Pros:
1.) All the actors did their best on their roles. Regardless how I feel about their characters, the actors still show off their talent, and I can still buy their roles as these iconic mutant characters. I cannot say the same thing with the new characters, but they were somewhat trying as well. I will give credit on what is due, the actors did a good job.
2.) The special effects are amazing. The one special effect that stood out is anything involving Dark Phoenix. While her doing telepathy was fine, any powers related to the Dark Phoenix looked awesome, especially when she uses it to disintegrate people (reminds me of a certain recent MCU villain). Just like the actors, the special effects team still got what it takes to make a good-looking spectacle.
3.) The last act stood out to me the most, because it is the most exciting act. All the previous pros I mentioned before stood out in this one, and the action is very effective. There seems to be more at stake in this act despite its issues, and the X-Men use their abilities the best they can. It clearly has the stand-out action scenes, and it is the most thrilling part of the movie…
Cons:
1.) …And that is unfortunately the only time I felt interested or excited, because the story and plot are a mess. I can go on that certain plot points do not make sense, continuity is an issue just like the other X-Men movies, other plot elements are left unanswered, and how the ending is kind of insulting especially considering X-Men: Days of Future Past, but it is kind of pointless since the story as a whole is not engaging…
2.) …One of the biggest reasons why is the characters. Despite knowing them in the previous X-Men films, I found them to be uninteresting at best and unlikable at worst (and at times, out of character). The main problem is that they are not well-utilized. Some characters get more attention than others, and those who do not get that much attention are there, because they are needed to intensify the action and plot, so all they ever do is fight. As for the characters with bigger roles, their actions and decisions made them unbearable at certain points, especially when they keep moping about their dilemma multiple times. If they wanted to use all the characters well, they should look at Avengers: Endgame as an example, because this is not how they should do it here.
3.) I do not even remember the villain’s name other than she is played by Jessica Chastain. All I remember is that she, along with her other companions, are aliens trying to get the Dark Phoenix, because…they are evil. It is odd that the X-Men movies suddenly introduce aliens in this universe (it makes sense in the MCU and the Marvel Universe in general, but in the X-Men movies, it seems out of place), but I digress. She does not even do much until the third act, and she barely interacted with the other X-Men except for Jean Grey. The movie would probably be so much better if she was not in the movie, and concentrated more on Jean Grey’s degeneracy with the Dark Phoenix powers. I do not think it will fix the movie, but it is a start.
Overall:
The X-Men film series has been going on for nineteen years from the first X-Men to Dark Phoenix. Its films have its ups and downs, but this superhero franchise has run longer than the Marvel Cinematic Universe by nine years (until Disney recently bought 20th Century Fox, which means that X-Men and the Fantastic Four will eventually join the MCU). Has the last X-Men movie ended the 20th Century Fox franchise with a bang? To put it lightly, no. Dark Phoenix makes X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine look good by comparison. Say what you want about those movies, at least I can tell they were trying to make a decent story that has better characters. This movie did not try as hard, and it shows. With all those delays and the test audiences’ negative responses, I did not have high hopes for this movie, but I still wanted to give it a chance. I was still beyond disappointed. This is a poor end to the X-Men film universe (assuming The New Mutants is never going to be released), and I am sure that everyone is wondering the same thing: when is the X-Men officially going to join the MCU? At this rate, I trust Kevin Feige to handle these mutants more than 20th Century Fox can with this dying ember of a franchise.
3/10
benzeyeview 