Directed by Simon Kinberg

Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action including some gunplay, disturbing images, and brief strong language 

The X-Men series was a game changer when it first arrived in 2000. The X-Men series is a precursor to the superhero genre overload we are getting today .With that being said, it is unfortunate that we are seeing an end of an era with the Fox X-Men series coming to a close. But after a viewing of Dark Phoenix, it is more unfortunate that the X-Men series comes to disappointing end.

Dark Phoenix is the newest installment in the X-Men series, in which Jean Grey (played by Sophie Turner) has uncontrollable powers that turn her into the Phoenix, an all powerful force that wrecks havoc. The X-Men try to track her down and help her before she can hurt anyone else. Meanwhile, there is also a villain (played by Jessica Chastain) who is wanting Jean’s power and tries to extract it from her.

From the plot line, the audience is lead to believe that this is something that would be interesting. But Dark Phoenix is very dull and boring, despite the possibility of being very interesting. Most scenes feel tedious to watch and feels like a chore. All the dialogue and “character driven” scenes add to nothing. Towards the middle of the film, you want to film just to end. But when you think its over, its not. Dark Phoenix has a run time of just under two hours, but the long, overdrawn scenes make it seem like it has the run time of a Transformers film.

The film is also filled with multiple continuity errors. Most of these are more than likely not errors, but director and screenwriter Simon Kinberg being lazy and not doing his job well. In X-Men First Class (2011) which takes place in the early 60’s with McAvoy, Fassbender, and Lawrence playing young characters of Professor X, Magneto, and Mystique, respectively. But Dark Phoenix takes place in the early 90’s and none of those characters mentioned have aged a day. Dark Phoenix also takes place several years before X-Men (2000) and its hard to believe that McAvoy and Fassbender will turn to Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan in just a few years. If Simon Kinberg wanted a somewhat believable continuity, he should have had those actors in makeup just to avoid a huge error.

As mentioned before, Dark Phoenix is supposed to take place several years before the original events of X-Men. Without giving away some spoilers, some of the events happening in this film make some of the events happening in X-Men and its original two sequels impossible. This is another failure on the part of the screenwriter who lazily wrote this with no references to the previous X-Men films.

With the cluttered mess of Dark Phoenix, the highlight of the film is Sophie Turner as Jean Grey. Turner does a well job portraying a young woman who is confused on what to do with her powers. Upon further research, Turner did study  dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia which does show when Turner is on the screen. Turner’s co-star, Jessica Chastain plays an uninteresting villain who wants Jean’s powers. Most of the blame is on the screenplay, which writes Chastain as a boring villain with a cliche motivation.

Dark Phoenix is a total failure and a disappointing end to a once beloved film series. The film has nothing to offer with the exception of Sophie Turner doing a good job with the mess of a screenplay given to her. The continuity “errors” make the film unwatchable for fans of the series, Dark Phoenix is a poor excuse for a film that is not necessary to watch.

1/4