hello everyone welcome to your non-spoiler Dark Phoenix review I am
Perri Nemiroff, sitting here with the one and only Coy Jandreau as I knock over
everything over here... I'm so happy to be doing this review with you right now
before we even jump into it I need to give a little bit of a disclaimer
because if you are following along with social media you might be aware of this
but during our press screening of the movie the fire alarm did go off in the
third act of the movie we are still doing the full review of the movie
because we stayed to the very end you saw the whole entire thing but just know
that that does affect your viewing experience so that was something that we
couldn't work around sadly but we are still here to give you our thoughts on
Dark Phoenix just in case you don't know what this movie is about of course it's
stars sophie Turner as Jean Grey and during a mission at the very beginning
of the movie she comes into contact with what they think is a solar flare and
that changes the nature of her powers and makes her one of the most powerful
mutants out there and she can't control her new abilities so there's the brief
synopsis coy how did Dark Phoenix do in your book it was better than I expected
it to be but I don't know if that's because the sheer outcry of negativity
around it so I'm actually very appreciative for the outcry of
negativity around it because I was able to go into it going like man and then I
got a lot out of it I'd forgotten the sheer amount of joy I feel seeing this
cast on screen the first few minutes of the film I was overwhelmed with
excitement because I was like do I have time for this to do I want oh right like
I'd forgotten an x-men movie was out and at the end of the day you do get that
feeling and I've been a longtime sailor of they make really good mutant movies
but they have yet to make an x-men movie and this has those same problems it was
a mutant movie but this is the film x-men I've grown up with this franchise
been around for 19 years I can't not get excited about a piece of a 19-year
legacy and that all was there and that all felt there and I was very excited
throughout the film I enjoyed my two hours I think everyone should absolutely
see it I think it is better than Apocalypse I only say that because I
didn't want the franchise to end in Apocalypse I was really afraid we'd lose
everything with that as the last film it is certainly better than Apocalypse it
falls in the lower half of the eleven but certainly not the bottom it's better
than x-men or delivery but it is definitely a movie with its flaws and
it's a movie that has issues that it shouldn't but it is so
watchable it's so something you should see in theaters it is so fun and it's so
x-men theatrically I wouldn't say it's so fun but I like the word that you use
watchable because when I think about entertainment value with this one
I was just entertained enough and I think the feeling that came back to me
that I appreciated more so than anything is just the inherent nature and drive to
just get back into the thick of things with this group of characters it's just
a firm reminder of how much they've kind of wedged their way into your heart over
the years and I think once you fall back into step with that group of characters
the movie is going to be at a certain level if not above yeah this one did
Teeter just positive for me I had enough like it's hard to say fun I think
because also I do think that the pace lulls in the middle to the point that
you know I started to feel the heavy eyelids and I wanted to see things pick
up a little bit but I was entertained and invested enough the one thing I
can't quite put a finger on though is this story is supposed to be a very
emotional story and even at the very beginning of the movie in the first act
there are some very emotional beats that if you are invested in these characters
you should have an emotional reaction and there was something about it that
felt very flat and I can't quite figure out how to articulate why that's the
feeling because when I isolate it to performances I thought the performances
were great sophie turner it's not just Game of Thrones she is a star she can
command the screen and I think she did great great things with this particular
role which came across to me as a very challenging one for me it was the we
just met these characters this iteration of these characters so I think the
reason that felt Hollow is the Dark Phoenix saga is decades in the making
and then it takes a long time to tell the story they rushed into the story
because they had to and they also don't acknowledge the amount of depth that
goes into it we just met these people like a one movie ago and we've also
lived through another Jean Grey we were also I just think they did the best they
could with the tools they had and the team actually nailed what their version
of the Phoenix saga was that team made their Phoenix saga if I'd never known
about the Phoenix saga if I'd never seen x-men 3 if I'd someone never had a comic
book but that's a lot of if I hadn't that I can't separate but what I did
appreciate was the fact that you can go into the
movie not having seen another x-men movie and you might not get as much out
of it but I definitely felt like they told a full story
it wasn't my Phoenix by any means but it was a story and they gave characters
that I've loved other iterations of new fun like Nightcrawler next to is one of
the most incredible opening sequences of all and Nightcrawler and this is just a
powerhouse like there are some fight scenes with Nightcrawler that are
amazing and looks great he Nightcrawler he's always looked great they don't
