X-Men Review: Part 2

This is Part 2 of the X-Men review! Now, there are a lot of X-Men movies. I decided to handle the last five in order of release, but came around to a point where I had seen most of the films fairly recently minus a few. I didn't want to talk about The Wolverine (6/10) or Days of Future Past (8/10). So, by scoring them here and then getting onto films I either hadn't touched recently or just never watched, I could focus on what I'm about: reviews on movies of all varieties. So, I chose to focus on the newer generation of mutants in Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix, and Deadpool while keeping one of the old guard (Logan). Plus, Deadpool and Wolverine is out and I have a review for that! Here's my Part 2 review of the X-Men franchise! I might also choose to review the rest I missed in a review should someone ask about it.

X-Men: Apocalypse: 3/10

Pros: A decent Quicksilver set piece and not being boring as sin (unlike Dark Phoenix)

While you can call this movie many things, it's certainly not boring. It has big action scenes, some decent effects, some good acting, and a couple good lines. However, the big highlight is the Quicksilver scene. While Days of Future Past does this bit far better, this one doesn't slouch and is set to Sweet Dreams (which itself makes the scene worth watching). These things barely make it a 3/10 purely because it does have something worth watching.

Cons: Completely inate at everything else.

Acting, writing, most of the VFX (especially green screening), and costumes are all completely inate. The director is doing a horrible job attempting to get his cast anywhere near invested in the awful script and thus this film suffers as a result. Additionally, some of the actors are barely trying to begin with and it hurts any emotional draw this film tries to have. This film lacks any charisma with its primary characters in an ENSEMBLE FILM. If you can't have one character who brings you in, then your film has failed to be a quality ensemble film. They're so creatively bankrupt on characters, they bring back Wolverine to kill some people for one scene. But, the worst sin about rushing this out so quickly after Days of Future Past and bringing back Bryan Singer is the lack of proper costumes. These costumes are by far some of the worst mostly because they make the characters all wear the exact same uniforms. The whole point of the X-Men comics is that they all wear different outfits and look different. It's just miserable how this film attempts to be the next big X-Men film and falls horrifically flat. The only redeeming quality is that it's nowhere near as bad as the next one.

Verdict: Saved by a few cool things and it's own stupid action. Otherwise, it sucks.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix: 2/10

Pros: Some cool shots and some decent acting.

The movie does have some positives. No movie is a 1/10 without being useless. At the very least, there are some interesting shots courtesy of the director Simon Kimberg having some knowledge of how to shoot the camera and decent acting from some of the bigger talent in the movie such as James McAvoy or Nicholas Hoult. That being said...

Cons: Painfully dull, uninteresting, full of bad writing, and just not fun.

The worst thing an X-Men movie can be is unfun. While Apocalypse is at least a little stupid and fun in that regard, Dark Phoenix is wholly unwatchable simply because of its poor writing choices and boring jumbled plot. The plot, by the way, suffers from extreme rewrites and painfully obvious cut scenes. There's no second act, just a mild bridge between the first and third act. This jumbled mess makes the writing choices more painful and the ADR (which is not great) bizarre and awkward. The villains also lose any motivation as a result of the reshoots. The action in it is okay, but none of it is engaging because the characters are just painfully under-written as seen from the villains. Those villains along with some of the heroes (especially Jennifer Lawrence) underact their performances as well, causing any interest in them to be lost and the writing to stick out even more. This just... is the worst of the X-Men films besides Origins: Wolverine and it's painful to see this film series fall so far.

Verdict: Mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Logan: 10/10

Pros: God, what cons even are there?

Yeah, we made it to the good ones. This is by far the best X-Men movie and one of the best movies in this whole subgenre. The mix of superhero and western themes make this movie stand out fiercely. The acting is terrific, with Patrick Stewart and Dafne Keen being standouts among a stacked cast filled with stellar actors. As a conclusion to Hugh Jackman's run as an X-Men, this movie is fantastic. Showing us a world-weary Logan suffering from adamantium poisoning as his healing factor begins to give out and the only friend he has left hurts those around him, this movie really does nail the raw emotion of getting older and eventually saying goodbye to those around you. However, the hopeful beats are there to show us Laura's willingness to carry on his legacy. What prevents this movie from being a Zack Snyder-style edgelord film is these moments of humor and hope that show us everything will be okay after Logan dies. Laura is his legacy and the movie is him accepting death and letting the new mutants carry on the legacy of the X-Men. Logan's death scene is one of the rawest and most emotional scenes in recent comic book history and deserves to be up there with the greats like Married Life from Up. Overall, this movie delivers on every single emotion it attempts and showcases some of the best direction from James Mangold and the best acting of Hugh Jackman's career.

Cons: Okay, there's like ONE THING.

I think the villain is not the best. But, for this movie, they work okay. The biggest con against this movie is the edgy tone. The amount of cursing borders on parody, but does help convey the anger or age of certain characters quite well. But, I really don't need to see Xavier cursing. That being said, if the biggest sin is that it's a bit edgy, then nothing else is an issue.

Verdict: The best live-action comic book movie.

Deadpool: 6/10

Pros: Jokes, funny characters, solid action!

There's not really much to say about these movies that most people don't. The jokes mostly hit, there's some great characters and awesome action. That's about the most I can say about Deadpool as a whole is that it nails what you're here for.

Cons: No real plot or emotional drive.

On the other hand, none of the previous points make up for the plot or lack of emotional drive. The movie kinda doesn't really have highly intense stakes which results in a lack of anticipation or engagement. I like it still and laugh at the jokes, but it's mostly like an episode of Family Guy more than anything. That being said, a good episode of Family Guy!

Verdict: A funny premise and funny characters with great action, but not much in plot or emotion.

Deadpool 2: 7/10

Pros: Better action, better story, and better emotional drive!

Where the last movie struggled with story and driving force, this movie has an actual plot and emotional drive. The motivating factor for Deadpool is finding purpose after he lost his wife and maybe getting back to her one day. This, for the guy who can't die, is a hilarious purpose and really does engage you a lot more. On top of that, the action's really good here, like really good. David Leitch, the director, did several action movies like John Wick and was a stuntman and his history shows itself here. Definitely improvements in these fields!

Cons: Worse jokes.

The jokes fall flat. That's about the biggest problem with this action comedy is the jokes falling flat. It drops the movie seriously down a few points because you're not really engaging as heavily as the jokes just don't work. Overall, this is a 9/10 brought down quite low by bad jokes and painful timing.

Verdict: Less funny premise with less funny characters, but more of a plot and emotional core, with better action!

LITTLE THINGS:

X-Men Apocalypse/Dark Phoenix

• Long-time producer Simon Kimberg directed Dark Phoenix, since they couldn't attach a director to this. I can appreciate the producer stepping up to take charge.

• The costumes at the end of Apocalypse are REALLY good. Too bad they never get seen again.
  

Logan

• I highly recommend watching the Black and White cut of this movie if you haven't. This movie's terrific cinematography stands out even more in black and white.

• Dafne Keen improvised some lines, specifically the ones where she yelled at Logan in Spanish. Pretty funny!

• Sabertooth (played by Liev Schrieber) came back in a draft, but was cut. Sad.

Deadpool 1/2

• Ryan Reynolds sacrificed a chunk of his paycheck in Deadpool to help the writers have time to finish the script.

• Deadpool 2 was directed by David Leitch instead of Tim Miller (who did the first one). I appreciate each director having their unique flair and additions.