Movie Review: The Kitchen (R – 112 minutes)

The Kitchen is based on the Vertigo comic by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle. The movie is sure to bring some comparisons to last year’s Widows, because the subject matter is similar.

Kathy, Ruby, and Claire all have husbands in the Irish mob in Hell’s Kitchen in 1978.  Kathy’s husband Jimmy is the most decent of the three, but that’s not saying much. Ruby’s husband Kevin is awful, constantly cheating on her and letting his mother bad mouth her.  Claire’s husband Rob beats her.  The three husbands head out one night to rob a place and get busted by the FBI.  They get sent away for three years and despite the new head of the gang promising to take care of them financially, they are given next to nothing. 

The ladies come up with the idea to step in where the gang has been lacking. They take up the ‘collections’ from the neighborhood.  They take money and offer protection, which the gang had not been doing. This gets them fans in the community, but anger from the gang.  Eventually, they partner up with the local Italian mobsters and set about eliminating their competition and rivals.

The movie is directed by Andrea Berloff who had mainly been a writer up to this point. This is her directorial debut, and she does a decent job but the movie is very choppy and the tone is uneven.  There are quite a few storylines that interconnect in complicated ways and everything feels a bit rushed.  Honestly, this may have been better served as a Netflix series where the story could have been slowed down and fleshed out a little bit more.  The cast is good, but not everyone seems to be on the same page about what type of movie this is. Some are playing it as a gritty crime drama and some are playing up the silliness as if it's an over-the-top crime noir graphic novel (which is where everyone should have been, in my opinion).  

• Melissa McCarthy gives a grim determination to Kathy Brennan. She didn’t want to become a mobster, but she is going to protect her kids and her turf no matter what. She’s quite good in this and seems to have the best grip on what it was trying to be.

• Tiffany Haddish does an interesting job as Ruby shifting from comedy to this intense drama. She’s a little over the top complete with raised eyebrow and lip-sneer, but that actually works well for the character.  She’s determined to use what she has to get what she wants, no matter the cost.

• Elisabeth Moss plays Claire as a woman tired of everyone taking advantage of her. Once she decides she’s had enough, she has truly had enough and fully steps into being a gangster and murderer.

• Domhnall Gleeson shows up suddenly halfway through this movie almost out of nowhere as a Vietnam veteran returning from time ‘out west’ in hiding.  He comes back once he hears that Claire’s husband has been sent away, and he’s looking to put his skills as a psycho to use for her.

• James Badge Dale (who was in everything like three years ago, but I haven’t seen since then) plays Kevin. He’s a guy more invested in his mother than his wife and doesn’t really care who knows.  Brian D’Arcy James as Jimmy spends most of his time complaining that his wife left nothing for him to do and it’s not fair!  Jeremy Bobb plays Rob who has zero redeeming qualities.

• Margo Martindale plays Kevin’s mother who is there to badmouth the ladies while getting in good with the Irish mob. She seems to be playing this like it’s all an over-the-top gangster cartoon, which may have been the right take if everyone had been on that same page.
• Common and E.J. Bonilla appear briefly as the FBI agents that takes down the husbands.

Overall, the movie is interesting, but poorly executed. It’s a shame, because it could have been really well done. It wants the women to feel strong and empowered.  While it gets close to that, it never really achieves it because the characters are not especially likeable.  It's hard to root for them when they keep making questionable decisions.  And now that I’ve mentioned it, I really do believe it would have been better suited as a series on Netflix or Amazon.  What an age we are living in with so many options for entertainment, and for storytellers to find the best medium to tell their story – this one was a misfire.  Hang on for the inevitable reboot in several years.

5 out of 10 – uneven, but had potential. Fine for watching on a plane!

Movie Review: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (PG13 – 137 minutes)

The Fast & Furious franchise began in 2001 with a story about an undercover cop getting in with some street racers to determine who was stealing DVD players.  Seriously.  By the last movie, the F8te of the Furious, the squad was international espionage agents helping to bring down global cyber terrorists all while protecting their family and their Coronas.  Seriously.  The point of these movies is not the plot, it’s the action sequences, over-the-top nonsense, and yes, family. 

This spin off features two characters who showed up in the last couple of F&F movies.  Hobbs is a cop of some sort who was after Torreto & Co. but then switched to being on their side.  Shaw was the brother of one of their villains who killed one of their friends, but also switched to their side.  The chemistry between the Rock and Jason Statham in the last movie was so entertaining, it was inevitable that they would get a spin-off. This despite the fact that Vin Diesel seemed to be against the idea. 

