Review: DARK PHOENIX is a dreary end to the current X-Men franchise

The Dark Phoenix Saga is one of the most beloved X-Men storylines for good reason. The 1980 comic run by the powerhouse creative team of Chris Claremont and John Byrne saw the X-Men’s Jean Grey bombarded by the rays of a solar flare while on a mission in space, pushing her powers to unimaginable limits. Returning to Earth as “Phoenix,” Grey becomes one of the most powerful figures in the universe. And as the old adage about absolute power goes, the power of the Phoenix quickly begins to corrupt, aided by a mind-controlling villain who pushes Phoenix to the breaking point. With her surging power comes an uncontrollable hunger, which eventually leads to an accidental planetary genocide after Phoenix consumes an entire star (you can’t beat 80s comics).

With its grand cosmic storytelling and tragic consequences, it’s easy to see why the Dark Phoenix story has been adapted so many times, from the classic 90s X-Men cartoon to Brett Ratner’s derided X-Men: The Last Stand. The Phoenix force now rises again in Dark Phoenix, the final X-Men film in this current franchise before the rights to the characters are handed over to Disney and the team likely joins the MCU proper. With 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past wiping the events of The Last Stand out of the timeline, the role of Jean Grey / Phoenix is now helmed by Game of Thrones‘ Sophie Turner, which gives writer / director Simon Kinberg a chance to re-tell the classic Phoenix story with a new spin.

After opening with a voice over intro (never a great sign) Dark Phoenix begins with a young Jean Grey and her parents enjoying a family car ride. As Jean’s telepathic abilities meddle with the radio, the distraction causes their car to be involved in a devastating car crash. The orphaned Jean Grey is then taken in by Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), and brought to his burgeoning new school for mutants. Jumping forward a few years, the X-Men are now a tight-knit unit, one that the public (and even the President) have come to depend on when their unique collection of powers can be an asset to the world. When the government asks for the X-Men’s help to rescue a trapped space shuttle, the team heads out into space, despite some strong misgivings by some members, including the blue-skinned Raven (Jennifer Lawrence).

In a last ditch attempt to save the shuttle crew, Jean is exposed to the full power of a solar flare. Seemingly uninjured, the team returns to Earth, but all is not as it should be with Jean. She quickly realizes that she is possessed by powers she can barely control, which flare up when she is distressed. As she begins to confront Xavier over a long-buried betrayal, she comes into contact with an alien force known as the D’Bari, led by a white-haired woman in human form (Jessica Chastain) who attempts to channel Jean’s new powers for her own nefarious plans.

Despite the massive success of comic movies these days, adapting dense comic storytelling for the screen is a difficult task. Even with its reported $200 million budget, there is no way to properly translate the cosmic scope of the original cosmic storyline to the screen in a 2-hour film (it’s also hard to picture a major studio filming a scene where one of the X-Men commits genocide because they were hungry — some things are better suited for newsprint). While Dark Phoenix retains some of those fantastical elements, Kinberg focuses more on the inter-personal drama and tension between Grey and the X-Men, especially her turbulent relationship with Xavier. Much of the film becomes a tug-of-war between the duo, bringing up notions of power and responsibility, themes which have essentially been the cornerstone of Marvel comics for over 50 years now.

As befitting the material, Dark Phoenix is the darkest X-Men movie yet. Xavier spends most of the movie with a glass of liquor in his hand, ordering the X-Men into increasingly dangerous situations with a careless disregard for their safety, an act that turns much of the team away from him after Jean’s space mishap. Seeking solace with Magento (Michael Fassbender) at his Genosha Island, Grey once again brings Xavier and Magneto to a head over their diverging views on how (and if) mutants and humans should co-exist.

While Dark Phoenix could have been a crowd-pleasing wrap-up to nearly two decades of X-Men films (see: Avengers: Endgame), Kinberg’s approach is very different here. Dark Phoenix is essentially a horror movie about a young woman coming to terms with her powers — it’s Carrie, minus the pig’s blood. Kinberg plays up the tension and horror of Grey succumbing to the Phoenix force — fans know the inevitable outcome, so the story becomes about what forces Grey to go over the edge. Much of that gravitas is put on Sophie Turner’s performance, which unfortunately often comes off as a bit wooden. She does best when she’s squaring off against someone like McAvoy’s Xavier (a potent sparring partner to be sure), but falters when she’s tasked with selling her ascent (descent?) into the Phoenix force.

The rest of the X-Men appear here in supporting roles, but really don’t have much to do (perhaps why their name isn’t even featured in the title of the movie). Jennifer Lawrence’s Raven has a few key exchanges (including a line questioning the validity of X-Men as the group’s name), and Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) serves to mostly gasp in wonder at Jean’s new abilities.

In some ways, Dark Phoenix feels like an incredibly expensive B-movie. The tone aims for a Dark Knight-like level of seriousness, but there’s always something pulling the movie back from landing any true emotional impact. It could be the mostly lukewarm performances, or the film’s confusing editing which often feels like a cut-and-paste job, with some seminal plot moments never making it into the final film (Jessica Chastain’s whole storyline is barely comprehensible).

It’s commendable that Kinberg (and Fox) took a chance here. They had nothing to lose after the utterly terrible X-Men: Apocalypse, but instead of delivering more of the same, they tried to present a new take on one of the best-known X-Men stories. By focusing more on characters than on massive cosmic battles, Dark Phoenix at least stands out from the previous X-Men entries, even if much of the film is unrelentingly dreary and scattered.  With the property in a state of limbo now that Disney owns the rights, at least one thing is certain: the Phoenix will certainly rise again.

Dark Phoenix is in theatres now.