A review of Dark Phoenix
Jun. 19th, 2019 12:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bjornwildeI liked it and felt it was the best X-Men movie in some time, at least since First Class. I'd almost put it above it, tbh.
I'll be vague but it might seem like spoilers, so more behind the cut. I promise to avoid specific plot details.
There was a lot to unpack for me, and I totally expect your mileage will vary, but I find myself wondering if I saw the same film online critics saw, cause I thought it was a blast. My wife and daughter did as well.
The best thing I think the movie has going for it was it felt like it was a story about a woman dealing with a sudden increase in power, rather than a story about men having to deal with an out of control woman. What I mean is the story read to me as being about Jean's struggle with the Phoenix and not about the men trying to control her.
They also did a great job of showing that struggle as a real struggle and not just Jean going bad/crazy. She did have a few dark scenes and there was one that a really felt was over the top cruel to a disabled person (gee, who could that have been), but at the core, Jean was herself. She was scared but stayed herself.
The best part was that she had agency throughout the movie.
I love that Charles was allowed to have screwed up and comes around to face the mistake.
I love that Hank did the same and even admitted to his mistake, something that has bugged me about him since his treatment of Raven when he offered her the cure in "First Class".
I did not like how Raven was treated but I do have to say she had agency in what happened.
Eric even showed character growth!
I have seen people saying there was no emotional weight to the characters and their interactions. I have to disagree, at least with Jean and Scott. Both characters are reserved, but that's because they both have powers that are like nuclear bombs sitting on their chests. That is a lot of responsibility to carry. There is also a lot of trauma neither has really had a chance to work through.
Speaking of Scott, OMG, he was written so well! He totally stuck by Jean the whole way! He never said she needed to be controlled, was always there to support her. We need more examples of boyfriends like Scott for both boys and girls to aspire to.
I loved the fight choreography and the X-men fought as a team, showing them doing more than combo moves (I'm looking at you Avengers). They protected each other in battles, worked together in the fight, and it was just nice to see. I also feel like this film didn't grandstand one mutant power over others. Yes, there is Eric's flashy magnetism and Jean's telekinesis, but the more physical mutants like Hank got there own fancy moves. They finally had Hank use his feet hands in a fight!
The film also felt very Clairemont X-men to me. I loved that Hank is still tinkering with tech and has even built things into the Blackbird to take advantage of mutant abilities.
The wrap up at the end felt like a nice send off to the franchise and could be fun to work with.
It was also nice to finally have a film without Logan. Sorry, I'm just done with Logan.
I think I am going to stop there. Please, if you were curious to see the film, go and see it. I'm bummed to find out it was originally going to be a two parter but the Disney deal killed that.
I am fine going into specific details in my comments if anyone wants to squee with me. I promise to update this if spoilers appear in comments.
I'll be vague but it might seem like spoilers, so more behind the cut. I promise to avoid specific plot details.
There was a lot to unpack for me, and I totally expect your mileage will vary, but I find myself wondering if I saw the same film online critics saw, cause I thought it was a blast. My wife and daughter did as well.
The best thing I think the movie has going for it was it felt like it was a story about a woman dealing with a sudden increase in power, rather than a story about men having to deal with an out of control woman. What I mean is the story read to me as being about Jean's struggle with the Phoenix and not about the men trying to control her.
They also did a great job of showing that struggle as a real struggle and not just Jean going bad/crazy. She did have a few dark scenes and there was one that a really felt was over the top cruel to a disabled person (gee, who could that have been), but at the core, Jean was herself. She was scared but stayed herself.
The best part was that she had agency throughout the movie.
I love that Charles was allowed to have screwed up and comes around to face the mistake.
I love that Hank did the same and even admitted to his mistake, something that has bugged me about him since his treatment of Raven when he offered her the cure in "First Class".
I did not like how Raven was treated but I do have to say she had agency in what happened.
Eric even showed character growth!
I have seen people saying there was no emotional weight to the characters and their interactions. I have to disagree, at least with Jean and Scott. Both characters are reserved, but that's because they both have powers that are like nuclear bombs sitting on their chests. That is a lot of responsibility to carry. There is also a lot of trauma neither has really had a chance to work through.
Speaking of Scott, OMG, he was written so well! He totally stuck by Jean the whole way! He never said she needed to be controlled, was always there to support her. We need more examples of boyfriends like Scott for both boys and girls to aspire to.
I loved the fight choreography and the X-men fought as a team, showing them doing more than combo moves (I'm looking at you Avengers). They protected each other in battles, worked together in the fight, and it was just nice to see. I also feel like this film didn't grandstand one mutant power over others. Yes, there is Eric's flashy magnetism and Jean's telekinesis, but the more physical mutants like Hank got there own fancy moves. They finally had Hank use his feet hands in a fight!
The film also felt very Clairemont X-men to me. I loved that Hank is still tinkering with tech and has even built things into the Blackbird to take advantage of mutant abilities.
The wrap up at the end felt like a nice send off to the franchise and could be fun to work with.
It was also nice to finally have a film without Logan. Sorry, I'm just done with Logan.
I think I am going to stop there. Please, if you were curious to see the film, go and see it. I'm bummed to find out it was originally going to be a two parter but the Disney deal killed that.
I am fine going into specific details in my comments if anyone wants to squee with me. I promise to update this if spoilers appear in comments.
