X-Men: Dark Phoenix

The revelry continues with hollow material from which absolutely nothing can be milked, even if Fassbender and co. were standing on their heads. The X-Men are long past their sell-by date for many reasons. A story that’s too convoluted, the time jumping, the clichéd scripts. This episode not a hit with a tight grip. The last really good episode thus remains First Class, which was fresh, original and with extremely skilled direction, the other films have been a mess. Maybe standalone spin-offs have a chance, but this bunch is otherwise way past its prime. (07/09/2019)

Compared to First Class and Days of Future Past, X-Men: Dark Phoenix doesn't have much to surprise and doesn't offer a very deeply thought out story with twists and turns. Unfortunately, Sophie Turner failed to convince me that she is a powerful "Dark Phoenix" even after this film. Almost all of the young actors there seemed more like sidekicks, and I was somewhat uncomfortable with the rapid swings in their mindsets. The character with the face of the demonic Jessica Chastain appealed to me the most. On the other hand, I have to commend the final sequence on the train, which was packed with action from floor to ceiling. It's nowhere near the old and first new X-Men, but it could have been worse. (09/06/2019)

Jean Grey has become the Dark Phoenix, and the other X-Men can't tame her the easy way. But do they stand a chance against their former partners? And what if someone far more dangerous is after her new powers? The new X-Men return to their roots and try to rely on interesting characters and character development more than action. It succeeds only halfway. Unfortunately, Simon Kinberg's surprisingly solid direction is tripped up by the often not-so-good actors and an overly rushed story. There are some strong emotional moments, though, and the finale on the train is among the best action we've ever seen in X-Men. I was expecting a lot worse. (06/06/2019)

Due to the public's zero to negative expectations, a clear critical and commercial defeat was anticipated long in advance, breaking my heart with how much it reaches out to me and how well I understand it. It is, in fact, split exactly halfway between honoring all conceivable references and the existing film legacy. It emphasizes teamwork, without the naiveté of classic comic book adventures, and shamelessly points out that it more or less repeats X-Men: The Last Stand, with several plot twists that wink at the viewer – then goes in a different direction. Sophie Turner surprisingly masters the conflicted Jean and thus pays greater homage to the entire Phoenix saga (thanks in part to thirteen years of advancements in CGI) than Famke Janssen did in her time (iconic though she was). Moreover, when Magneto is fully immersed in the story, once again proving that Michael Fassbender is the best cast member, I forget about the slightly conflicting motivations of the individual characters and gladly submit my final rating to the complex message that symbolically resonates with the original ideas from the first films. Simon Kinberg understands mutants and loves them unconditionally, occasionally forgetting about viewers who haven't seen most of the previous films backwards and forwards. Nonetheless, the farewell to this separate form of the righteous X-Men manages to remain firmly grounded, even though its scale reaches to the stars. (15/06/2019)

After watching the film, I was surprised at how badly this final episode of modern X-Men is rated. It didn’t seem so bad to me, but I have some comments on the film. The thing that intrigued me the most was the fact that the film was entrusted to an inexperienced director. This mostly shows in the action sequences. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s the most furious action I’ve ever seen. The strange thing, however, is that this weird action looks incredibly epic in the end. I really don’t know how to put in the words, but I guess these are the best furious action scenes I’ve ever seen. The camera is not shaky, it performs such maneuvers that it boggles your mind, and even though I was quite dubious the entire time, it turned out that it’s the best feature of the whole flick. Together with Hans Zimmer’s music, which is once again epic and memorable. The plot, however, is worse, as it’s often the case with X-Men movies. Sophie Turner makes the same puppy eyes as she did in Game of Thrones, but this time it doesn’t work. During the entire movie, which was supposed to be about her, I was incredibly annoyed by her character. The best parts were as usual James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, thanks to whom I enjoyed the ending. This instalment deserves definitely better rating then 59 out of 100. It is controversial, true, but it is also entertaining, which is exactly what I wanted from it. (14/01/2020)