This movie picks up as Hattie Shaw, an MI6 agent, is on mission to pick up a deadly virus.  Cybernetically enhanced members of the shady international villainous organization Spectre… I mean Etreon, are also after the virus.  Hattie’s only choice (her only choice?) is to inject herself with the virus and go on the run.  The lead Etreon baddie, Brixton, immediately pins the whole incident on her.  This leads the CIA (in the form of some Deadpool 2 actors) to recruit Hobbs & Shaw to go after Hattie, get the virus, and stop Shaw, because apparently only they can do it.  Hijinks, car chases, incredible actions scenes, and a trip to Samoa ensue.

I was very excited when I found out this movie was going to be directed by David Leitch. I was definitely one of the people who, after the last movie, was all on board for a Hobbs & Shaw spin off. I was not disappointed.  That does not mean this is a good movie – but it is carefully crafted nonsense that stays well within its wheelhouse and delivers exactly what it promises.  Leitch is a former stuntman who directed John Wick and Deadpool 2 – thus the aforementioned cast members.  The cast seems to be having as much fun as humanly possible shooting a movie.

• Dwayne Johnson – look, I’m still calling him the Rock – plays Hobbs, who is basically the Rock.  He saunters through this movie snapping at Statham and being large and grumbly.  He’s there to throw around bad guys and reconcile with his family. Because its in the F&F franchise, so there will be family.

• Shaw is my favorite Jason Statham character in some time, mainly because it’s similar to some of his early Guy Ritchie style comedy-action bits.  He spends most of the movie insulting the Rock and beating up bad guys.  At no point in this one does he use his Olympic-level diving ability.  You’ll have to rewatch the Meg for that.

• Idris Elba seems to be the one having the most fun as self described ‘black superman’ Brixton.  He’s got all kinds of enhancements and tears through this movie being a stereotypical a bad guy as you can be.  His charm and charisma carry him through. If they won’t let him be Bond, then by all means, let him continue to be great bad guys.

• Vanessa Kirby plays Hattie, and I loved her fight sequences. She got a few of them early on and they were all pretty fantastic. Of course, once she injects herself with the virus and hooks up with Hobbs & Shaw, she gets a bit damsel-in-distress-y, which is too bad, because she was an agent equal to both the guys.

• Helen Mirren is back as the Shaw matriarch, looking forward to the All-Shaws all-star special spin off where she leads Kirby and Statham on some epic heist-style adventures.

• Eliza Gonzalez plays Madame M, and I honestly cannot for the life of me explain her character.  She seems to be a mercenary that Shaw knows who runs an all-female lingerie-based team of government-overthrowers? Maybe? In any case, Hobbs & Shaw head to her for weaponry once in Russia.
• Eddie Marsan plays Professor Andreiko who created the virus that is inside Hattie.
• Apparently, the Rock tried to get Jason Momoa to play his brother who lives back home in Samoa.  Momoa was not available, so they did the next best thing and got Cliff Curtis.  Curtis, while Maori, can and will play any and every ethnicity out there.  I love him, but (and I hate to say this) Momoa would have been a better fit for the high-level of nonsense in this piece. Curtis’s max nonsense level is mid-range, Momoa goes all the way up.

• Lori Pelenise Tuisano plays the Hobbs clan mom, and she’s incredible. She’s eliminated all their guns and threatens people with her flip flop.
• John Tui, Joshua Mauga, and Joe Anoa’I (Roman Reigns) play assorted Hobbs brothers and cousins. 

Again, I loved it – it’s not great, but I did love it.  There was one thing I was disappointed by, and that’s the cuts in the fight sequences. As a stuntman, Leitch should have known to shoot the fight sequences in masters, from a distance, and have no cuts.  They would have been so much more impactful that way. For example, think about that hallway sequence in the Daredevil tv show, the opening to Blade 2, or the fights in Mortal Kombat.  The folks in this movie are capable of fantastic fight choreography, back up the camera, stop cutting, and let me see it.  The initial Hobbs & Shaw character introductions in this movie are side by side split screen action sequences. In my opinion, both of those should have been single shot action bits.  Also – the giant Samoan battle sequence begins with a Siva Tau war dance, would have been amazing with no cuts from that dance through the first explosions!  Now, I know that’s realistic, but it would have been amazing, and a set piece that stuck with the audiences.

