X-Men: Dark Phoenix
U/A; Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Cast: Sophie Turner, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Tye Sheridan, Jessica Chastain, Evan Peters, Nicholas Hoult, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Hannah Emily Anderson
Director: Simon Kinberg
Rating: 

This film is essentially the end of the current X-Men franchise. A new series is expected to be relaunched by Marvel Studios as part of the Marvel Cinematic universe- so in effect the last hurrah for the current bunch of much-adulated power wielders. Disney/Fox is projecting this film as a culmination of 20 years of X-men movies and the late embargo preventing reviewers from outing their critical thoughts on its quality signifies the Studio's desperate need to control the initial narrative so as not to affect its opening Box office numbers.

The story is no surprise for comic book fans and avid toon watchers. 25 years after X-Men: The Animated Series introduced us to Dark Phoenix( comprising eight episodes), the same story is getting a big-budget live action mark-up. So other than a few unfamiliar twists and big-ticket visuals there's no big secret to hide in here. There's no great buzz surrounding the film, other than that caused by the unusual embargo – so you don't have much expectations going in. Luckily, director Simon Kinberg's treatment is such that you feel inveigled by the almost mysterious dark tone and tenor of the narrative. In DARK PHOENIX, the X-MEN face their most formidable and powerful foe. Jean Grey (Sophie Turner in a major lead role following the success of Game of Thrones), during a rescue mission in outer space is nearly killed when she is hit by a mysterious cosmic flare-up. On her return to earth she finds herself spiralling out-of-control with powers she can neither comprehend nor contain. And the inevitable happens- she ends up hurting the ones she loves most unravelling the very fabric that held the X-Men together.