R.I.P. The X-Men Movie Universe — 2000 - 2019

[mr.negativity]

[mr.negativity]

[mr.negativity]

[mr.negativity]

X-Men Producer Lauren Shuler Donner Disavows Dark Phoenix, Apocalypse & New Mutants!


The Original ‘Dark Phoenix’ Ending Involved the Skrulls and a Big Battle in New York

[Baltan II]

Was in the odd position of ending up seeing Dark Phoenix with a co-worker last week, having not watched an X-Men movie proper since X-Men Origins: Wolverine! Both Deadpool entries, sure, but never sat down for The Wolverine, First Class, any of it! I'll eventually get to Logan but that's a discussion for another time.

I certainly had awareness of the characters from, well, knowing what characters they were, but not a lot beyond that. Going into this movie as a standalone affair, much like the direction DC wants to take their films, was interesting. I think it helped to manage expectations, doubly so when I knew I wasn't going to see the Shi'ar Empire or the Hellfire Club here. I really thought it was decent? It's no favorite X-Men film by far but it's a damn sight better than The Last Stand was to my memory. This film still has the woes of condensing the Dark Phoenix Saga with none of the Phoenix buildup preceding it, but it was a more pleasant watch overall. Definitely happy enough with it and I might go back for First Class at some point... probably going to continue passing on Days of Futures Past and Apocalypse though.

[Dr Kain]

First Class and DoFP are the only X-Men movies worth watching anymore.

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

[O.Supreme]

Its no secret I've been down on this franchise since Apocalypse, so its not new or trendy for me to dislike. X-Men, X2, FC, and DofP are basically all I need. The Wolverine I guess has more merit in being Forgettable, rather than being bad. But X3, Origins, Apocalypse, and dark Phoenix can Burn. I'm not into R rated X-men films, so I'll never have a need for Deadpool or Logan, but I'm not going to argue their merit, because they seem to be universally praised, they just aren't for me.

I do feel bad in that, I'd rather things gone out for FOX with a bang, instead of a crash-and-burn, but instead of leaning from X3, they just doubled down on all those mistakes, and made things worse, which clearly shows, they don't know how to handle X-Men, and, like Spider-Man, it's time for them to go home.

I just hope the MCU takes there time to get things right. I could go for a 3-4 year brake at least before they try to introduce a new group of X-Men.

Side Note--- I wonder if the made-for-TV Movie Generation X will ever get an official home media release....

[Benjamin Haines]

[mr.negativity]

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

[O.Supreme]

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

I finally saw Dark Phoenix.

*shrug*

I don't see where all the VITRIOL is coming from except for people not being willing to give ANYTHING a pass or want to praise the movie at all now that this franchise is dead.

That's not to say it's really all that GOOD, either. It's not as grandiose as it should be and the emotional beats don't really land (though at least they TRY to do them and don't just rush past major character moments like say KOTM where characters die and then that's it). Jessica Chastain is useless, and the whole movie feels like first act until the very end. I feel like I was just ready for the actual story to kick in and kick off and then the movie just ends. It doesn't build and play out enough.

It's also got things in its favor though that I haven't heard really anyone say. The performances across the board are good. I've heard people saying Jennifer Lawrence is phoning it in, but I think that's only true in so far as what we all KNOW from Behind the Scenes rather than what you actually SEE in the movie. Yeah, she ain't got time for the blue makeup or these funnybook movies anymore but in this movie she's solid, as she is...pretty much always. She's a good actor and a professional. Sophie Turner is awesome, also. I really hope we get to see her in more things for a while, cuz she's good. I also feel like the movie and indeed this entire franchise don't get enough credit for being pretty unique in their tone and scope as far as superhero movies go. This is both a blessing and a curse (see: it's not grandiose enough), but at least we get some good character interactions out of it. There's a more personal story between Xavier and Jean here and it really hits on Xavier's comic book counterpart more and really gives him a pretty satisfying little arc. Also, the set pieces are GOOD. Sure, it's not giant swirly millions armies blowin "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" up real good and blasty pew pew pew badoom! kaboom! BLAST BAM BIFFO! but the way they're staged and executed really felt fresh and entertaining.

Ultimately, it's a mixed bag that might get looked at a little more kindly when people calm down and are willing to actually judge these movies on their own merits rather than get all in a fan rage about pointless crap like costumes and...uh...spandex. It's also pretty underwhelming and a bit of a bummer for the franchise to go out this way. We actually needed at least one other normal movie before getting to this point and that's driven home by this movie's unwillingness to even GO to the point it's SUPPOSED to go to. It's not that DARK of a Phoenix.

I'm an idiot, and I liked X-Men Apocalypse, AND as pure spectacle and entertainment, I find The Last Stand entertaining despite its many problems. I think this is just a slim shade above Last Stand for me personally, though I acknowledge it's a better movie than the worst entries in the franchise. For me, it's pretty low on my X-franchise totem pole. 3/5. Maybe 2.5.

[Benjamin Haines]

[mr.negativity]