If the abysmal 22% on Rotten Tomatoes is any indication, Dark Phoenix should be a dumpster-fire of a film. And yes, as the first superhero movie POST Endgame, its many faults will seem to be magnified ten-fold, but here’s the thing: it’s an alright movie, and in some ways a nice send off to the series.
So, as a giant middle-adamantium-claw to all the haters, here is every part of the movie that I think isn’t getting enough credit.
In case it wasn’t implied, ALL THE SPOILERS AHEAD.
#1 The Score is Gorgeous- Hanz Zimmer instills mystery, dread, and hope in all the right places.
#2 The Car Crash- Pretty generic as far as tragic origins are concerned, but it was visually stunning and was clearly created using practical effects. Plus, the glass hitting Jean’s psychic cocoon was a clever shot.
#3 The Pen- Young Charles Xavier taking in a traumatized Jean is touching and endears you to both characters
#4 The Rescue Scene- it was nice seeing these superheroes doing some actual super-heroism, and there are so many clever ways they use their powers to lend a hand. My favorite is turning Cyclops into a gun turret.
#5 Genosha- Magneto goes from a vengeful mad man to a pacifist ruler of a commune for mutants. It works.
#6 Helicopter Tug of War- A tense, imaginative scene with a reformed Magneto fighting to save his aggressors.
#7 Drunk Beast- A character actually confronts Charles on his manipulative and condescending attitude!
#8 Walk to Me- One of the stronger moments in the whole film, for a second you think that Jean is going to demonstrate the Phoenix’s ability to heal others, but nope. She just plays with a cripple like a marionette. Ouch.
#9 The Train Sequence- Unlikely to dethrone Spiderman 2 for the best scene on rails, this is nonetheless a fitting final set piece. All the main players have plenty of opportunity to use their abilities in imaginative ways, and it ends in several visually memorable shots in which reality and metal all seem to twist around one another.
#10 The Chess Match- The final “battle” is anticlimactic, but seeing Charles and Erik engage in one last match put a nostalgic lump in my throat, ending their characters arcs in a very satisfying, unexpected place.
Warts and all, I don’t regret seeing Dark Phoenix. There’s more to enjoy than you were told. Thanks for listening.