think about Kodi smit-mcphee has like that natural charisma no matter what's
happening around him your eyes just immediately drawn to him and it I'm not
just saying it because this is anything to do with the way he looks there's
something about his on-screen charisma that always catches my eye
and I need to give some love and there's a bias here because the comic-book
shopping but Alok ship every minute that she is on screen I was in an x-men movie
I think and this is not a jab at any other cast members I felt like the x-men
movie that I saw in the frames with storm was an x-men and I've wanted an
ice storm origin movie forever I want Alex ship to play storm for the next 20
years but for me every time storm was on screen the way they did her power set
the way they had her presence her command the way they had her interact
with other characters was also authentically Aurora Monroe that I
needed that character to exist more so I was I fell in love with storm in this
movie I needed more of her I think this is the first time they've really kind of
chipped away at that where it's getting me more invested in her storm finally
but it still didn't really do that character just know we normally needed
more but you know going back to what you were saying before about not spending
enough time with the new class I mean not even the first class were well
beyond that this new group of characters I kept thinking about the relationship
between ty Sheridan and sophie Turner and I think it had nothing to do with
poor performances or lack of chemistry but I can't compare that connection with
the connection that I knew that fomka Janssen and James Marsden had in the
other movies it didn't feel the same I didn't care enough about it and there
were certain elements in this movie where I sat there thinking to myself why
don't I care enough that this is happening to a character because even
with characters that were let's say a part of the first class there's
something about Dark Phoenix in the way that it's constructed and I'm not
talking about all the behind the scenes stuff because we
that this is this is the end a lot has happened there's something about this
movie that feels separate and I think it started to happen in particular post
probably post Days of Future past where everything is felt too disconnected from
the foundation that we had established before and I just think apocalypse is a
not-so-great movie overall but here I think it had a lot of potential but I
felt I felt the flaws and that specific thing that I just mentioned here even
more so than I did there I completely agree this is a very
superior film to Apocalypse but there are more feelings of like you're just
wrapping it up and like something was off but I do want to give credit to
first-time director Simon Kinberg because I wasn't expecting the directing
to be as good as it was here there are some fight scenes that are a little
rough and there are some moments that feel a little like figuring this out but
overall the way he directed was super comic book II there were there were
insert closed panel frames that felt like Gimli there were broad scope shots
that fell like John Cassaday there were moments that felt like there a rip right
off a friend quietly Grant Morrison like these are all common if you're if you're
not a comic book fan these are iconic artists and writers that shape these
worlds and there were even Gimli moments of action and the way they translated
that you could tell he read the comics the way he framed things felt like
comic-book friends and especially no spoilers there is a close-up between two
characters that is so powerful and so impactful because it looked like a comic
book frame and then later on he uses some of those same frames again with
another character you loved and I kept going like this guy reads comics man so
I really appreciated Simon Kinberg framing it like a comic book even when
it for better and worse yeah I mean with that and even just the regular everyday
moviemaking skills I think he shows in this movie that he is fully capable of
directing a future film very curious to know where you stand on Jessica Chastain
because obviously you have much more knowledge of the comics in the source
material than I do and coming in as an outsider that character did not work for
me whatsoever it's one thing to state someone's motivation and say this is my
intention with my plan and it's another to make a viewer actually feel it and I
felt nothing I use spoiler free will say that that entire character set wasn't
necessary to they could have done the movie of the
characters during that and I feel like they were trying for a thing that didn't
come across and I like Jessica Chastain so the fact that it's not a her a fault
of hers and they added a substantial amount of her she was in the movie even
less the last kind so like it just it just didn't land and it was it didn't
feel necessary especially because I kept being like but over there over there and
they're like it just felt supplemental yeah so I I didn't fall in love with her
like I wanted to if I like I needed to I also think it speaks to Sofie Turner's
ability as an actor as well because there was so much going on in her head
with her push and pull with her trying to assess what just happened to her her
past her present her future what she's feeling inside with her powers that I
think she almost could have commanded the screen from every single perspective
used the solo instead like I could have used those moments just as a single and
I also again not giving in their way whenever characters we'd already
