Dark Phoenix

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

Dark Phoenix is the swan song (for now) of the not-always beloved cinematic X-Men franchise. Directed by Simon Kinberg, the film follows the X-Men circa 1992 at the height of mutant popularity amongst the human public.  As a fellow Marvel universe inhabitant once said, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” This power is one that no man nor mutant can properly wield – including Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and well…Simon Kinberg. Dark Phoenix starts off strong at establishing the unpredictability of its titular character’s powers, but immediately stumbles through detailing the implications of Jean Grey’s (Sophie Turner) trauma and her alter ego’s capacity for devastation. At times Dark Phoenix bites off more than it can chew and struggles to properly manage the powers and personalities of its characters. The end product is certainly entertaining, but may disappoint those hoping for a strong finish to this generation of X-Men.

Charles Xavier sends his best and brightest into the stratosphere to save a band of astronauts caught in a powerful solar flare. While Charles orchestrates the expedition from the comfort of his mansion Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Hank (Nicholas Hoult), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Kurt (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Quicksilver (Evan Peters) and, of course, Jean Grey are forced into the fiery clouds. The rescue mission quickly goes awry and Jean is caught inside of the solar flare. Her body absorbs the boundless energy of the cataclysmic event before the X-Men can get her out of harm’s way, but she miraculously survives. When the mutant saviors of the earth return back to their home planet, they are not privy to a small hoard of aliens that also touched down around the time of the solar flare incident. The aliens, led by body-snatcher Vuk (Jessica Chastain), are in search of a boundless primordial energy that they witnessed being absorbed into the body of none other than Jean Grey.

While the aliens infiltrate society and put themselves into positions of power, Jean begins to exhibit strange symptoms. For starters, the traumas of her childhood seem to be rising to the surface and manifesting in episodes of madness and violence. Memories long repressed (thanks to Charles’ interference) creep to the surface of Jean’s consciousness, suggesting that her life as an X-Men is a lie, a fabrication of Charles’ design. As the truth comes to a head, so do tensions within the mansion.

The situation escalates rapidly and comes to a climax when Jean, estranged from her found family, is forced to battle her mutant brothers and sisters at Charles’ command. The battle ends with a serious loss at Jean’s hands – leaving the vulnerable Omega-mutant a mourning murderer. Jean becomes quite a hot commodity – gaining suitors on three sides. Plus, fellow mutants unite to avenge the friend they have lost. Charles and the X-Men set out to bring Jean home. And Vuk? Well, Vuk has plans to take Jean’s power as her own.

Dark Phoenix is busy and full of performances that fail to reach the power it aspires to. The cast is phenomenal, just not in the roles they’re playing – and their talent doesn’t transcend the mediocre storytelling. Dark Phoenix is full of characters too strong for the world they live in, which includes odd flexes like Magneto (Michael Fassbender) ripping a subway out from underground but underutilizes the human talent that could have truly elevated the narrative experience.

Jean Grey’s story could have been a beautiful exploration of trauma, humanity and power, but instead comes out feeling like an emotionless, albeit exciting, display of visual effects. All of this being said, Dark Phoenix is still worth a watch if you’re in the market for something aesthetically pleasing. If you’ve stuck it out through the X-Men films that preceded Dark Phoenix, you might as well ride the wave all the way to shore.