The
long-running X-Men film franchise licensed by 20th Century Fox has been
extremely successful and popular despite not being part of Disney’s vaunted MCU,
having spawned seven movies in two distinct series and five spin-offs since the
dawn of the new millennium: ‘X-Men,’ ‘X2: X-Men United,’ ‘X-Men: The Last
Stand,’ ‘X-Men: First Class,’ ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past,’ ‘X-Men: Apocalypse,’ ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix,’
‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine,’ ‘The Wolverine,’ ‘Logan,’ ‘Deadpool’ and ‘Deadpool
2.’ As a diehard X-Men fan I enjoyed all
of them more-or-less but, alas, all good things must come to an end as the
juggernaut that is the Mouse House swallows up everything Marvel under its banner.
‘Dark
Phoenix’ is the fourth and final film in the rebooted second series centering
on a group of young X-Men led by Professor X (James McAvoy) and is adapted from the
tragic story of a corrupted Jean Grey in Chris Claremont’s Dark
Phoenix Saga spanning “The Uncanny
(indeed) X-Men” issues 129-138 back in 1980.
In ‘Dark Phoenix,’ Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) aka Marvel Girl/Phoenix is
unwittingly and drastically transformed into the uber-powerful cosmic being
“Dark Phoenix” in the wake of a space rescue mission and uncontrollably wreaks havoc among her
team-mates, causing much strife and forcing her friends to decide whether she can be saved
or have to die. Not that the latter's going to be an easy undertaking considering how powerful she's become, of course.
While
I can’t say that ‘Dark Phoenix’ is one of the best X-Men films compared to its
predecessors, it’s not nearly as terrible as its overly harsh 23 percent rating
on RT would indicate. Rather, I find
‘Dark Phoenix’ to be an interesting if a bit underwhelming tale of a woman’s inner
turmoil and struggle to suppress the demon within. Don't blame its less than stellar box office numbers on its own merits or lack thereof; put it on "superhero movie fatigue" in a summer season that's already seen 'Captain Marvel,' 'Avengers: Endgame' and 'Shazam!'.
Grade: B
Grade: B
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