Figment Reviews

Monday, 26 August 2019

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) Review

Review:

*Originally written August 26th, 2019*

I thought I'd watch this at least twice before cementing my opinion on this. I've been a fan of Tarantino films growing up, mostly due to constantly watching Reservoir Dogs on DVD when I was a teenager. A new Tarantino film is always going to be a big deal and this was far and away my most anticipated film of year. I know Tarantino has had a bad rap lately, due to his constant self-indulgences in his recent films, narcissistic personality and frequent uses of a certain N word in his films.

As much as I love Tarantino and will constantly defend him in a year of cinema that has been rampant with soulless sequels and remakes for the majority of major releases, it is always so refreshing to see a film that is so obviously a director's singular vision. Sony agreed to fund this film and let Tarantino do what he wanted, for better or worse. It paid off though, as not only is Once Upon a Time in Hollywood easily one of the best films of the year, but it's also his best since Inglorious Basterds and possibly his most mature since Jackie Brown.

Hollywood contains some of the things that you should come to expect from Tarantino films by now, long scenes that really don't go anywhere, horrific violence, a twist of history and a grotesque amount of disgusting feet shots. Despite all that, this actually feels like it has a lot of substance under all the usual Tarantino flourish. If I had to criticise Tarantino for anything it's that a lot of his films lack any sort of emotional impact, they're pretty much all extremely entertaining, well written and compelling, but I rarely feel myself caring for the characters.

Thankfully that isn't the case here, as Tarantino has conjured up two of the characters he's ever written with fading western actor Rick Dalton and his trusted stuntman and friend Cliff Booth. Hollywood follows a few days in their lives and Sharon Tate leading up to the fateful night Tate was murdered by the Manson Family when she was nearly 9 months pregnant.

First of all, none of this went anywhere I expected it to go at all. In many ways this is quite plot-less, we spend time with Rick, Cliff and Sharon as they go about their day at pivotal moments in their life. Due to Tarantino's dense script, it feels like it has something to say as we see Rick try his hardest not to fade from the spotlight and suffer a few breakdowns as he realises he's not as young and famous as he used to be. One particular scene involving him and a young actress is some of Tarantino's most poignant moments he's ever had in film.

DiCaprio himself is the best he's ever been. Ranging Rick Dalton from sad, pathetic to reflective, but at the same time, easy to root for and sympathise with. His journey during the fading days of the Golden Years of Hollywood is one full of love and respect for the era, even with a few moments of altered history and a few cameos of late celebrities that are sure to divide, but for me I was more than okay with just allowing a lampooning of a late celebrity. Anyway, DiCaprio's arc ends on a surprisingly cathartic note and goes through moments of reflective sadness we rarely get from Tarantino, so it was wonderful to see.

Brad Pitt's Cliff Booth on the other hand is a whole different beast. A stuntman having trouble finding work after the rumours of him murdering his wife and getting away with it (A note that is kept purposelessly ambiguous through the film). Pitt himself is wonderful as he plays a much more quiet and less flashy role than DiCaprio that feels much more subtle and volatile. We spend a lot of time with him just either with his dog or driving around Hollywood before he gets a chance to steal the film once of the Manson Family come into play, which I'll get to.

Lastly, of the 3 arcs here Margot Robbie's Sharon Tate is certainly an interesting choice. Robbie is insanely likeable as Tate, I see what they were going for here, the last bit of innocence before the '60s ended and it mostly works. She's portrayed as just the nicest person ever with scenes of her just going to see her own films in a cinema and gouging the audiences reactions to her scenes with nothing but delight. It's genuinely sweet to watch and I love the subversion of her story building up to what happened in history, but obviously with Tarantino, it goes in a slightly different direction.

It was also lovely to see such detail and attention to the era of late '60s Hollywood. This is a beautifully shot and vibrant film making use of a wide variety of styles and camera work. Tarantino clearly loved this era of film and watching him portray this time in history only made me want to seek out more stuff from Golden Age of Hollywood. I particularly loved the scenes of Dalton's fake films and TV shows from the era, which perfectly matched the style of TV and films from the time. As you would also expect from a Tarantino film, there's a wide variety of incredible music, mostly '60s rock, which I adored, but he also reuses some scores from other films to clever effect, which I noticed the most during a very tense scene involving Booth and the Manson family.

