Dark Phoenix (Simon Kinberg; June 7, 2019) Movie • Page 7

https://io9.gizmodo.com/dark-phoenix-is-a-bittersweet-goodbye-to-foxs-x-men-1835124440

Out of all those critical reviews out there (less than 20% of critics counted on Rotten Tomatoes so far like it), this one actually sounds pretty honest & fair.

 

Even the worst reviews state that it’s not as bad as Apocalypse but it has a far lower % on RT than Apocalypse did this early into reviews.

That doesn’t add up.

 

I liked Apocalypse, not nearly as much as the previous two films or Logan but enjoyed it. I was hoping for this that would learn from that film and put as much effort as possible in to conclude this series, deeply disappointing to see the critical reaction and is looking like another underwhelming highly anticipated film from this year.

 

Not surprised. I'm still going to see it because I've known since the first trailer it wasn't going to be good so the reviews won't stop me now.

 

I still don't understand why they tried to make this story into a film again, directed by the guy that wrote the last train wreck. I really wonder who thought that would be a good idea.

 

Probably a lot of people didn't really grow to hate Apocalypse until after more time to sit with it

 

"Written and directed by the brilliant mind who brought you X-Men: The Last Stand and Fantastic Four reshoots"

 

It's funny to poke fun at stuff like that but most of the "written/produced" by jokes can easily be misconstrued.

Like, the majority of Game of Thrones was great, regardless of D&D rushing the final season or two. Or the writer of Rocketman and Scary Movie 3 just wrote one of the best miniseries I've ever seen: Chernobyl.

 

I've heard about that! I need to check it out!

 

Sophie Turner seems so genuinely happy about getting to do this film. Must be such a bummer for her to go from the premiere to seeing this get panned critically. I hope she's proud enough of her part in this to make up for the film itself not landing. I think a lot of negative reviews have still spoken mostly positively about her work.

 

I know it's getting trashed by critics, and while it's not nearly as bad as they say, it's absolutely worth seeing for Hans' latest masterpiece. The score is so damn good.

 

I mean I never watched GOT but they kinda had an acclaimed book series to pull a lot of that from, then went downhill after the books dried up. Also Rocketman seems pretty damn good. Bit different from a guy who already failed making this movie, making it again.

 

I totally get your point but I should’ve clarified the Rocketman I was referring to was the 90s fart humor level comedy not the new one, haha

My bad.

 

lmao oh yeah my brain just wasn't working there

 

I liked this. A fair bit, actually.

 

I liked it too. Will post more thoughts when I’m hoem

 

Yeah, this was clunky, weird pacing, not altogether surprising that this was a first time director...

But, I genuinely liked it.

I was pretty into Sophie Turner as Jean Grey. Obviously Magneto ruled. Dazzler cameo was as brief as expected but still so cool (& speaking of cameos, I'm pretty sure that random kid told to slow down at the end was a Quentin Quire easter egg). Storm was dope; it'll always bum me out that this actress never really got a chance to fully shine in the role. Would've liked a longer first act w/ more fun & charm before all the angst, but the little bit we got at the start was pretty charming. And, between the shorter runtime, the Hans Zimmer score, a mostly appealing aesthetic, & some decent performances here & there, the angsty part wasn't too tedious for me personally.

Everything w/ Chastain's character, Vuk or whatever, was weak. And, the pieces don't work that well as a cohesive whole. But, I dunno, I feel like this might be in my top 5 Fox X-Men films (which isn't the highest bar, but whatever). It's the first X-Men film to actually feel like an X-Men team film to me since, ironically, Last Stand, & that alone raises my opinion of the film a lot.

 

Truly liked this. I have no nostalgia for / investment in the characters or even the other movies in the series (though I have seen most of them and like them to varying degrees) but this was just a good, completely enjoyable superhero movie that hit all the right notes for me.

Chastain's character absolutely got in the way of the plot and often stood directly in front of the character interactions that the screenwriters didn't feel like writing, and the pacing certainly was strange, but it was so much better than I expected. Loved the train sequence and the fight outside the house. Loved some of the sets, even. Jennifer Lawrence was better than I was expecting given what I had read about it before seeing it. Sophie Turner and Fassbender both gave great performances. Not sure why everyone hates it, it's a good, standard superhero movie.

 

Yeah it was definitely flawed, but I enjoyed it. Sophie Turner was great, Echoing Tim about every character he mentioned. Wish Dazzler had at least a few minutes, haha, I get why they cast a big name like Jessica Chastain, but anyone could have played that character, just so dull. Thought the whole train scene was awesome and angry Nightcrawler was so bad ass. One of the better X-Men films for sure.

 

I feel pretty bad that this is the last of Fox's X-Men because I feel like the young X-Men (Jean, Scott, Storm, Kurt) really settled into their roles after Apocalypse, especially Turner, who was great in this after being easily one of the weakest parts of Apocalypse.

 

Oof

That’s my review.

 

Scrolling through Twitter, it seems like the average person there has the same opinion as some of us: definitely flawed, but not the worst X-Men, w/ really enjoyable parts. There are the hyperbolic critics having fun w/ the train wreck narrative, & there are the contrarian stans on the other end, but most people seem to think it was ...fine for what it was.

Also, if it's true that the one character was supposed to be Psylocke, I'm very bummed that didn't end up happening; having her & letting the D'Bari still be called Skrulls (come on, they're clearly Skrulls) would've been dope:

 

Jesus when I think about it. First Class was the last X Men film I loved. Days of Future Past was good but I didn't love it like others. It's a shame because I thought First Class was genuinely great, I loved the cast and I wanted to see them go forward. Not really a fan of the casting of the young X Men post First Class.

 

Hm, I actually really disagree.

Personally, I thought the young cast of First Class was completely pointless outside of Fassbender & McAvoy. It felt like they really wanted to make an X-Men Origins: Magneto film, but after Origins: Wolverine sucked, they chickened out & shoehorned in an ensemble they never really cared about. Not surprising that DOFP either killed or wrote out everyone besides Beast & JLaw.

At one point in Dark Phoenix, Mystique mentions to Beast that they're all that's left of the First Class, & my response was, huh, yeah, oh well.

Meanwhile, as much as Kinsberg & the creep who made Apocalypse struggled to do anything w/ most of them, I actually really like this young cast. Jean is good in this one. Storm is good in spite of being sidelined here & mishandled last time. Jubilee was dope in her 5 min of existence in Apocalypse. Nightcrawler here feels a lot like the Nightcrawler I knew in X-Men Evolution.

 

Wasn't a fan of this. Did kinberg never read the actual comic? The dude dropped the ball on this storyline TWICE. Honestly, how do you do that? Fox should have just ended the X-Men with Logan.