8 out of 10 – it’s fun, it’s loud, it’s nonsense action. Enjoy the popcorn and turn off your brain. Be sure to bring the family. 

Bonus:

Blade 2 beginning – there’s still cuts in this sequence, but look at how the camera is placed so that you can see all the movement…

Another example – Statham in the Transporter.

Movie Review: Stuber (R – 93 minutes)

The ‘buddy cop’ sub-genre of 80s and 90s action movies found a way to incorporate comedy into a action flick.  There are countless examples of this like Tango and Cash, and 48 Hours.  I was always partial to Showdown in Little Tokyo. 

In either case, you take two folks who are nearly complete opposites and throw them together to solve a crime.  The standard format is that these two opposites each establish their skill, make some progress, suffer a loss while fighting with each other and swearing they’ll never work together again, but then come together for the final battle and forge a friendship of sorts. It’s tested and true and it works. It works especially well if you have two actors who enjoy each other’s company and can play off one another in swift comedic beats. 

Stuber feels like a throwback to those movies.  Police officer Vic Manning is chasing down drug dealer Tedjo when his partner gets killed in the line of duty and he gets injured.  He swears he will get Tedjo.  He then has lasik surgery and gets a lead while recovering.  Because his eyes are injured, he gets an Uber to take him to his investigation, leading for an unlikely partnership with his Uber driver, Stu, as they follow leads, fight, work together, go to Vic’s daughter’s art opening, and tell off Stu’s boss at his day job.

Director Michael Dowse has mainly done TV but also directed the movie Goon and Take Me Home Tonight.  This story is formulaic, and nothing you haven’t seen before – it’s sort of a comedic Collateral.  What elevates this one is the cast and how well they do with the roles they are given.

• Dave Bautista plays Vic Manning and is perfection as the almost over the hill, broken, and exceptionally bitter cop who is out for revenge for the death of his partner.  Dave is adding to his skillset, and this action comedy is the perfect showcase for him.

• Kumail Nanjiani plays Stu, a guy who is a bit of a doormat while working in a sporting goods store and driving Uber to help his platonic female friend (that he’s in love with) open her spin-gym.  Kumail is one of the funniest dude’s working, and he gives Stu such a sad sack existence that it is pure joy when he finally steps up to the plate.

• Natalie Morales plays Vic’s daughter Nicole and her dry sarcasm is perfect here as someone who wants her father to be there, but knows he probably won’t show up…because work.

• Mira Sorvino was a huge surprise for me here playing McHenry, Vic’s boss. She’s great in this in what could have been a throwaway role, but she gives it some layers.
• Iko Uwais continues to slowly take over everything by playing Okay Tedjo. He’s got great screen presence even when saying nothing, and of course his fight scenes are epic.

• Betty Gilpin plays Stu’s ‘friend’ Becca who is really taking advantage of him even without realizing it.
• Karen Gillan shows up very briefly as Vic’s partner who does not make it through the beginning in order to set up his vengeance for the rest of the movie.
• Jimmy Tatro plays Stu’s boss, and he’s basically every typically terrible dude you know rolled into one.

Overall, the movie is short, fun, and action packed.  The stars seem to genuinely get along and play really well off one another. It’s more violent and swear-y than necessary, but again, that feels like a throwback to the 80s buddy action movies I loved.  I really hope we get a sequel.

8 out of 10 – very enjoyable, also – let’s be real that a big-time summer action comedy opening with two Asian leads is huge.  I can’t wait until we get to the point where it’s no big deal because it happens all the time. 

Movie Review: Spider-Man: Far From Home (PG13 – 129 minutes)

This movie functions as the first MCU follow-up to the very much ‘end’ feeling of Avengers Endgame. And how does it do? Well, if you think about all the existing MCU movies as if they were one MCU movie, then this movie feels a little like the humorous post-credits sequence.

 

It picks up a few months after the events of Endgame.  Folks are all attempting to recover from the snap and the resulting ‘blip’ where certain folks were gone for five years and then suddenly blipped back.  At Peter Parker’s high school, he and most of his classmates that we met in the first movie blipped out and are now back, picking up school where they left.  Other classmates that were five years behind them are now in their grade. This includes Brad – a guy who is now all charming and handsome but was a tiny child when they left.