I may as well get to to the Manson Family aspect now. A big part of the marketing was dedicated to the fact it would revolve around the night Sharon Tate was murdered, but much like with the end of Inglorious Basterds, Tarantino changes history. I won't spoil what he does, but it's just as crowd-pleasing, hilariously sadistic and demented as you could hope for. It will definitely divide audiences on whether it was in good taste or not, but for me, it was as close to pure cinema as you could get. It was a complete joy to watch.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood probably won't change your mind on Tarantino as he indulges in the usual aspects that make him Tarantino, but for me, it was easily his most mature work in a while that spends time with its characters and takes them on a satisfying odyssey of Hollywood in the 1960s while still being as entertaining and demented as Tarantino films usually are. I'll also note that this was the quickest nearly 3 hours for me has passed in a film this year, it completely flies by. I really hope Tarantino doesn't retire after his next film (Or possibly this) because love him or hate him, he's one of the only people still delivering successful original films that have a voice amongst all the soulless live-action Disney remakes and passable Marvel films.

10/10 Dans

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is out now in cinemas in the UK with a 4K UHD Steelbook available to pre-order from HMV
Watch the trailer below:

Tuesday, 6 August 2019

Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written August 5th, 2018*

2019 in cinema continues to underwhelm and disappoint. Hobbs and Shaw is both the ninth entry and first spin-off of this unlikely franchise that started as a piece of early 2000's cringe about street-racing and wanking off onto a car bonnet or something. No one would have expected this series to go as far as it has or get as big as its gotten, but then the fifth film came along and changed things. It was no longer about getting your dick hard over a bit of vibrating engine and metal, they became ludicrously dumb and entertaining action films that continued to push the boundaries of insanity with each one.

Which is why I guess I'm a little underwhelmed by this first spin-off starring Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson as the titular Deckard Shaw and Luke Hobbs. This is a fun film, as it should be, for the most part. It just never lives up to its potential, which feels like something I've been saying far too much for films in 2019. The same Fast and Furious gonzo and insane set-pieces are still here, but it lacks the surprising heart of the main series and the ensemble cast.

Johnson and Statham no doubt have great chemistry together, which is why some of the strongest scenes from Fate of the Furious was their stuff together, so it's easy to see why they would pair these two up for their own spin-off together. It's just a shame that a lot of the jokes and banter between them feels so juvenile and lame, I was surprised at just how many dick jokes were crammed into the first half. Honestly, I was astonished, I've not heard that many references to cock and balls since the last time I saw a Seth Rogen film.

The plot they're thrown into is very by the numbers and generic. The mismatched pair have to team up despite hating each other (Didn't they get over that in the 8th film?) in order to take down Idris Elba's genocidal cyborg soldier who wants to destroy most of the population with a virus that ends up in the hands of Shaw's MI6 agent sister (Vanessa Kirby). Yeah, it's a hell of a long way from the days of undercover cops and street-racing.

When I first heard Idris Elba was playing a cyborg enhanced super-soldier called Brixton, I couldn't think of anything better. Something as nonsensical and absurd as that to push this series further and further into insanity. Sadly, he's a little underwhelming. It's not all Elba's fault though, he does a fine job with what he's given, bringing a certain menace and charisma to the role, it's just the character that's very underwritten. He has some really cool moments and his arsenal of sci-fi gadgets and physics defying motorbike is awesome, but his motivations are the same as several villains as of late - "Wipe out loads of the world's population in order to save it", it's oddly dull.

The real breakout star here was Vanessa Kirby, which I did not expect at all. She really holds her own in action scenes and looks like she has a promising career ahead of her in the genre. She even has much stronger moments and lines than either Statham and Johnson. I hope to see much more of her in this series, whether it be the main series or the inevitable sequel to Hobbs and Shaw.

