X-Men: Dark Phoenix
2 stars
Director: Simon Kinberg
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, and Jessica Chastain
Duration: 114 mins
Class: 12A
KRS Releasing Ltd

Nineteen years after The X-Men debuted in 2000, the current series concludes with X-Men Dark Phoenix, that tells the origin story of one of the most powerful and fascinating members of the X-Men – Jean Grey / Dark Phoenix.

The story starts with a young Jean who discovers her telekinetic powers in the most horrific of ways – she causes a car accident that kills both her parents. The young orphan is taken into the care of Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy); and under his tutelage, grows into a strong woman, in control of her considerable powers.

It is now 1992, and the X-Men embark on a rescue mission to bring back a team of astronauts whose space shuttle goes horribly out of control when it is caught in the path of a solar flare.

The mission is successful – but not before Jean (Sophie Turner) gets caught up in the solar flare and absorbs its fiery, all-consuming energy. She survives, but finds that her powers are enhanced considerably, and potentially, dangerously. She is at once traumatised and energised by the turn of events; and her inability to control her new powers causes death and destruction; turning old allies into foes as they try to rein her in.

The script tries to serve two masters but fails

The X-Men (and women) have always been the search for their place in the world – an important reflection of society these days that all too often turns on the ‘outsider’.

For the most part, the mutants have used their powers for the good of society; yet often has the question been posed: what will happen when these gifted people lose the ability to control their powers?

This latter point is at the heart of Dark Phoenix, yet although the earlier scenes show promise, the end result is fairly disappointing. It is an odd choice to conclude a series with an origin story; and its drawbacks lie heavily in the script, which tries to serve two masters but fails. The ostensible protagonist’s journey and a satisfactory closure for the rest of the team are two sides of the story playing out in a script that is narratively weak and has little by way of character development.

The cast of X-Men: Dark Phoenix.The cast of X-Men: Dark Phoenix.

 Jean’s arc consists of lots of handwringing (and face-glowing) as she comes to terms with her physical transformation into the Dark Phoenix and the emotional revelations about her past. Fresh off her Game of Thrones success, Turner does what she can with the material. Physically she embodies the part well, and in her performance there are flashes of evident conflicts between Jean’s vulnerabilities and strengths; but the script does not allow her to reach the emotional depths that are required.

A bewildering subplot featuring the unusually muted Jessica Chastain, as the leader of an alien species trying to harness Jean’s energy, doesn’t help at all – apart from regaling us with a scene or three of the two entrenched in a fiery embrace.

Turner shares some dynamic chemistry with Jennifer Lawrence’s blue-hued Raven, who, no stranger to being an outcast, is the only one who can really understand what is going on with her; and the fallout from the two former friends’ feud offers the only true moments of poignance throughout the whole film.

At the other end of the story, the core characters, led by Xavier and Magneto (Michael Fassbender), seem to be stuck in a loop that gets them nowhere. Xavier still hopes for a world where humans and mutants live in harmony; even though that desire often clouds his judgement. Meanwhile Magneto, now living in a peaceful haven, still harbours an inner resistance to that same ideal – but we’ve seen this before and the characters deserved a better send-off.

The action itself is solid, if uninspiring, although a showdown between the protagonists and their nemeses on a train perks things up a bit; only for the interest to deflate in a rushed coda that tries to tie things up all too nicely – and it ends on a bit of odd cliff-hanger.

It is testament to the legacy of the films that have gone before that this is such a searing disappointment. The series, which has soared exceptionally high – despite reaching some lows – deserved a much better conclusion. Coming so hot on the heels of the rousing finale its Avengers cousins gave us, makes it even more of a let-down.

Olivia Wilde and Beanie Feldstein in Booksmart.Olivia Wilde and Beanie Feldstein in Booksmart.

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Booksmart (Classification 15) – Academic overachievers Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) thought keeping their noses to the grindstone gave them a leg up on their high school peers. But on the eve of graduation, the best friends suddenly realise that they may have missed out on the special moments of their teenage years. Determined to make up for lost time, the girls decide to cram four years of not-to-be missed fun into one night – a chaotic adventure that no amount of book smarts could prepare them for.

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