Peter is feeling overwhelmed because he’s trying to live up to the legacy left behind by Tony Stark. Everyone seems to keep pushing him to be the “next Iron Man” when he’s just trying to be the best friendly neighborhood spider-man he can.  He is heading out on a class trip through Europe and is bound and determined not to bring his spidey-suit, hoping to just have a vacation.  However, as soon as they get to Venice, a giant water monster attacks, Nick Fury shows up to hijack the vacation and give him a mission, and Spidey meets Mysterio.  Quentin Beck claims to be a man from another universe chasing these ‘elemental’ monsters and hoping to save our world from the destruction his suffered.  Now, if you are familiar with Mysterio at all from any of the animated series or from the comics, that description confused you, but have patience.

Director Jon Watts, who also did Spider-Man Homecoming, keeps the same tone here.  He explains Peter’s general feeling of not-being-good-enough through interactions with others and exposition.  The comedy is fast and funny. The action is wonderful, and while giant and mostly CG, works really well in the context of the movie. The interaction between the cast is fantastic, and they definitely feel like classmates.

• Tom Holland continues to be the best Spider-Man we have had to date. He’s earnest in how much he wants to help, but also just be a kid on a trip with the girl he likes. He’s just so perfect in the role and I cannot wait to see where he goes from here

• Zendaya plays M.J., who still does not refer to Peter as ‘tiger’ at any point – maybe the next one?   Her take on the character is interesting, sarcastic, and overall very entertaining.

• Jacob Batalon plays Ned, Peter’s guy-in-the-chair.  He’s there to be the best friend, comic relief, and emotional counsel and does all of it with charm and grace.

• Angourie Rice place Betty Brant who does the reporting for the school TV channel?  She also begins and ends a whirlwind romance with Ned while on vacation.
• Tony Revolori plays Flash Thompson with the perfect level of adoration of Spider-Man and simultaneous hate of Peter Parker. He’s fantastic at this role and I love him in it.

• Remy Hill plays Brad who is suddenly in class with all these folks. He provides some great comedy.
• Martin Starr plays Mr. Harrington and J.B. Smoove plays Mr. Dell, the two adult chaperones on the trip with the kids. They are basically there to provide even more comedy relief, as neither of them seems to be all that great at chaperoning.  I feel like there are piles and piles of outtakes of the two of them riffing and I want to see them!

• Marisa Tomei plays May (she’s dropped the aunt for this younger Peter).  What I enjoyed most is that this version is working at a homeless shelter, feeling like a tie-in from the PS4 Spider-Man game. She’s mainly concerned about protecting Peter, but also with making sure Spider-Man is ready to help anywhere at any time.

• Jon Favreau plays Happy Hogan who may or may not be starting a relationship with May. He’s still struggling with how to deal with the loss of his best friend and keeping tabs on the kid Stark chose to mentor.

• Cobie Smulders plays agent Maria Hill who is on assignment with Fury throughout Europe.
• Samuel L. Jackson plays Nick Fury who seems to be a bit more sassy then he has been in the past. Of course, he’s missing five years, and he’s not at all happy about that.
• Jake Gyllenhaal plays Quentin Beck or Mysterio.  He’s perfect for this role as Stark-surrogate when Peter first meets him.  

Overall, the movie is super fun with great action. It’s smaller than Endgame, but it is supposed to be. If you liked Spider-Man Homecoming, you will definitely enjoy this one.  

9 out of 10 – so fun, so wonderful, also – love that returning cameo at the end.

I cannot wait to see what happens in the next one. I used to want a D'onofrio Kingpin appearance, but his Kingpin is pretty R rated for this very PG13 Spider-Man.  But, we could still get a Sinister Six!

Movie Review: Shaft 2019 (111 minutes – R)

The original Shaft came out in 1971 and was the definitive “Blaxploitation” movie of the seventies.  It was based on Ernest Tidyman’s novel and covered the story of private detective John Shaft who was hired by a Harlem mobster to rescue his daughter from Italian mobsters.  Richard Roundtree got the role over Isaac Hayes who ended up winning an Oscar for the theme song.  The movie was so successful that it helped save MGM from bankruptcy in 1971. 

The original was followed by three Roundtree sequels, Shaft in 1973, Shaft’s Big Score! In 1972, and Shaft in Africa in 1973.  The movie was rebooted/sequelized in 2000 starring Samuel L. Jackson as John Shaft II as he hunted down a criminal and gave up his police career for a private investigator job like his ‘uncle’ John Shaft.  Despite Sam Jackson being only 6 years younger than Richard Roundtree, he felt very natural in the role as a character who knows the streets and gets done what needs to be done regardless of the rules. 