With David Leitch directing, I had no worries about the action on display here, he did a wonderful job with John Wick, Atomic Blonde and Deadpool 2, so it was awesome to see him work with such a huge budget. His work is easily the strongest stuff on display here and where Hobbs and Shaw really comes alive. It's a shame all the action is spoiled in the trailers, but Leitch really does have a handle on things here. From the gravity and physics defying vehicle stunts to the surprisingly crunchy hand-to-hand stuff, it all feels very fun and creative without living up to insanity of the main series, but it's still wonderfully more crazy and over the top than most films with a budget like this would allow.

It's just a shame the downtime between the chaotic scenes of action seem to drag on so much, it has its moments and a very fun cameo, but it honestly feels about 30 minutes too long with so much that could have been cut for a much leaner and easier to watch film. Some gags and jokes drag on for so long they start to feel like a Family Guy sketch, it just goes on and on. I feel like there's a much better film few cuts away from what we got here.

Hobbs and Shaw just feels a bit too by the numbers for a series as insane and crazy as Fast and Furious. There's fun to be had with the really fun set-pieces and seeing Statham and Johnson together, but it all just feels a little underwhelming and not as fun as it could have been. Passable entertainment, but another 2019 film that didn't live up to its potential.

6/10 Dans

Watch the trailer below:

Hobbs and Shaw is out now cinemas in UK and a 4K UHD Steelbook is available to pre-order from HMV

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Saturday, 20 July 2019

The Lion King (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written July 20th, 2019*

The original Lion King is no doubt my favourite film Disney has ever released. I remember when this was announced I was actually quite excited for it, as I quite liked the Jungle Book remake and a couple of the others. Then something changed, maybe it was me or just the fact I just started to quickly see the rapidly declining state of cinema as these live-action Disney remakes got churned out faster and faster. I mean, this is only the third of five planned films this year alone. I lost all my will towards these after the dull Aladdin.

It turns out my fears were founded. We've dug this property out of its graved, given it a $200 million coat of paint and failed to do anything unique or interesting with it. Yes, it's competently made as it goes through a story we've seen previously beat for beat, but it never amounts to anything close to exciting or capturing the magic from Disney's long gone glory days.

It's the law of diminishing returns in full effect. I'm okay with remakes as long as you do something interesting and change it around a little. Hell, I give Tim Burton's Dumbo even more credit now for at least straying away from the original film and taking the story in a different direction. This just regurgitates a story with seen before. It lacks any sort of surprise or tries to do anything to make it worth retelling the story. It's just so lazy and cynical.

The most annoying thing is the fact it's very competently made. The CGI effects here bringing the photo-realistic animals alive are genuinely incredible and are incredible to look at. Simba as a cub is insanely cute and easy to get attached to, while Scar still has his intimidating design that makes him a great villain, but lacks Jeremy Irons sinister voice performance.

While the animals do look insanely realistic, it also works as a disservice to the story. The 2D animation of the original film made these characters very emotive and easy to care about. This "realistic" depiction has a harder job as the characters here do not emote at all. It's very strange and makes it hard to feel anything when they go through the emotional beats. They always just look like animals who's mouths move, but their faces stay the same, it's so weird and off-putting, taking me completely out the film. It's strange, as they managed to pull this off a lot better (From what I remember) with their Jungle Book remake, but 3 years on, the realism of the animation is better, but completely takes you out the performance and fails to create an emotional bond with these characters, despite the Hamlet inspired story and script unfolding more or less shot for shot.

The star studded cast are very hit and miss. There are some very inspired performances that work, like John Oliver as Zazu and Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, who were both surprising highlights for me. Everyone else though, sadly failed to leave an impact on me. It was cool to have James Earl Jones back as Mufasa, but that must have been an easy paycheck for him, just replicating his performance from 25 years ago for an each paycheck. Barely any of this cast came close to capturing the charm of the original. Shame they didn't have cameos from any of the original cast, although Matthew Broderick is probably too busy killing women in car "Incidents" (The word "Accident" would imply no one is to blame) in Ireland.

