When it comes to my favourite superhero franchise, the X-Men takes the crown, mostly due to my nostalgia and how I feel that none of the films are unwatchable. While people point to "Origins", "Last Stand", or "Apocalypse" as terrible, these films still have a lot of great ideas and scenes that stand out, and "Origins" is so bad it's good in my opinion. However, after Apocalypse was released, audiences started to turn hostile and toxic to the franchise, wanting the characters to be thrown into the MCU like Spider-Man. The hate train grew so big that whenever there was any news of "Dark Phoenix", it's looked in a negative viewpoint. All of this hate eventually caused the film to not only bomb terribly, but critics slammed it very harshly, some saying that it's the worst X-Men film in the franchise, which is way too over the line, especially if you compare it to "Origins". The story alone is a huge criticism that people throw out. Based on the comic saga, the film follows the X-Men, who have become global heroes, as Jean Grey gets embodied by a cosmic force that amplifies her abilities, but makes her mentally unstable. This causes a chain reaction where humans fear mutants once more, lines are drawn, and characters choose sides of leadership, all while an alien race, led by Vuk, attempt to use Jean's new power to destroy the world and recreate their dead planet. Obviously, the story is loosely based from the comics, which people complain about. This complaint is very hypocritical though, as many films of the genre are never true adaptations, some taking massive liberties. Same is done here. I don't care about how accurate a film is from the source material, as it never truly matters, and to be fair, the story here works fine as a stand-alone flick, but it does feel different from the rest of the franchise. Originally, the filmmakers wanted to make the film very comic accurately, but the studio refused their proposal, seeing how the adaptation would have to span at least two films. So, the crew decided to go through a different direction, which is where the most polarizing element that I feel hurt the film for many comes in, the overall tone. While the X-Men films have a tone that sticks to being more serious, but allows comedy and fun from time to time, "Dark Phoenix" has a very somber and darker tone with a lack of humour. This in my opinion turned away many audiences away, as it was the complete opposite of the tone that the MCU would have, and it wasn't a lighthearted film for kids that will keep them engaged, since the pace is pretty slow and action sequences are spread apart, until the third act. I for one found the tone of the film effective, mostly whenever the dramatic moments are used.
The X-Men franchise always had great actors attached to characters that make memorable performances, and this film continues that trend. James McAvoy is once again perfect as Charles Xavier. In this film, Charles puts his trust with the others to the test as he reveals questionable actions to the group. Some criticize that Charles acts out of character in this film for his actions such as willing to sacrifice a mutant for a human, or erasing Jean's memory to block out the trauma. However, not only does Charles act like this in the comics, but his reasons can be justified as he believes that it's doing what's best for mutantkind. Michael Fassbender is great as Magneto once again, though he shows up in the second act of the film. Jennifer Lawrence has always been slammed for her performance as Mystique, due to her character's departure from the comics, which is hypocritical when you bring up Nebula in the MCU. I defend the choice of making her a villain turned hero, since the films gave her tons of development to warrant this decision. Nicholas Hoult as Beast is once again really good, but people criticize his actions for wanting to kill Jean Grey, which is a stupid complaint, since it makes perfect sense that he would want to kill her for killing Mystique, who he was in love with. Speaking of Jean Grey, Sophie Turner gets more time to shine in the film compared in Apocalypse. She plays the role well as she does capture a sweet girl turned mentally broken victim in the film. We have sympathy for her, which is essential for the film that centres around her. Side characters such as Cyclops, Storm, and Nightcrawler are well acted and have their moments of heroism. Then, there's Jessica Chastain as Vuk, who while does a good job acting as the character, doesn't manage to make the villain a memorable one. The aliens themselves work as a threat and show their lack of humanity with the lack of emotion and lines, but do end up feeling like a strange element in the X-Men franchise. The last character to mention is Quicksilver, the fan favourite mutant played by Even Peters, who sadly barely gets any screentime, due to Jean crippling him at the end of the first act. While many would see this as a stupid choice for not including a scene with Quicksilver like "Days of Future Past" or "Apocalypse", there was no way a scene like that could have worked in this film due to it being very conflicting to the overall tone. All of the actors do a solid job as always performing these characters, though the villain was weak and some characters could have had more time on-screen.
Simon Kinberg, the writer and producer of the franchise, begins his directorial debut after many of his peers urged him to direct this film. Although he had been attached to the franchise for 20 years, many showed worry that Kinberg was making his directorial debut a huge summer blockbuster without any experience. Surprisingly though, Kinberg did a damn good job, although there are moments of amateur throughout the film. His directing needed a bit of work when it comes to scenes where it's just two people talking amongst each other. Sometimes, the actors or camerawork by Mauro Fiore will have actions or movements that can help add something to the scenes, like having a handheld camera shakiness quality or the performances of the actors alone. However, there are moments where it's simple back and forth camera operation with little movement from the actors, which makes these scenes rather stale. Most of the film however feels rather professional for a first-time director, proving that Kinberg has some talent behind the camera. The visual effects are also very high quality, thanks to a good mixture of both practical and digital effects. There's a lot of in-camera stunts and effects that help blend with the polished CGI that makes this film look much better than a good amount of effects work in MCU films. They aren't award-winning effects, but they are very well done for this type of film. The score by Hans Zimmer is one of the most memorable and engaging in the genre in a very long time. The X-Men franchise always had very good music and memorable tracks, but Zimmer crafted a soundtrack that fits perfectly for each scene. The score is triumphant, intense, sinister, somber, grand, and overall engaging to the ears and the film. The action sequences are very well-made and creative with memorable details in the scenes. The train sequence, a set piece in the third act that was added from extensive reshoots, is one of the best action moments in not just the year, but in the superhero genre as a whole. From the stunts, visuals, directing, choreography, music, intensity, and very creative writing, this one action piece alone warrants a viewing and spot in the most memorable climaxes in the superhero genre. Kinberg knew his craft and poured his heart out to make the best film he could have under his circumstances.
Looking at the question of the title of this review, is Dark Phoenix a underappreciated film, let alone the most out of 2019 as a whole? I will point out that this film is not perfect, nor even lands in the top three of the franchise. The villain is generic and out-of-place in the franchise, there are scenes of bland directing, some characters could have had more screentime, and the tone will guarantee to either won or lose viewers over in the genre. So, what makes it underappreciated to begin with? Well, there are the major qualities to the film from a great cast of characters and actors, pretty solid directing from Kinberg, high-quality visual effects, Hans Zimmer's excellent score, few engaging story/character details, and of course, the train sequence. No one can judge these elements as terrible or unremarkable, as if they do, they clearly have no taste or idea of what makes great filmmaking. I also feel that this film is not being looked at as the end of a generation of superhero films. The first film helped popularize the superhero genre back in 2000 and launched a series that has some of the best films in the entire genre, all while being restricted to the X-Men characters and stories alone. People should have been realizing that this film is ending something special, but they decided to throw hate and ignorance towards the film for their selfish wants of the characters to be rebooted in the MCU, leaving the final film in the franchise to end with a whimper and not a celebration. That is why I consider this film to be the most underappreciated film of 2019 and wish that more and more people watch it with zero expectations and come up with their own opinion instead of listening to the most toxic of people.
Verdict: 7.5/10. It's a good film. Not the best, but far from the worst of the franchise or genre. Try watching the film for some very memorable elements and moments that I feel outweighs the negatives.
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