This version picks up in the early 80s as Shaft and his lady, Maya, are arguing in the car when a local drug lord, Gordito, targets Shaft for assassination. Shaft gets the better of the hitmen, but Maya is terrified that this type of life will keep following them and with their new baby boy in the back seat, she will not take any chances. She takes their son, John Shaft III, and raises him elsewhere on her own. We get a series of time jumps as we see young JJ growing up and receiving random gifts from his father.  Eventually, JJ moves back to New York to begin work with the FBI as a cybersecurity expert.  His childhood friend Karim dies of a heroin overdose despite being clean.  In an attempt to track down the truth of what happens, he reluctantly asks his father for help.

At this point the movie shifts into JJ pointing out how Shaft’s technique, personality, and behavior are all inappropriate and out of date, while Shaft points out to JJ that he’s ‘soft’.  Eventually, the plot ties back to Gordito, and both Shafts have to go to Shaft Sr. in order for further assistance and all three Shafts team up to take out the bad guy.

This version is directed by Tim Story, and maintains the offhanded irreverence that the original and spin off mustered.  The back and forth between Shaft and Junior gets a little one note, but the chemistry and charm of the stars helps make it more watchable than it should be.  Shaft’s entire sensibility is no longer politically correct, but there is something to seeing Sam Jackson play it that makes it entertaining.

• Samuel L. Jackson plays John Shaft II and when we first encounter him, he’s covered in stripper glitter, allowing you to infer what he’s been doing.  He embodies the character just fine, strutting around town and demanding answers in his various leather coats and turtlenecks.  The character is a relic, but somehow Sam makes him charming and entertaining.

• Jessie T. Usher plays John Shaft III or JJ.  He’s doing his best as a millennial in today’s atmosphere and while most of Shaft’s sensibilities offend him, he tries his best to encourage him to adapt to modern attitudes. Usher is game and does the best he can with what he’s given.

• Richard Roundtree plays John Shaft, and he steals the part of the movie he’s in. In this one he reclaims being John Shaft II’s father as opposed to uncle like he said in the previous movie. This despite the fact that he’s 76 and Sam Jackson is 70.  At one point in the movie they mention that Shaft II is 60, and sure, we’ll buy that.  Roundtree is so cool, so slick, and just the best part of this.

• Regina Hall (who is 48 by the way) plays Maya and look – you know the female characters in a Shaft movie are not going to be well developed.  Essentially her only trait is that she was worried about her son and left Shaft, and now is still worried about him while still being sort of attracted to Shaft.

• Alexandra Shipp plays Sasha Arias, a childhood friend of JJ’s.  She is smart and fun and has no patience for Shaft’s nonsense when he shows up.  She holds the grudge about him not being in JJ’s life better than JJ does.  She does get reduced to being starry-eyed chick when JJ defeats a couple of thugs.

• Method Man reprises his role from the 2000 version as Freddy P, a friend of Shaft’s who is there to provide assistance, information, and commentary on JJ’s ‘game’ at a club.

• Luna Lauren Velez who I remember from New York Undercover plays Bennie, a local grocery store owner who may or may not be in on the plot.

• Titus Welliver plays Special Agent Vietti – JJ’s boss who is there to represent the ‘man’ always keeping JJ down by suggesting that a rookie should not take lead on a big investigation.

Overall, it’s a little choppy and one-note here and there, but the action scenes are pretty fun, and the banter between JJ and Shaft is entertaining enough thanks to the two actors playing the roles. Again, once Roundtree joins the fun, the movie is taken up a level.  I saw this in an almost full theater, and everyone in there was having a great time, laughing and cheering most of the movie.  It’s not great, but it sure is entertaining. Put on your trenchcoat and turtleneck and have a good time.

7 out of 10

I absolutely watch a weekly series on HBO called Shaft Investigations with all three of theses dudes solving cases.  

And in case you forgot the theme song, and how it's easily one of the very best and funkiest songs ever.

Movie Review: Men In Black International (PG13 – 114 minutes)

Men in Black was released in 1997, was based on the original comics (loosely), and was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. It was clever, quick-witted, and was part of the three-year swing that turned the Fresh Prince into Will Smith the movie star.  There were two sequels, and in my opinion the second one was not great, and the third one was okay. This one is also okay.  I really do love the original. The effects are stunning and feature a lot of Rick Baker’s practical alien effects.  They give the movie a sense of realism along with its great action and comedy that was not as present in the sequels.