This film is going to make over $1 billion and it's inevitable. It's fine. I have no faith left in cinema anymore and these live-action remakes aren't going to stop coming, plus I'm always going to see them out of curiosity. I just feel the same about The Lion King as I have about several others. It boasts groundbreaking special effects to bring this stuff to life, but it loses the heart and soul that made the original films so wonderful. I just left this feeling cold and wishing I just watched the gorgeous 4K remaster of the original instead.

I remember when I'm going through the Disney classic animated films for the first time (Which I'm still working through), I watch them and think I can't wait to watch them again, but with all three of the live-action remakes so far this year, the last thing I've wanted to do is see them again. I have faith Disney will hopefully do something interesting once they've burned through their library of films to remake. Hell, maybe even the inevitable sequels to the live-action remakes will at least do something different with the story and take them to uncharted territory. As for now, we're just continuing to rehash old stories to depressing effect and it's a shame, as I know Disney are much better than this when they want to be.

5/10 Dans

The Lion King is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

Saturday, 6 July 2019

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written July 6th, 2019*

Far From Home is probably exactly what this series needed after the massive and heavy epic that was Endgame. I wasn't sure what to expect from this, as after Marvel followed up their nearly as huge Infinity War with the massively average Ant-Man and the Wasp, I was expecting something along those lines, but this surprised me in several ways I didn't expect.

Following from the events after Endgame, humanity has pretty much recovered from everyone returning to life after Thanos' snap and things are pretty much back to normal. It does also answer some lingering questions about the implications of bringing all these people back to life when people had moved on in the mean-time. Parker returns to college and his school trip to Europe is interrupted (Obviously) by some elemental demons being hunted by Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio and Nick Fury looks to Spider-Man to live up to Tony Stark's name.

Far From Home manages to balance things a lot better than I'd imagine. Peter progresses a lot here as he struggles with both living up to the hero Tony Stark was and dealing with his new responsibilities while also wanting the normal life of a teenager by attending school and getting a girlfriend. The awkward John Hughes inspired teen stuff from the first film is thankfully intact, as the awkward chemistry between Peter and MJ make for some of the funniest and surprisingly sweet scenes in the film.

While there are huge CGI set-pieces, Far From Home is pretty much character focused first, which I always appreciate. We spend lots of time with Peter as he struggles with his responsibilities and it shows in Holland's ever growing performance as Spider-Man, who is just the right amount of awkward, smart-mouthed and easy to root for. At this point I'd say he's definitely surpassed Tobey Maguire in the role and easily Andrew Garfield's weird, almost special needs like Marty McFly impression he bought to the misguided Amazing Spider-Man films.

A lot of these MCU films also suffer from humour problems, but the tone works really well with these characters. It makes sense that teenage characters would take things a little less seriously and be cracking a joke every now and then, it also helps a lot of the writing seems to be a lot stronger than the usual stuff we get in these films and the hit rate is also a lot stronger. Not everything lands, but some of the funniest stuff of the whole series is in here, especially the two absolutely gold post-credit scenes. I wish the MCU would keep tone down the humour a bit and leave it to separate films like this, as hearing middle-aged men making the same quips you'd here from teenagers is one of the main reasons I find the jokes in these films so cringe, but in the context of a high-school setting, it works.

While none of the action is massively spectacular, it still has a lot of energy to it, while it sadly amounts to big CGI things hitting each other. The more interesting set-pieces are saved for Mysterio's mind tricks, which creates a sequence so zany and out-there, it was close to Doctor Strange in terms of mad imagery and it made perfect use of the character to create that scenario for Spider-Man.

Mysterio himself is a little bit of a mixed bag. Jake Gyllenhaal utterly commits to such a barmy and crazy character, bringing a lot of his usual charm and charisma to the role, he honestly steals every scene he's in, but I just wish they spent more time with his motivation, which honestly isn't the most convincing. It connects to previous MCU films in a fun way and the reveal might divide fans the same way Iron Man 3's twist did. While his motivation isn't the best, the film certainly got more interesting once his intentions are clear and leaves Gyllenhaal much more room to ham it up to incredible effect.

