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)

It is the year 1992, the space shuttle Endeavour ends up in a cosmic cloud in our planet’s orbit, the X-Men come to help, and something goes wrong. This space plot introduces a non-mutant/non-human enemy, while at the same time dropping the storyline with GLBT/LGBT hatred that they were so fond of in this series for so many years. Some members of the team have stopped enjoying their blind subservience to mankind. The team is slowly falling apart and Jean becomes Phoenix again, but this time around we don’t have the sexy Famke Jannsen to play the part convincingly. The younger actors generally can’t compete with high-calibre performers like McAvoy or Fassbender, so the movie relies a little more on the latter's performances. Even so, Kinberg is a capable storyteller and serves up dynamic action scenes and good ideas. The climax on the train, where everybody goes ape-shit, is full of memorable scenes. All this accompanied by Hans’s outstanding music. In the end, this is quite a solid ending to the X-series. Those were good years. P.S: The end conflicts with what was hinted at in Days of Future Past. (08/06/2019)

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)

The X-Men's descent from the best comic book adaptation ever (Volume 2) to utter forgettable sh*t. And sad be the day Sophie Turner believed she was an actress. Well, perhaps she is an actress, but she’s certainly the least charismatic being to appear in the entire series. Fassbender, Lawrence and McAvoy must have been terribly relieved that they got off the hook with this latest installment and don't have to keep plugging away. (03/09/2019)

Considering the reviews so far, I was expecting crap and I went to the cinema rather out of boredom, but I was very pleasantly surprised and after a long time I enjoyed the cinema. The line-up of James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain entertained me a lot, and although Sophie Turner is still an underdeveloped actress, I didn't mind her. Story-wise, the film doesn't really grab you, but I really enjoyed the action – the half-hour finale on the train is one of the best I've seen this year and Magneto gives it his all in style (I hope a solo movie is in the works!). Shame about the smaller space for Quicksilver, who has stolen the highlights for himself for the last two episodes, so maybe next time. Satisfaction for me and I probably won't see Phoenix in the blue skies again. 80% (20/06/2019)