I have always enjoyed the X-Men movies, they were my gateway into the world of superheroes, and considering X-Men: Apocalypse is my favourite of them all (unpopular opinion, I know), I was really looking forward to seeing where they went next. However, despite Dark Phoenix being one of my most highly anticipated releases of 2019 for one reason or another, we never got round to seeing it until now.

With Disney’s recent purchase of Fox, Dark Phoenix is more than likely the end of the X-Men franchise as we know it, meaning its not just a question of how they follow Apocalypse but also how they end a universe that started way back in 2000.

Given the sheer amount of backlash and ridicule offered to Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Last Stand (2006) it seems a big risk to try and tackle the concept of the ‘Phoenix Force’ again. In this iteration, Professor Charles Xavier and his X-Men are living in a world of well earned, well fought peace alongside their human counterparts. However, as is often the case with humanity their powers are used and abused, and they are frequently asked to put their lives on the line in the name of duty.

When the X-Men are sent to rescue the crew of a space station that has been damaged by a solar flare, Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) is exposed to a dark and ancient cosmic power that should have killed her but instead enhances her already formidable powers and unlocks secrets that changes her view on the world and threatens to put the delicate human-mutant pact, and the world, at risk.

As much as it pains me to say it, although enjoyable in its own right, Dark Phoenix is definitely the weakest of the four new X-Men films and a somewhat lackluster way to end a twenty year franchise. Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t a bad film, and I definitely don’t think it deserves all of the criticism it received, it just didn’t live up to my expectations.

Personally, unless it is an early central part of the established universe, I am not a fan of alien story lines. For me, it feels lazy – as if they’ve ran out of ideas or can’t be bothered to think of something different. I felt the same way about the use of time travel in Avengers: Endgame. Now I think it may be important to state that, in this instance, I am only referring to the film universe, I don’t know how true this plot line is to the source material.

My own personal bias aside, the alien subplot was under developed and uninspired. Despite seeking the cosmic power for themselves, there was no real thought or reason behind their motives and, in the grand scheme of things, didn’t offer much of a threat to the X-Men or the Earth as a whole. Even the usually brilliant Jessica Chastain failed to shine.

One of my favourite things about the X-Men franchise is that, with the exception of the Wolverine spin-offs, the films are very much driven by the team as a whole. Dark Phoenix is very much a Jean Grey-centric film and, although Sophie Turner carries the lead well, there is not enough of the team for my liking. Whilst everyone is there that you would expect; Mystique, Magneto, Cyclops etc etc, they feel more like filler characters than the mutants that we have come to know and love.

Reading this back, I am very conscious that this review feels rather negative but I promise you, I did enjoy the film. It is an entertaining and fun way to pass an evening, and I would definitely recommend giving it a watch before the X-Men become just another cog in the Disney machine.

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