Far From Home is another excellent film from the MCU (Who are also 3 for 3 this year), it ups everything I loved about the first one, continues to develop Spider-Man in new and interesting ways, while delivering a screen-grabbing, but flawed villain. Looking forward to how the third film wraps up this trilogy, especially with THAT post-credit scene.

8/10 Dans

Spider-Man: Far From Home is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

Saturday, 22 June 2019

Toy Story 4 (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written June 22nd, 2019*

Everything about this sequel reeked of a bad idea. The idea of continuing this series after the perfect ending the third gave us was misguided and felt like nothing less than a cash-grab, then a series of underwhelming trailers prepared me for the worst. My expectations for this were at an all-time low, but that small part of me quickly gained a little bit of excitement for a new Toy Story a few days before I saw this, but like I said, my expectations were weary at best.

I was pretty astounding at how good this turned to be. They did it, those crazy sons of bitches did it. It might not reach the delirious heights of 2 and 3, but Toy Story 4 gives us an emotional, powerful ending to these characters I didn't know I needed. It's not perfect by any means, but it comes very close and feels far from the cynical cash-in I expected.

Like the previous films in this series, it has a huge focus on character over fast paced set-pieces, which is what elevates this franchise above all the over Disney/Pixar franchises for me. It's never afraid to slow things down and spend time with these characters and how they tick, what motivates them and what their purpose in life is.

It was pretty insane and surprising to me at how deep they go into the themes of existentialism. Don't get me wrong, this obviously isn't some art-house meditation on the human condition, but for a kids film, it's not afraid to go places most wouldn't even try to as these toys try to figure out what they purpose is in this world. Are they here just to bring joy to children in an endless cycle of being loved and eventually rejected or were they made sentient to follow their own path and create their own dreams.

Mainly the focus is on Woody, who's existence comes into question with the introduction of "Forky" a new toy made out of trash from their new owner Bonnie. Once Forky is made and declared a toy, he springs to life and struggles to adjust to the idea of even existing. It's kinda fascinating to me that a character made out of a plastic spork was so relatable to me. He spends the opening act believing he's trash and the only place he belongs is in a garbage bag before Woody explains to him the meaning of being a toy.

Except answering Forky's questions about their existence brings Woody's whole being into question as he struggles to move on from memories of Andy and realising his blind devotion to his new owner might not be the thing he wants the most. Along the way he's coincidentally reunited with Bo Peep after being given away between the events of the 2nd and 3rd films, dividing his motivations even more.

It all leads to a soul-crushing ending that left me far more floored than I couldn't prepared myself for. There's a few minor emotional beats throughout that I thought would be as hard as it goes, then it just pulls the rug out from under you in it's final moments. I'm really on the fence at whether this was a more powerful ending than the already beautiful finale of Toy Story 3, but in all honesty, that didn't resonate with me until rewatches. God knows how this one will effect me if it grows on me as much as that did. Hell, I'm even considering this might be my favourite film of the series in future. Time will tell. I also said this about 3, but based on this ending, I do not want another at all.

I can't believe I'm writing this sort of thing about a kids film. It's truly rare we get a film like this with such rich character arcs, motivation, depth and emotion, but Pixar just manage to pull it off again and again. On a technical level, they also manage to push the envelope. The near photo-realistic animation is a marvel to look, it's constantly gorgeous and always varies with its settings, colour palette and details. After rewatching the trilogy last week, it's insane how far the animation has come from the first, which has not aged well in terms of animation in some regards. I cannot wait to watch this in 4K when it releases.

My only real complaints here are that some of the main characters are given very little screen-time or reason to be there. While Buzz does share the most emotional scene of the film, the rest of his role is very reduced and he does very little as him and Jesse are sidelined in a side-plot focusing on them finding Woody, while characters like Rex, The Potato Heads, Slinky and more feel like nothing less than extended cameos for the most part.

