X-Men: Dark Phoenix | Teen Ink

X-Men: Dark Phoenix

October 26, 2019
By MovieReviewer_18 ELITE, Short Hills, New Jersey
MovieReviewer_18 ELITE, Short Hills, New Jersey
678 articles 0 photos 8 comments

 X-Men: Dark Phoenix is the final movie in the X-Men franchise and proves to be one of the most wild ones yet. The movie revolves around Jean Grey as she faces a new challenge that will forever change the shape of the X-Men and their relationships with one another. It all begins when the X-Men make the risky decision to do a space mission in an attempt to rescue American astronauts. However, while up there, and trying to save the astronauts, the mutants soon run into a mysterious cosmic force that seems beyond anything they have ever seen or faced on Earth. Although the X-Men think that they might be able to avoid the force without having any consequences, they soon discover that one of the astronauts is still stuck on the shape shuttle, after they have successfully rescued the others. Due to this, Jean Grey makes the bold decision to try to rescue him, even though the force seems to be invading the spaceship. Although it nearly kills Jean, the X-Men manage to bring her and the astronaut back safely to the Earth, assuming that all is well. When they do a check-up on Jean, she claims to feel fine and be unaffected by the monstrous force that nearly took her life in space. In fact, they discover that she's infinitely more powerful now, perhaps becoming the strongest mutant of them all. However, with this increase in power comes an increase in instability. As Jean Grey begins to lose control over what's she possible of doing, unleashing the full force of her powers onto the world, she ends up putting the X-Men in their worst position yet. The X-Men must band together to attempt to both stop Jean from destroying others and simultaneously save her soul before it's too late. Meanwhile, an alien race wants to utilize Jean's power to take over all of Earth, which would destroy all humans and mutants alike in the process, making it so that there is no right decision for the X-Men. 
 X-Men: Dark Phoenix proves to be an exhilarating adventure that is entertaining, action-packed and will be sure to showcase relatable mutants at their finest. While the movie does lack a cohesive plot that has plenty of holes, it also highlights why the X-Men have become so popular in the first place. The characters are extremely human, suffering many of the same burdens as the people watching them. The X-Men make mistakes, struggle to cope with their powers, and through it all, they still feel like outsiders, even when their relations with the rest of the world is relatively good. None of the mutants are perfect, especially not Charles Xavier, and these flaws allow the characters to become memorable for all the right reasons. They're not just superheroes that battle villains, because they're also humans trying to find their own place in the world. These concepts are made especially prominent in this roller coaster ride as they struggle to deal with how they should with Jean, who now has the power to destroy all of them with nothing more than a thought. 
 X-Men: Dark Phoenix may allow plenty of mutant characters to be placed in the spotlight, but even that sometimes fails to make up for all of the confusion that occurs in the plot. For starters, the movie completely messes up the X-Men franchise timeline, making it beyond confusing of how everything in the franchise has actually taken place. Additionally, the odd decision to include another alien race in the movie doesn't really benefit anyone. The aliens are never truly explained, and it feels like they are there for just the sole purpose of having more science fiction concepts introduced. Their motives are unclear, and they simply feel unimportant throughout. Furthermore, the middle and end of the movie fail to provide the conciseness and clarity that viewers crave. There are plenty of head-scratching moments included throughout that seem to fail to answer any lingering questions. Despite this, the movie does in fact possess a fine ending that does manage to bring a close to plenty of characters' story arcs, which is a plus. The conclusion may not be the most well-written, but it does do a satisfactory job of ending this franchise with ease and at least gives a concrete end. 
 X-Men: Dark Phoenix may not be perfect, but it does manage to bring the X-Men franchise to a proud conclusion. For fans of the other movies in the franchise, it is still definitely worth watching, despite its measly 23% from Rotten Tomatoes. There are still plenty of awesome mutants, and the star-studded cast continues to shine. James McAvoy's Professor Charles Xavier, Michael Fassbender's Magneto, Nicholas Hoult's Beast, and Tye Sheridan's Cyclops are still all significant, and the actors combine together to bring their superheroes to life and ensure they continue to please viewers with their meaningful and substantial performances. While the movie is definitely flawed, it is still definitely worth seeing for those who have seen the other movies in the franchise. 


The author's comments:

"And by the way, the women are always saving the men around here. You might want to think about changing the name to X-Women." - Raven


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