X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Jul. 12th, 2019 10:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meteordustSo I finally saw this at the movies last week. I didn't think three and a half weeks after release was that late, but it was only in a handful of cinemas, and only screening one session a day. Everyone seemed to have moved onto Spider-Man: Far From Home.
I went in with low expectations from negative reviews, but also with fan reports that it was not as bad as the reviews said.
SPOILERS BELOW
There were some good scenes. There were also some terrible scenes. And a lot of it was not that great.
* My feelings about Mystique:
- Killed by Jean halfway through the movie. I don't know if it's any stupider than killing off Charles halfway through X3. But it feels more insulting, because (1) fewer female characters, and (2) history of fridging. Also, surprise impalement is such a cliche.
- The thing is, her death is an effective story driver for Jean, Hank, and Erik. But it feels like a disservice to the character to turn her into a plot device, rather than someone with agency and purpose.
- At the end, they renamed the school after Jean Grey, but it would be far more fitting to name it for Raven Darkholme, who was there from the start, and who was a leader and a mentor to the students.
* Stuff I liked:
- Sophie Turner as Jean Grey.
- The shuttle rescue sequence.
- "X-Women."
- Erik building his peaceful mutant community. I didn't realise until reading a synopsis that it was meant to be Genosha.
- "Whose blood is it?"
- Hank calling Charles on his ego.
- Erik raising the train from the subway. It's no Golden Gate Bridge, but still pretty damn cool.
- Erik striding into the building to kill Jean, only to get tossed back out like a rag doll. A great "oh shit" moment.
- The face-off between the X-Men and the D'Bari.
- The Phoenix looked pretty awesome.
- Erik inviting Charles to come stay in Genosha with him. Happy ending for them, yay! Him showing up with the chess set is especially poignant, when you remember that X3 ended with him playing chess alone in the park.
* Stuff I wondered about:
- So did Peter ever tell Erik he was his son?
I went in with low expectations from negative reviews, but also with fan reports that it was not as bad as the reviews said.
SPOILERS BELOW
There were some good scenes. There were also some terrible scenes. And a lot of it was not that great.
* My feelings about Mystique:
- Killed by Jean halfway through the movie. I don't know if it's any stupider than killing off Charles halfway through X3. But it feels more insulting, because (1) fewer female characters, and (2) history of fridging. Also, surprise impalement is such a cliche.
- The thing is, her death is an effective story driver for Jean, Hank, and Erik. But it feels like a disservice to the character to turn her into a plot device, rather than someone with agency and purpose.
- At the end, they renamed the school after Jean Grey, but it would be far more fitting to name it for Raven Darkholme, who was there from the start, and who was a leader and a mentor to the students.
* Stuff I liked:
- Sophie Turner as Jean Grey.
- The shuttle rescue sequence.
- "X-Women."
- Erik building his peaceful mutant community. I didn't realise until reading a synopsis that it was meant to be Genosha.
- "Whose blood is it?"
- Hank calling Charles on his ego.
- Erik raising the train from the subway. It's no Golden Gate Bridge, but still pretty damn cool.
- Erik striding into the building to kill Jean, only to get tossed back out like a rag doll. A great "oh shit" moment.
- The face-off between the X-Men and the D'Bari.
- The Phoenix looked pretty awesome.
- Erik inviting Charles to come stay in Genosha with him. Happy ending for them, yay! Him showing up with the chess set is especially poignant, when you remember that X3 ended with him playing chess alone in the park.
* Stuff I wondered about:
- So did Peter ever tell Erik he was his son?