established were on screen doing similar things I was more invested in them
because we know these characters like my Fassbender cannot be like there's
there's like five people that think he can't act the man is a powerhouse he is
incredible and there were moments where he said lines of dialogue that that
summarized entire like years and I was always a guy damn this guy like he's
just so good and there's just like the scene in in first class raising her
there's that in this movie and I'm just like this man yeah and therefore
opposite that when you're not as invested in Jessica Chastain you're like
can I go back to that and that's that is another issue is this this cast is too
big is what I think goes back to what you were saying about it feeling like an
x-men movie because this movie is essentially about you know Jean Grey as
an individual being turned being a torn apart but also the x-men family torn
apart and how they navigate that situation within themselves and that's
what I wish the entire movie was focused on just because that was the strongest
bits that I saw and there were moments that were straight out of the comics but
there are also so many moments that could have been strained in the comics
that worked like I thought of like 10 comic book references every act that
could've been like sprinkle sprinkle sprinkle that could have been added very
easily and that's not to say they should because that can get distracting but
there were moments I was like but they have these rights still and there were
moments that felt like they could have leaned more into the thing i I don't
know what angle they were trying to appeal to but that I think it's another
thing I felt hollow for me was it was quite calming enough but also wasn't not
comma key yeah but it is way more enjoyable than I expected because of the
amount that went into it that felt like it did have heart like the actors were
all there and the director was certainly that that was all in so I think overall
it's a very summer movie it's just the bar is so high in these type of films
now if this had come out in 2006 or earlier this would have been
groundbreaking holy crap I can't believe that exists but since it came out in
2019 it is a different like that the bars been moved that might have been a
very high bar to to set for it even in 2006 cuz I do think there's some stories
some serious storytelling flaws and craftsmanship issues here that probably
couldn't put it above a certain level even back then but it's better than last
and I think that was 2006 so that's my believe okay
I don't know what year that was but understand well the last stand
comparison now that we've hit an overall territory do you want to give your score
first I gave it a 6.8 I had originally given it a 7 but I felt
like it's at that about C- levels
around 6.8 to 7, it definitely had some flaws that I couldn't excuse
but overall it was much more entertaining than I expected and I did
have moments of going god I love the x-men and that's what I wanted out of
this movie I go with a 6 out of 10 again like I said before it has some
pacing issues in the middle that definitely affected me quite a bit I
think the most disappointing thing for me overall was just the lack of
emotional response I had I found that strange I couldn't quite put a finger on
why I was feeling that way I think the disconnect between this movie and prior
movies as part of the thing here and also the fact that it's so rushed
which is unfortunate cuz then I turned my attention back to sophie turner and
it's just it's unfortunate that she didn't get to do as much as they
possibly could with this particular role and it saddens me a little that this is
the end of the Fox x-men because there are certain performances in this group
of characters and I'm not just talking about the ones that have been around for
a while with concept contracts winding down I'm talking about other ones that
have so much more to explore sophie turner cody mix my Kodi smit-mcphee
Alexandra Shipp we need more time with them it saddens me that we're not
getting it but the fact that Dark Phoenix left me in a place that made me
long for them I think I'm okay with saying goodbye it
and I am kind of pleased that I at least have this to look back on as we move
forward with another studio I think leaving on a good note is great I think
not ending an apocalypse which was pretty universally not enjoyed and like
Days of Future past is incredible but now we have another good movie and I'm
seeing again tonight I'm looking forward to seeing it again and that it's not
action again and that's not something I feel about every movie I want to watch
it again without listening to a siren on fire and I can't wait to see the third
act in a complete exciting way because that was very distracting that's hard
that's not the movies fault so it's also hard to judge I mean it's yeah it is no
fault of the studio or the movie things happen we made it through we watched the
whole thing it's fine but it is something you should be aware of
whenever we formally review a movie so that's it guys that is where we landed
on Dark Phoenix you're gonna have a lot more Dark Phoenix material coming your
way on the clutter video Tube channel this week so keep an eye out when you
guys see the movie hit that comment section below share your thoughts on it
there as well and as always we ask you please be kind and like and share this
video until everybody you know about the Quadrophenia YouTube channel that would
be super helpful Coy thank you for being here as always
always a pleasure guys we will see you soon with more movie reviews