X Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)

Directed by: Simon Kinberg | 114 minutes | action, adventure | Actors: Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Evan Peters, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jessica Chastain, Scott Shepherd, Ato Essandoh, Brian d’Arcy James, Halston Sage, Lamar Johnson, Summer Fontana, Hannah Emily Anderson

Seen in secrecy, the ‘X-Men’ films all use the same theme: even those who are different have a right to exist. The X-Men, the superheroes on duty, derive their powers from an aberrant gene mutation. As a result, the rest of mankind are looked down on by the rest of humanity, despite the fact that they have already saved the world from destruction several times. This is partly because not all mutants are so good-natured. Why conform to the majority, when they can be outflanked with special superpowers?

In the end, righteousness always triumphs over evil in the movies. As humans, in all different shapes and guises, we have to get it together. It is a formula that starts to become jaded after six films and a few spin-offs, despite the fact that the content is always slightly different. With ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’, the series adapts the same source material as ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’, widely regarded as the weakest entry in the series. This raises the question of whether the series is still of added value.

That while the basic premise of ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ is not so bad, now that the danger threatens to come from its own corner. When a space shuttle runs into trouble shortly after taking off due to an alleged solar flare, the X-Men rush out to rescue. However, the danger is greater than expected. When Jean Gray (Sophie Turner) gets trapped during the rescue, the solar flare sails right through her.

Back on Earth, her telekinetic powers appear to have multiplied. In fact, she has grown so strong that leader Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) no longer has control over her. Her mind is in danger of becoming corrupted under the weight of her newfound abilities. Between fear and fury she undergoes the transformation into a new person. A struggle that, hypothetically, should give the film much-needed depth and dynamism.

The latter is not entirely clear, due to the rather confused frame. The solar flare ultimately turns out not to be a solar flare at all, but a cosmic life force looking for a host to live in. A nation of aliens wants to have the power for themselves and in the process conquer the world. Although all this is clearly portrayed, the logic is hard to find.

What is most striking, however, is that Jean Grey, presented as a heroine, is the object of her renewed powers for the majority of the film. At the beginning of the film she asks, via a voice-over, whether humanity is chained to fate or whether it can grow into something more. That transition, especially in a mental sense, only starts in the final scenes in ‘Dark Phoenix’. As if the makers were powerless to look deeper into the female mind. Embracing femininity, because that’s what this is about, is therefore a little organic process. That’s a stark contrast to other recent superhero movies starring women, such as “Wonder Woman” and “Captain Marvel.” The envisaged feminism is therefore only partly off the ground. Compared to its predecessor, ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ is an improvement, but the series can’t make it.