“Dark Phoenix” Movie Review

    The final Twentieth Century Fox owned and controlled “X-Men” movie was released a few weeks ago to little fanfare and a terrible marketing campaign.  “Dark Phoenix” unwisely dropped X-Men from the title which I am sure led to some audience members being unaware that this was meant to be a continuous of the X-Men saga.  As many of you know, Disney bought Twentieth Century Fox and has gained the rights to the X-Men and the Fantastic Four.  The next X-Men movie besides from the already filmed “New Mutants” will likely be a complete reboot set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    The film starts out showing how Professor X and Jean Grey met.  The film then jumps to show the X-Men on a rescue mission to save the astronauts of a destroyed space shuttle.  While on the mission, Jean Grey absorbs what turns out to be the Phoenix force.  As Jean Grey starts to lose control, the mental barriers Charles Xavier put in her head start collapsing and Jean realizes her father is still alive so she takes off to find him.  Professor Xavier and the rest of the X-Men try to bring her back to the school but they end up fighting and Mystique is killed in the battle.  Seeking sanctuary, Jean Grey seeks out Magneto Buy is turned away by him before he found out what she had done.  Hank McCoy/Beast decides to leave the X-Men over the grief of losing Mystique and ends up seeking out Magneto as well.  Beast informs Magneto that Jean had killed Mystique, the woman both men had loved, and the two decide to set off to kill Jean Grey as a result.  The X-Men are forced to square off with them before an alien threat forces all parties to work together for the sake of the entire planet.

    So, there is a lot of story going on with this film, both in front of and behind the cameras.  Currently “Dark Phoenix” is the worst reviewed X-Men film to date and probably will remain so for a long while (unless “New Mutants” ends up taking that honor).  The critical bashing the film took certainly didn’t help the film at the box office, as the film opened to disappointing financial results.  I had to check out the movie for myself however, not only as a film reviewer, but as someone who has seen every other film X-Men related (including the made for TV movie “Generation X”).  Without further suspense, I will say I found the film to be okay.  It wasn’t a masterpiece nor as bad as some of the reviews made it out to be either.  The worst thing I could say about the movie is that I expected a little more from it.

    The film focuses on the popular Phoenix saga from the X-Men comics.  This story arc was already used in the clustered “X-Men: The Last Stand” so this was essentially a reboot of that sequel.  Unfortunately, this film proved to be just as clustered but instead of focusing on action, this film was clustered with melodrama.  Personally, I prefer a messy action film over a messy melodrama.  I won’t say “X-Men: The Last Stand” was a better film, but it was no worse either, and to spend time rehashing this particular storyline, you want the film to top the film it’s rebooting.

    One very distracting aspect of all the X-Men films is their lack of solid continuity throughout the franchise.  These films span decades but the filmmakers use the same actors without any age prosthetics.  You would think I multimillion dollar film could invest a little money into age makeup or cgi touchups on the actors.  Another solution might have been to set all the films in the 60s-70s but that didn’t seem like a sensible solution to the studio.

    The film primarily starred “Game of Thrones” breakout Sophie Turner as Jean Grey/Phoenix.  Turner does a fine job as Grey but can only do so much with the material she was given.  Jennifer Lawrence was quickly killed off on the film and sort of phones in her performance.  You could tell she was done with the franchise and just wanted out.  James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender continue to prove to be the backbone of the films and deliver stellar performances as the head figures of two drastically different ideologies.

    Say what you want about filmmaker Bryan Singer (and he may very well deserve it) but the X-Men movies have always been their best with his direction.  His ability to relate to the source material and use his struggles with his homosexuality as an allegory for the mutant struggles.  Singer has also proven to be the only filmmaker to successfully showcase the character of Quicksilver (Joss Whedon included).

    It should be noted that the ending had to be changed due to it’s similarity to the ending of “Captain Marvel” which was released a few months before “Dark Phoenix”.  It is believed the original ending featured the Skrulls (which makes sense since the aliens depicted in the film were shapeshifters) and a battle fought in space.  It’s ironic that the filmmakers changed the ending for it’s similarity to the ending of “Captain Marvel” yet decided to leave the opening of the film untouched considering it was almost identical to the opening sequence of “Shazam!” (which is based on a different Captain Marvel ironically).

    While we talk about the film’s final act, why on Earth did someone think turning the final battle into a literal train wreck was a good idea?  I can just imagine the meeting to change the ending going like this...