While this is disappointing, it is definitely worth mentioning that the new characters are definitely worthy additions and earn their screen-time. From the new and improved Bo Peep, who is a lot better than you remember from the first two films, Keanu Reeves' scene-stealing French-Canadian motorbike stuntman "Duke Kaboom", Key and Peele's two conjoined stuffed bears and a series of really, really creepy old fashioned dolls. Everyone new leaves a very strong impression, almost making the lack of Buzz and Jesse worth it.

After a series of underwhelming franchise films so far this year, Toy Story 4 defies the odds and comes out as one of the best films I've seen so far this year. I'm not even sure if it's a coincidence that my two favourite films of the year so far have been had Keanu Reeves in it (No prizes for guessing what the other one is), but he's picking his projects pretty well these days.

Despite being completely unnecessary on paper, Toy Story 4 is a completely pleasant surprise. A funny, emotional and devastating ride that made it worth bringing back these iconic characters for one last ride. Nothing prepared me for how much I'd like this, but my love for this may continue to grow with each watch and I already can't wait to see it again.

9/10 Dans

Toy Story 4 is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

Monday, 17 June 2019

Men in Black: International (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written June 17th, 2019*

The Men in Black franchise has never been one of the best franchises in the world, but it sure as hell deserves better than this abysmal reboot/spin-off. This is just another generic, uninspired Hollywood film that forgets what made the original films watchable.

It lacks anything close to an identity, as it just steals parts of other franchise films in order to make something so forgettable, it's embarrassing. Every aspect of Men in Black: International just feels like it's from something else. It's got the ugly boring CGI of any other overblown summer film, the lame comedy from Marvel films aimed at 6 year-olds and even the incredibly overdone "Portal in the sky" finale that we've seen countless times for the past decade.

I will admit, I did have some mild faith in this. F. Gary Gray just directed the extremely entertaining Fate of the Furious and Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson worked together wonderfully in Thor: Ragnarok, so it seemed at the very least this would be an entertaining film with some creative action and two likeable leads.

It is not. Hemsworth lacks any kind of charm or charisma that he's known for, with a character so empty, uninspired and boring with quippy lines that do not land in the slightest. I can't believe his comedic chops were put to better use in the female led Ghostbusters reboot from a few years ago. Tessa Thompson on the other hand, fares a lot better, with a much more interesting character arc.

I was worried they were gonna rehash a lot from the original with her story-line by having her mirror the path Will Smith's Agent J went on, but instead she's someone who has spent her whole life looking to join the Men in Black after they failed to have her memory erased as a child. It least meant we didn't have to have this character go through all the same training we'd seen before, as she's instead shoved straight into action in the form of a mission to London and ends up partnering with Chris Hemsworth's Agent H.

From then on it just becomes a boring, generic and predictable story with twists that you'd have to be absolutely brain-dead to not see coming within the first half hour. I don't mind a predictable story, as long as there's something fun going on during it or it at least has interesting characters and creative action. International carries none of that. It all just feels like a painful chore.

Even Thompson and Hemsworth partnership lacks the chemistry we know they have based on Thor, so it was bizarre to see them work together in a way that lacked any sort of charm. They sorely lack anything close to Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones' heart and chemistry that carried the trilogy. Thinking about it know, I assume they were hired based on Ragnarok and then they just assumed it would work, but failed to write a script with any sort of wit or nuance that would suit them.

There's not even the incredible and practical creature designs from the first few films, it's just weightless and flat CGI that feels far too smooth and glossy. What made the originals so great is just how off-putting and weird these creature designs once were, it felt risky and weird to make something that would potentially put people off it. Here, it's just a lame attempt to make the appeal broader in order to obviously continue to branch out the series.

Not a single part of this film felt like it was made by people who actually cared about what they were making. It just feels like a checklist of what these big-budget summer films have as they check it off one by one without any sort of creative input or style. Men in Black 2 is not a great film by any means, but even that had far more going for it than this pathetic piece of garbage.

Men in Black: International is just Hollywood film-making at its worst, completely soulless, cynical and generic to the point I have no desire to see this series I grow up with continue. The last thing I'd expect to be from a Men in Black film is bored, but hey, 2019 continues to disappoint with their franchise films. I shouldn't have expected anything less.

