X-Men: Dark Phoenix is, with all due respect, perhaps the most unnecessary blockbuster on our release calendar this year. A franchise swansong as well as a second chance to right previous storytelling wrongs, the latest instalment closes the chapter on this particular breed of mutants, most of (if not all) the actors that brought them to our screens and 20th Century Fox's reign, who hand the rights to the superhero team over to Disney as part of the recent merger. Does Dark Phoenix spread its wings for a fiery finale that ends the X-Men with a bang, or does it whimper to an unsatisfying close?
When a space mission goes wrong, Jean Grey absorbs the full radiation of a mysterious cosmic force she should not have survived, and the X-Men face a formidable power manifesting itself in one of their own. With an alien race stopping at no end to seize the Phoenix's power in order to rule the galaxy, the mutants will never be the same again. Directed by Simon Kinberg and with James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Sophie Turner all returning to the series for one last adventure, Dark Phoenix has almost nothing resting on its shoulders. Does removing that pressure allow them to thrive with their final time up to bat?
Mired by production delays and reshoots, it's been a slow (some may say painful) journey to Dark Phoenix and the end result feels like you are watching some being put out of their misery. Unspirited and lacking energy, Dark Phoenix is little more than a means to an end - just a very, very expensive one that no one particularly asked for. Although there are certainly worse ways to bow out, with a handful of serviceable elements that prevent it from registering as the worst X-Men film, Dark Phoenix deserved to soar higher.
Written by Kinberg, Dark Phoenix's screenplay suffers most damningly from poor dialogue and a thin, recycled plot. With every superhero cliche under the sun thrown in, and an attempt to hit as many thematic beats as possible, it's a muddled and scattershot piece. Whether it's a result of the sudden need to operate as a beginning, middle and end after the completion of the previous trilogy with X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016, or the Disney-Fox merger indicating that the Mouse House want to start afresh after production began, Dark Phoenix does very little creatively interesting or new with the Dark Phoenix Saga. Unfortunately amplified by the fact that this is a story we have seen before (in 2006's heavily-condemned The Last Stand), it's an utterly pointless exercise now simply killing time before moving on to bigger, and hopefully, better things within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Kinberg's direction is stronger than his writing, assembling a rather efficient picture, visually. Aided by terrific special effects - particularly Nightcrawler's teleporting, stunningly realised during the space mission most impressively - it certainly looks like a blockbuster. Tighter direction and a condensed runtime would have no doubt produced a more lively film, but he approaches with the story with the determination to do right by it -- whether it's worked or not, it certainly provides it with emotion, and a directorial tenderness that benefits it particularly during the few character-driven sequences. And although the overall film is undoubtedly limp in places, Hans Zimmer's score provides it with a well-needed sense of scale and excitement, with the legendary composer becoming one of Dark Phoenix's MVPs.
Our returning trio in front of the camera - McAvoy, Fassbender and Lawrence - are quite visibly keen to move on to new pastures. Fassbender is the strongest: Magneto has always been one of the more interesting characters in the series, even though the writers have found themselves rehashing familiar character beats. But Fassbender has always embedded the performance with a grit that makes the anti-villain so dynamic. McAvoy's not had the same luck with his character, absent the additional layers to Professor X, and while it's not without charisma, it's a performance that serves the narrative and little more. Lawrence isn't phoning it in as some have suggested but she certainly didn't stick around the set after picking up her paycheck. Nicholas Hoult surprises though, with a solid turn that sustains one of the less interesting mutants.
Sophie Turner does a decent job as Jean Grey and although the script affords her little in the way of range (and, having only been introduced in the last film in the saga, character backstory), rage and anguish are channelled well throughout her performance and she's convincing in the role. Jessica Chastain is underused as the film's nameless alien but her talent ensures its operational in driving the 'climatic' finale.
It's sad that the X-Men ended like this. Dark Phoenix is a needless rehash that hobbles towards a whimper. Thankfully not a thud, but far from the victory lap we might have all wanted, the mutant series deserved more than to end on this underwhelming note. While not a complete disaster, with cast performances that vary from good to serviceable, a solid score from Hans Zimmer, and impressive special effects, it's difficult to muster much energy towards Dark Phoenix - and the film struggles for the very same reason. In a way, it's a relief that the X-Men can be put out of their misery; may everyone involved burn brightly moving forward.
4.5/10
Summary: Quite sadly, watching X-Men: Dark Phoenix is like watching someone being put out of their misery. It seems no one wants to be there - the actors or the audience - and yet, strangely, it could have been so much worse. Fox's final film in their franchise deserved to burn more brightly than this.