For the first time since the first X-Men movie back in 2000, I didn't go to see Dark Phoenix on opening weekend. No, I fell for the trap that is negative press and pre-reviews (which weren't helped by Apocalypse) and eventually checked out Dark Phoenix just yesterday and, as I'm sure you can guess based on this review's title, I actually rather enjoyed this film. I'm going to get my raring out of the way and give this a solid 9 out of 10.
In my opinion, Dark Phoenix gave us one of the truest depictions of the X-Men yet and allowed the team to shine without the usual focus and star power of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine (don't get me wrong Jackman as Wolverine is one of my all-time favourite characters in any movie) and instead shifted the focus onto Jean (obviously), Cyclops (finally), Nightcrawler, Beast and Storm. So for the main focus of this review I'm going to counter some of the main grips I've seen in reviews online from various other sources. Be warned there will be a lot of spoilers here for both Dark Phoenix and a lot of the source materials
The first on my list; Dark Phoenix Creates a Glaring Plot Hole in X-Men: Apocalypse.
Yeah, no it doesn't. It really doesn't. This criticism is that Jean only become Phoenix here undoes her summoning her Phoenix powers in Apocalypse, which I can see from the general populus' point of view but am going to point out where it's wrong. Namely Ultimate X-Men Volume 4: Hellfire and Brimstone sets this straight. In the re-imagined and highly successful Ultimate X-Men series, Jean Grey was regularly having visions of the Phoenix (and also Gremlins) prior to absorbing the Phoenix force and would see both the Phoenix and Gremlins as moving things for her (more so during the "Date Night" and "Cable" story arcs further down the line). What's important to remember here is that Jean has always been immensely powerful and Professor Xavier had put physic blocks in place to prevent her from losing it. In the aforementioned Hellfire and Brimstone, the Hellfire club SUMMONED the Phoenix force which merged with Jean after she'd been manifesting these flare ups which is exactly what's happened across these two movies. Also, this hasn't just been restricted to Jean - in the Avengers vs X-Men event, the Avengers (including Wolverine) were aware that the Phoenix force was on it's way to Earth and more than likely drawn to Hope Summers. Prior to meeting the force, Hope had a Phoenix flare-up while training with the X-Men and the Phoenix was still lightyears away at that point. Therefore, definatley not a plot hole and more a nod to the Phoenix force's pre-merging flare-ups.
Next on my list; Dark Phoenix breaks everyone's characters and does no-one justice.
Again, this is a crock. Firstly there is a massive difference in time between Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix - can you say you're the same person you were five or ten years ago? I know I can't!
The biggest "offender" that I'm going to counter focuses on Xavier and him not being as pure as everyone expected and also the public loving the X-Men and Xavier having an ego as a result. Newsflash peeps, in the comics the Professor has done some terrible things including limiting Jean's powers (like we see in Dark Phoenix) and altering people's minds based on what he thinks is best. In the ultimate x-men line, he led everyone to believe that Magneto was dead only for him to have secretly brainwashed him to try and re-integrate him into society. In the mainstream Marvel comics continuity it was revealed the Wolverine had joined the team to kill Xavier as Department H viewed him as a threat and before he could, Xavier mind wiped him and re-programmed him for the better.
With regards to the public perception, again in the ultimate comics the X-Men were viewed as celebrities at one point following saving America from a televised attack by Magneto and attempted execution of the President. This led to Xavier being in direct contact to the President of the United States on a regular basis. This even saw the President and Shield throw parties and gatherings to honor the X-Men on multiple occasions. Much like what happened in Dark Phoenix, one slight error on a member of the X-Men's part led to this ending and the government instantly trying to aprehend all of the X-Men as a result.
Other Notable bits from the source material
When Mystique questions Xavier risking the team for the sake of the team and planning on leaving borrows heavily from the Ultimate X-Men's first story arc. In this we see Magneto kidnap the PotUS's daughter to get the Sentinel program shut down. The X-Men save her and Beast ends up in the infirmary as a result. Cyclops gives Xavier a similar speech to what we saw if Dark Phoenix then leaves to join Magneto's brotherhood.
Nightcrawler's rage out on the train and combat abilities - again in the Ultimate line; Nightcrawler stars off as part of the Weapon X program and his opening scene is very similar to how he's portrayed during his awesome train scene. Let's not forget he was also a cage fighter in Apocalypse and an unwilling assassin in X2 so this scene isn't really out of character for him in the slightest.
Overall, to me as a long time fan of the comics, 90s animated series, movies and all other tie in cartoons (Wolverine and the X-Men, X-Men Evolution) this felt like a true depiction of the X-Men as a team, using what characters the film has available. We even get the best movie showing for Cyclops so far - he's confident, a strong leader, trusts his team mates and is not above disagree with Xavier's decisions. I know this film has been getting a lot of hate in the reviews, but to be perfectly honest I loved it. I absolutely bloody loved it. I'll be buying this on blu-ray on day of release later this year!
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