Fox Executive:

I can’t believe this!  Disney is making a Marvel movie with almost the same ending that is hitting theaters before us!  This is a nightmare!

Script Writer:

This is terrible!  What are we supposed to do?

Fox Executive:

I was hoping you might have some ideas.  The last thing we want is for this to turn into another train wreck like “X-Men: The Last Stand”.

Script Writer:

Did you say something about a train wreck?

Fox Executive:

F*** yeah I did!

Script Writer:

Interesting...  Also, I like that you threw in a random F bomb.  Being a PG-13 movie, I feel it is my moral obligation to throw in one random F bomb (randomly turns to a page and places his finger somewhere) HERE!

Fox Executive:

Are you drunk?

Script Writer:

Nooooo....now hold my beer!

    So in a nutshell, I found the movie to be okay with some enjoyable action set pieces but nothing about the movie will wow you either.  Still, there are far worse movies that have hit theaters this year alone.

Grade: B-

“Shazam!” Movie Review

    When this project was first announced, I was very excited about “Shazam!” because I knew how amazing it could be.  The comic book featuring the character is original and heartwarming.  Plus the prospect of DC expanding their film brand outside of proven commodities like Superman and Batman was a refreshing sign of faith in their own properties.

    The film follows a young foster child named Billy Batson who keeps running away from his foster homes in an attempt to find his biological mother.  After defending his current foster brother from bullies at school, Billy is teleported to a magical realm where a wizard named Shazam transfers his power to him.  The primary job of the wizard is to keep the seven deadly sins imprisoned.  Billy is challenged from the get go by Thaddeus Sivana.  As it turns out, Sivana was actually rejected by the wizard Shazam to be his champion which led Sivana on a quest to release the seven deadly sins.  Can Billy Batson stop him now that he is the new Shazam?  No spoilers from me.

    Now I can finally discuss my thoughts on the movie and I loved it!  It was everything I hoped it would be and more.  The film was both hilarious and surprisingly heartfelt at times.  “Shazam!” isn’t your typical superhero movie and works largely because of that.  At it’s core, “Shazam!” delivers pure wish fulfillment, which is why comic books were made in the first place.  What kid doesn’t dream of becoming a superhero?

    “Shazam!” has an interesting comic book history.  Before Marvel released their “Captain Marvel”, there was Fawcett Comics’ own Captain Marvel, the character later renamed “Shazam!”.  In the original comics, Shazam was the name of the wizard who provided Billy Batson with his powers by saying his name (like in the film).  This may be hard to believe now, but at one time, the comics featuring Shazam outsold the likes of Superman.

    This isn’t the first film adaptation of “Shazam!” made to the surprise of some.  In 1941, “Adventures of Captain Marvel” serial hit the silver screen and delighted audiences.  A few decades later, the tv show “Shazam” ran from 1974-1976 and was about as corny as corny could get.  Speaking of films, this modern “Shazam!” also references many other films in fun ways.  The best reference to me was the “Big” reference, seeing as “Shazam!” is basically “Big” crossed with “Superman: The Movie”.  I also enjoyed the several nods to “Rocky” since the film was also set in Philadelphia.

    A large part of the success of “Shazam!” comes from the cast.  Zachary Levi does an amazing job as Shazam and channels his inner kid amazingly.  Asher Angel is also a great find as Billy Batson.  Angel and Levi do such a good job channeling each other that it seems perfectly feasible that Billy Batson and Shazam are one in the same.  I thought Jack Dylan Grazer did a phenomenal job as Freddy Freeman, Billy Batson’s foster brother.  Mark Strong did a good job capturing the tragedy behind Sivana and his evil doing.  Director David F. Sandberg delivers a special superhero movie that really separates itself from the pack.

    The movie is a treat for all ages.  It features many amazing special effects and imaginative visual gags that will delight the entire family.  It is also full of surprises, from cameos to nods of things to come.  Much like “Iron Man 3” and “Batman Returns”, this film also makes for a fun new non-traditional Christmas film.  Be sure to stay after the credits for a treat, but don’t get your hopes up that Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam will appear.

    “Shazam!” marks yet another success for the DCEU as it tries to course correct after “Justice League”.  At this rate, the DCEU might just become the juggernaut of a franchise the MCU has become.  So, if you are looking for a great movie, just say the word.

Grade: A-