Men in Black International begins with Agent H and Agent T (High T) fighting ‘the Hive’ in Paris a few years ago.  It doesn’t quite go as planned, and from the description given of the Hive and the sequence, I thought the ‘twist’ was very obvious from this opening sequence.  The movie then jumps back further to show a young Molly observe Men in Black neuralize her parents to make them forget that they saw a fuzzy blue alien going through their trash.  Molly helps the baby get away after introducing herself to it - this comes back in a lovely way.  Since she never gets neuralized, that memory haunts her and she spends her life searching for the MIB and tracking aliens here on earth. 

One day she follows a lead right to a MIB arrest and walks right into the New York office. After talking her way into a job, Agent O assigns her to the London office, because ‘something is off’.  Molly becomes agent M, partners with Agent H, and sets off to help him guard a friend of his who may or may not have information about the hive.  Meanwhile, an alien of some sort shows up, duplicates a dude, and heads after a weapon masquerading as Les Twins.

The movie is directed by F. Gary Gray who continues to advance his career by taking on new and different challenges.  All the pieces here are great, and there are aspects of the movie that are great, but someone it is not quite a complete package. Unfortunately, it will keep getting compared to the original.  It’s not as good as that one, but it’s certainly on par with the sequels.  The action is fine, the comedy okay, and the cast is pretty great.

• Chris Hemsworth continues to prove that he clearly prefers comedy-action to drama-action and shines as the slightly bumbling but heroic Agent H.  He’s a little overwhelmed by his own reputation and just as he is beginning to fall apart, M shows up to help him pull together. 

• Tessa Thompson’s M is driven and determined and functions perfectly as the ‘straight man’ to Hemsworth’s bigger comedy.  It’s a similar pattern to their success in Thor Ragnarok, so it continues to work here. They have great chemistry and seem to really enjoy their hijinks together.

• Kumail Nanjiani plays Pawny, and when I say plays him, what I mean is that he provides the voice for a tiny animated warrior.  He’s hilarious and entertaining and provides some wonderful light moments.

• Rebecca Ferguson plays Riza an alien arms dealer who lives on a tropical island with bodyguards and amazing weapons.  She apparently also used to date H.  I really enjoyed her, especially when she and M get into a fight and you realize she has three arms. 

• Rafe Spall plays Agent C who spends most of the movie throwing red herrings around fairly obviously.  He’s certainly game, and I definitely enjoyed the banter between he and Hemsworth. 
• Emma Thompson plays Agent O who is running the New York office and takes enough of a shine to M to send her to London to follow a hunch.  She has the best dry comic timing and seems to really enjoy her role as the one connecting MIB3 to this International version.

• Liam Neeson plays Agent T.  It’s tough, because at this point I’d be fine not seeing him anymore. He does well with what he’s given in this movie, not shying away from the zaniness or the action.

• Les Twins pretty much play themselves. One is Laurent and the other is Larry, but I couldn’t tell you which is which.  If you are not familiar with them, they are incredible hip hop dancers who toured with Beyonce for a bit. This is their first movie, and certainly will not be their last.

Overall, the movie is fine, certainly more entertaining than not.  I definitely was missing a Will Smith cameo.  Like I said, it has some great sequences, and some interesting potential, but doesn’t fit together as smoothly as it should have. I wouldn’t mind another one, just because the core cast seems to really enjoy one another – but there better be some Will Smith in that one.

6 out of 10.

Bonus - more Les Twins action.

Movie Review: X-Men Dark Phoenix (PG13 – 113 minutes)

The majority of my X-Men knowledge comes from the animated series that debuted in 1992 and covered various storylines from the comics.  One of those storylines was the Phoenix saga, that then shifted into the Dark Phoenix saga.  Essentially Jean Grey, already one of the most powerful telekinetic and telepathic mutants on the planet, interacted with an exceptionally powerful intergalactic force.  At first, she was able to control it.  However, she lost control and shifted into one of the greatest foes the X-Men have faced. 

This was somewhat covered in the audience-dividing X-Men 3: The Last Stand movie directed by Brett Ratner released in 2006.  Famke Janssen did a great job vamping her way through the movie as a Jean finally feeling herself after being held back for the previous two movies.  The rest of the movie is strange.  In any case, once the X-Men were semi-rebooted with X-Men: First Class in 2011 we got younger versions of the characters and the opportunity to revisit the most popular storylines. 

