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X-Men: Dark Phoenix

2019

Simon Kinberg

Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence ...

5.0

14,383

Sci-Fi. Action “Dark Phoenix” centers on Jean Grey and the much-feared Phoenix force. The story originated in the 1976-77 comic book series “Uncanny X-Men” when Grey is exposed the deadly radiation after returning from a mission in space.

	Media	Author	Review
		Todd McCarthy The Hollywood Reporter	"[It] lacks the exclamation point fans have justifiably been hoping for at the end of a road that has embraced three prequels (...) The creative inspiration and public excitement that once fed the series has demonstrably dissipated."
		Owen Gleiberman Variety	"[It] takes blockbuster gender politics a step further, using Jean’s mistress-of-the-universe state to forge an allegory of the rise of women that’s sharply compelling"
		Michael O'Sullivan The Washington Post	"By the time the 'X-Men' finally get around to doing what they do best (...) it all feels borderline tedious, like a game of superhuman rock-paper scissors (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"
		David Ehrlich IndieWire	"A perfect storm of pointlessness (...) Safe, insubstantial, and skirting the surface of powerful ideas that even the kid-friendly animated series was unafraid to tackle."
		Johnny Oleksinski New York Post	"[It] is pretty far-fetched even for a franchise about rare genetic mutations that allow people to read minds and shoot lasers with their eyes. It’s not bad, just crazy (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"
		Justin Chang Los Angeles Times	"Not even Turner, with her radiant screen presence (...) can ultimately save 'Dark Phoenix' from its own failures of imagination."
		Leah Greenblatt Entertainment Weekly	"[It] rises from the ashes of 2016’s silly, bloated 'X-Men: Apocalypse' — not a free bird, exactly, but better than what came before."
		William Bibbiani The Wrap	"A disappointingly average superhero flick, with a familiar story, disinterested actors, some cool action sequences, and a whole lot of missed opportunities.
		Jim Vejvoda IGN	"It’s certainly better than the bloated and excessive 'X-Men: Apocalypse', but 'Dark Phoenix' is still a disappointing finale for this nearly 20-year-old series"
		Soren Andersen Seattle Times	"A joyless addition to the long-running 'X-Men' franchise (...) The makers have indicated 'Phoenix' is the culmination of the franchise’s long run. If true, it was definitely overdue (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"
		Robbie Collin Telegraph	"X-Hausting, X-Cruciating, and little reason to exist (…) Rating: ★ (out of 5)"
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"The point of a phoenix, dark or otherwise, is that it rises from the flames. But these are the flames in which this franchise has finally gone down (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"
		Tim Grierson Screendaily	"A frustratingly anticlimactic, familiar tale of misunderstood mutants (...) Despite the serious tone, 'Dark Phoenix' mostly recycles the same themes and central conflicts at the heart of this franchise"
		Matthew Norman London Evening Standard	"Little makes sense on either the narrative or emotional level (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"
		Donald Clarke Irish Times	"The plot feels like it was scribbled on a menu after a drunken lunch (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"
		Paul Whitington Irish Independent	"Slips into risible silliness early and often (...) There’s a stiffness in the screenplay, a gloomy inevitability to the plot, and Sophie Turner (...) may be slightly miscast as the young Jane Grey (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"
		Deirdre Molumby entertainment.ie	"Painfully conventional and terribly dull (...) [It] is so predictable that anyone with a vague knowledge of the superhero genre could write the thing themselves (…) Rating: ★½ (out of 5)"
		John Byrne RTÉ	"The film rattles along and looks great (...) The final third offers a couple of classic fight sequences. Job done, really (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 5)"
		Graham Scannain	"With an ill-defined villain, a mundane group of mutants, this is hardly a Dark Phoenix and more a dull duck (…) Rating: ★½ (out of 5)"

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