Dark Phoenix will arrive in theaters on June 7 to formally close Fox’s X-Men franchise. Our own Mike Ryan, in his review, called the movie “lousy” and an underwhelming installment that’s filled with speeches and seems to kind of give up. The film went through reshoots and allegedly changed its ending due to reportedly awkward similarities with another recent superhero flick (Captain Marvel?). Now that the review embargo has ended, reviews are pouring out, and they aren’t impressive.
The plot, of course, follows the effects Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey becoming possessed by the Phoenix cosmic force, which makes her incredibly powerful but entirely unstable. The other X-Men band together to stop and/or save her, and Jessica Chastain surfaced in trailers as a mysterious character who never even seemed to have a name (although IMDb is calling her Vuk). Some critics claimed that they didn’t catch her name in the movie either, and this sounds like, overall, an unintentionally messy film that was already tracking to be one of the lowest X-Men openings in the franchise’s history.
While Mike Ryan’s review goes into great detail about Dark Phoenix, he also tweeted that the film “rose from the ashes to smite the X-Men franchise with one last lousy conclusion.” He added that “most of the actors looked like they’d rather be anywhere else.”
DARK PHOENIX rose from the ashes to smite the X-Men franchise with one last lousy conclusion. (Honestly most of the actors looked like they’d rather be anywhere else.) https://t.co/sBkDs6AAfN
— Mike Ryan (@mikeryan) June 5, 2019
Ryan was largely joined by critics who agreed (as of this writing, the film holds a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) that this film didn’t fulfill its promise. The resulting tweets don’t pull many punches and say the reshoots were obvious.
This is all I need to say about #DarkPhoenix. pic.twitter.com/seW3spIOzi
— Dan Casey (@DanCasey) June 5, 2019
A number of the X-Men movies are some of my favorite superhero movies… #DarkPhoenix is not among them. It feels like the franchise is being put out of its misery rather than a powerful finish. Uneven, dull and at times looks cheap… incredibly disappointing. pic.twitter.com/4htTgP9AcO
— Simon Thompson (@ShowbizSimon) June 5, 2019
My review of #DarkPhoenix is that X-Men: Apocalypse was at least funny
— Vinnie Mancuso (@VinnieMancuso1) June 5, 2019
Actually wait sorry there’s a part in #DarkPhoenix where Michael Fassbender is just SCREAMING at a helicopter and it is, in fact, very funny. Maybe worth it for that imho
— Vinnie Mancuso (@VinnieMancuso1) June 5, 2019
I’m not even sure if Jessica Chastain’s character has a name in the theatrical cut of #DarkPhoenix and I’ve seen the movie.
— BD (@BrandonDavisBD) June 5, 2019
#DarkPhoenix is a fairly underwhelming conclusion to the #XMen saga. It has some highlights, mostly Michael Fassbender’s Magneto, cool action sequences, and an amazing score why Hans Zimmer but it lacks a hearty emotional core and definitely suffered from reshoots. pic.twitter.com/UtCH2K2mp5
— BD (@BrandonDavisBD) June 5, 2019
#DarkPhoenix somehow makes all the same mistakes as #TheLastStand and then some.
Worse, there’s no tension or humor, so you just feel frustrated for 2 hours.
Such a shame how Fox’s X-Men movie franchise has so many strong entires but went out on one of its weakest. pic.twitter.com/x77pBJ0DuH
— Joshua Yehl (@JoshuaYehl) June 5, 2019
Review tomorrow morning, but #XMen #DarkPhoenix is slightly better than you feared while still being almost entirely unremarkable in almost every way. This franchise deserved a better finale. Warts and all, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (which I don't hate) is a better movie. pic.twitter.com/3iCnqTJxQl
— Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) June 5, 2019
Dark Phoenix isn’t the worst X-Men movie which is saying a lot. It’s got some good ideas and cool set pieces but there’s a lot of eye-rolling to be had and it’s ultimately forgettable. It’s been a good ride, but time for a reset. pic.twitter.com/dhbpm7gMWD
— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) June 5, 2019
A few critics, however, did enjoy the movie, pointing toward the Hans Zimmer score and some nice character moments as strong points.
Very, very high level take on #DarkPhoenix is that it’s not as good as you’d like, but better than you’ve been led to believe. Solid work from the regulars, and it takes enough risks to make it absolutely worth a look if this is a franchise you’ve enjoyed since 2000.
— Zaki Hasan (@zakiscorner) June 5, 2019
Despite the press about production problems, #DarkPhoenix earns its rightful place in the #XMen series. With a somewhat episodic story, it contains several rather beautiful character moments – thanks to a committed cast – and engaging action. Zimmer's score is the secret weapon. pic.twitter.com/kuqDynRnis
— Thor Diakow (@thordiakow) June 5, 2019
Dark Phoenix lands in theaters on June 7.