Dark Phoenix

It’s baffling to me that Dark Phoenix was as bad as it was when the last time the movies attempted this comic book storyline it was widely considered the film franchise’s low point. You’d think they’d be extra sure to get it right the second time around, buthe fourth and final entry in X-Men’s prequel movies feels like it’s running on fumes. If Apocalypse had no passion in it, Dark Phoenix is what happens when you signed a contract a decade ago and are legally required to make a movie. Even the final scene between Fassbender and McAvoy is so muted compared to every other gutwrenching and electric scene the two had together. Who was this movie for if not the shareholders?

Shoutout to Sophie Turner who is doing her best to lead the film as Jean Grey while working with nothing from anyone else. But Dark Phoenix is the second misfire of adapting an iconic X-Men storyline, and I’ll be surprised if Marvel ever attempts it again, even with the X-Men license back in its gapping maw. Let Jean live happy life in one continuity, for fuck’s sake. — Kenneth Shepard