interactions (he's written these characters for years), he doesn't have the wealth of experience of Singer, so his widescreen action scenes are lacking.

But the biggest flaw in this film has already been mentioned on this board. 'Dark Phoenix' required around three weeks of reshoots and a complete change of the third act.

This is felt heavily with Jessica Chastain's character and her army of plainclothes tough guys. Originally intended to be Skrulls, Kinberg had to scramble at the last minute to replace them (and a finale in space) when Marvel Studios announced that 'Captain Marvel' would be using the same aliens and feature a battle in space. Since Disney was in the process of negotiating a merger with Fox, it seems that Marvel Studios was given preference... and it ended up hurting the final X-Men film.

Anyway, the Skrulls were swapped out for the D'Bari (an alien race whose planet Jean Grey, as the Phoenix, wipes out in the comic). Because of the last minute replacement in post-production, the D'Bari now have the same powers as the Skrulls and we never really see their true forms, presumably because there wasn't enough time and or budget to animate them.

The final fight between the X-Men and the aliens, instead of being in space, is now on a train. It really reminded me of 'Train To Busan'... which is actually a good thing (there are some creepy shots of the D'Bari crawling over the train like locusts).

Essentially, 'Dark Phoenix' is a good X-Men film and an impressive directorial debut from Kinberg that really had its legs (ie villains) swept out from under it by 'Captain Marvel' and studio politics. I am actually a little in awe of how someone as inexperienced as Kinberg even managed to salvage the film.

PS there is no post-credit teaser for future movies ... obviously they knew that Marvel intended to scrap the series (and bury 'New Mutants') and reboot it for the MCU.

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You can read all of my latest film reviews here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/about/Jake

[–] Satan2016 (24016) 5 years ago

Sounds like Marvel fans will rate it much higher than metacritic average of 44. Ignoring the fake 1&10 votes on Imdb, votes peak at 6&7.

[–] JakeSWITCH (504) 5 years ago

The film has some serious issues, mainly stemming from the reshoots, but the bashing it is receiving at the moment is excessive (critics are just as guilty of doing it as audience members).

I'd agree with a 6, possibly a 7 if you are an X-Men fan. Stylistically, this has a different feel to the kind of films that Marvel Studios is making. It's a shame we're seeing the end of them.

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You can read all of my latest film reviews here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/about/Jake

[–] TexasJack (12515) 5 years ago

D'Bari sounds like the name of a clothing designer.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

"It's a lot more satisfying than Bryan Singer's 'X-Men: Apocalypse'."

That's good to know. And I stopped reading there, because I don't want the story to be spoiled.

[–] BigWorm (683) 5 years ago

Had to sign up just to say, strongly disagree. It had a few nice scenes and the acting(for the most part) was as good as always. Sansa was her usual monotonous drone sucking all the life out of every scene. She didn’t ruin the movie, the horrible story did that.

How the guy that screwed it up got a second chance is a mystery.

[–] PussyMonster (294) 5 years ago

Why do you think Kinberg screwed up X3? It was the studio that didn’t want to tell the Phoenix story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men:_The_Last_Stand#Writing

Sure, the story doesn’t work if you look at it as a standalone film. But Jean Grey has pretty solid overarching character arc that was set-up in Apocalypse.

[–] BigWorm (683) 5 years ago

He wrote it, he gets the blame. And was she fuck.

[–] PussyMonster (294) 5 years ago

And was she fuck.

What?

[–] metatron (119) 5 years ago

I liked it more than I expected too. Perhaps partly because MCU movies, and even DC lately, have jokes peppered throughout and it was refreshing to have a more consistently serious tone. That's not to say I hate the MCU or DC. I liked Shazam a lot. But that difference helped make this one standout. Also it was cool to me how they handled Jean Grey's story.

[–] JakeSWITCH (504) 5 years ago

Agreed. I enjoyed the characterisation of Xavier in this film ... it was refreshing to see him portrayed as someone who had become corrupted by the mainstream popularity of the X-Men and his newfound influence with the US government. Meanwhile, Magneto has settled in Genosha and is peacefully trying to create an all-mutant society outside of human leadership.

Jean Grey's story greatly benefited from being made the focal point of the film, unlike 'The Last Stand', where it was squashed together with the "mutant cure" plot and the introduction of a mess of new characters.

Kinberg's script was interesting and there was genuine character growth, even at the end, with Magneto reaching out to Xavier, who had resigned from the X-Men. Apparently, a trilogy in space had been planned. I'm guessing Asteroid X and the Shi'ar?

Fox's X-Men films have always dealt with more sophisticated themes than the MCU or DCU. It's a genuine shame to see them end.

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You can read all of my latest film reviews here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/about/Jake

[–] metatron (119) 5 years ago

It was interesting to have that narrative of fighting so hard for acceptance that Xavier was putting his students at risk. Xavier, Magneto, and Jean all had solid character arcs. Although it's been a long time since I saw The Last Stand and I enjoyed that for what it was this was so much more fulfilling because like you said it actually focuses on Jean's transformation. The cosmic scene where Jean is told just how powerful she can become, that she could make planets if I remember right, felt very Doctor Manhattan in a good way.

Not really familiar with Asteroid X and the Shi''ar but an X-Men space trilogy sounds amazing. It sucks seeing Fox's version of the X-Men end.

[–] JakeSWITCH (504) 5 years ago

The X-Men comics have featured many, many space adventures, like Magneto setting up a mutant haven on Asteroid X, the X-Men being involved in several Shi'ar civil wars, Charles Xavier having an alien love interest and Cyclops' father being revealed as a space pirate.

Fox's films, perhaps due to budgetary reasons, have really only focused on Earthbound social issues (and some time travel). I'm not sure how Marvel is going to introduce all of these new elements, either.

I wrote a small piece about the end of Fox's version of the X-Men here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/feature-farewell-to-the-x-men-looking-back-at-the-first-and-best-superhero-universe

[–] ridah (277) 5 years ago

Agreed, really appreciated the Prof X demonetization. He's always portrayed as perfect, so it's nice to see this imperfect side to him (ala Future Past). Provides more depth.

Overall a much better film than Apocalypse, not sure why it's being blasted so hard by mainstream critics.

[–] ghostrider38 (1034) 5 years ago

Sounds like DARK Phoenix is batter then The Last Stand.

[–] telmarine (387) 5 years ago

After the rotten tomatoes thrown at the movie, I went to watch it with very low expectations. Mostly to give it a send off as a thanks for jumpstarting the modern era of superhero films. I was pleasantly surprised. What another poster had said is true. It’s a consistently serious movie that had some emotional moments. It’s not the best superhero film in the last year, but it’s an entertaining entry. I’m feeling generous. 8/10.