At the end of X-Men: Apocalypse (which was truly terrible), we got a glimpse of the possibility of the Phoenix as Jean began getting stronger.  Here, in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, we join the team as they are entering the 90s and finally enjoying some quality co-existing with humans. Professor X is getting chummy with the president and the X-Men are beloved heroes as they go on missions to help everyone.  A space shuttle gets into trouble with what seems to be a solar flare and the X-Men head out.  The team is being led by Mystique and Beast.  Mystique’s involvement in the team is still a giant what?!?! As that makes no sense based on the comics/animated series. Mystique was always a villain.  Just because you cast Jennifer Lawrence doesn’t mean you get to change the entire character.  In any case, Jean, Scott (Cyclops), Nightcrawler, Quicksilver, and Storm join Beast and Mystique to save the astronauts. They are successful, but not before Jean gets blasted by and/or absorbs the flare. 

Once back down on the ground, Jean starts to lose it.  Scott tries to reign her in, but the controls Professor X built into her brain to keep her insane power in check start to break down, and she realizes her father is still alive, but just wanted nothing to do with her.  Meanwhile a group of beings, who are absolutely not LIlandra and the Shi’ar, come down to get the power.  Well, things go from bad to worse as Jean realizes how she’s been manipulated by those she trusted, and just how powerful she is. 

The movie is directed by Simon Kinberg who did The Martian, Logan, and the terrible Fantastic Four reboot.  It’s far better than the previous outing, although that is not saying much.  There is actually not that much action, but what is there is well done.  This story is grim, which it is supposed to be, and its well-acted by those involved.  There are far too many extreme close-ups.  I can tell someone is emoting from four feet away, I do not need to be six inches from their nose.

• Sophie Turner steps into the lead of this movie.  Jean was just on the fringes of Days of Future Past and then got a larger bit in Apocalypse.  Here, Turner gives Jean the weight of her pain, but also does a good job reveling in the Phoenix power when it debuts. Her performance is understated, but I enjoyed it. 

• James McAvoy plays Charles Xavier yet again, and in this one, he’s become just a bit too comfortable with his celebrity status and reaping the rewards of building co-existence for mutants and humans.  McAvoy makes Prof. X a little arrogant and unwilling to accept the blame for his actions.  It’s a perfect fit, and an interesting take.

• Michael Fassbender is back as Magneto, and he’s busy building his mutant island nation of Genosha when Jean turns to him for help.  Unfortunately, she’s killed somebody he liked a whole bunch, so he’s going to want to kill her.

• Nicholas Hoult plays Beast, who seems to be able to turn his beast-ness on and off at will at this point?  he’s trying to remain the level-headed one in the group, but Mystique is trying to talk him into leaving the X-Men.

• Tye Sheridan plays Scott Summers, and honestly, I felt like this movie needed more of him. The key to keeping Phoenix under wraps is Scott – it’s always Scott. The relationship between Jean and Scott should be central, and here is swept aside a bit.

• The non-central X-Men in this story do not have much to do here.  Alexandra Shipp plays Storm, Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Nightcrawler, and Evan Peters’s returns as Quicksilver. 

• Jessica Chastain joins as a big bad who is definitely not Lilandra, and honestly, I am not entirely clear who or what she is. Apparently their race has been chasing the Phoenix force in order to rebuild their world.  Ato Essandoh plays her number 2, Jones.

• Jennifer Lawrence came back to play Mystique after complaining quite a bit about playing Mystique the last couple of times. It works a bit here because Mystique is a bit bitter. She’s still thinking mutants are better than humans and is not that interested in saving them or working with them. 

Overall, I think it was a huge benefit for me to go into this movie with very low expectations after reading some scathing reviews because I didn’t mind it nearly as much as I expected to. I enjoyed most of it, and I thought Turner did a good job.  The X-Men are always a little tough because they are not the light, fun characters that some other Marvel properties are. Things are always difficult for them because they are the allegory of the ‘other’ and how they struggle to fit into a society that hates them.  Most of their storylines are heavy and upsetting and translating them to the screen can be rough. This one is just fine.  It’s not great, but it’s certainly not terrible, and is definitely better than Apocalypse.

6 out of 10 - Entertaining enough!