3/10 Dans

Men in Black: International is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

Thursday, 6 June 2019

Dark Phoenix (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written June 6th, 2019*

The X-Men films have always existed in a strange place. They kick-started the whole superhero boom in 2000's before dropping in quality for a few years, coming back and making some of the best films of the genre, then taking a huge step back with the generic Apocalypse. For me I've always liked this series more the MCU, for the most part. Logan is by far better than anything Disney has produced, while the series also never hit the lows of their films like Thor 2 or Avengers 2.

As much as I like X-Men, I had absolutely no faith in this. I was expecting it to be a complete disaster, as did most people. After some appalling trailers and well publicised problems behind the scenes (Seemingly the entire third act was scrapped and refilmed). Then there's the problem with Disney's acquisition of Fox, meaning all these characters will be entering the MCU within the next couple of years, with Disney looking to recast everyone and scrap thing continuity, aside from Deadpool.

This meant that now this entry wasn't just another film in the series, it also had the responsibility of being the culmination of nearly 20 years of X-Men films , to give this broken timelined series a satisfying ending and make way for a reboot under the new Disney overlords. It was also rumoured that the reshoots were to give the series a more definitive ending. Which just turned out to be nonsense, as this ends with clear intentions of continuing these adventures, while the cast know it's not going to happen. It's deeply unsatisfying.

Dark Phoenix itself has a lot going on. I also have to bring up the fact X-Men is completely dropped from the title, what is that about? This tries to retell the story told by the much hated The Last Stand, but without Wolverine and lots of other elements that honestly made that a marginally better film. For all of Last Stand's faults, it at least delivered some genuine emotion in the form of Wolverine having to kill Jean Grey in its finale. There is just nothing here even close to that in terms of satisfaction or emotion.

This is probably due to its truly awful script. With characters spouting lines that feel like something from an era of superhero films we've truly moved on from. Characters do and say things that feel nothing like what we've seen from them in previous films. It is absolutely insane how quickly characters go from 1 to 10 in terms of extremeness with next to no motivation at all, then just change their minds so quickly after. It's baffling.

Aside from a couple of surprising performances, everyone just seems tired and not happy to be there. Jennifer Lawrence just looks like she doesn't want to be there at all, calling out her lines without the slightest hint of enthusiasm. It's no surprise that what happens with her character doesn't solicit any kind of emotion from the audience. Nicholas Hoult is also just completely one note and also bored. James McAvoy's performance is so inconsistent here, his character actually gets some interesting exploration, but some of his line deliveries are questionable at the very least. I was sad his hilarious and widely mocked "I don't know what to do" line from the first trailer was removed.

Michael Fassbender continues to be the best thing about this prequel franchise, being gravitas and emotion to the role that makes everyone else pale in comparison. It would have helped to have in it more, as he doesn't even appear until around half way through the film. He deserves better than this.

The two surprising performances are from Sophie Turner and Jessica Chastain, one for the better and one for the worst. Turner's less than charismatic performance in the previous films was easily one of the weakest parts, but here, she seems to have actually grown a lot as an actress, delivering a far more convincing accent and performance as she actually holds some of her scenes together quite well, despite the script.

Then there's Jessica Chastain as the villain. She is one of the most talented actresses of this generation, so I was actually very intrigued at what they might do with her. It turned out to be nothing. She plays the leader of the boring and badly designed group of aliens looking to harvest Grey's power for their own use. You've got an actress of Chastain's calibre and you get her to play such a bland, uninvolving villain that feels completely wasted. Again, another reason this feels like a superhero film from a different era, these films are slowly getting better with villains and this was a huge step back.

In terms of the good, as bad as some of the acting and the script is, it's still very watchable and quite entertaining in stretches. It even runs at a reasonable length of just around 1 hour 50, which is a whole half hour shorter than the previous film. It's definitely a welcome comedown, considering the last superhero film released was the draining 3 hour epic Endgame.

Some of the action is genuinely creative and fun too. There's actually very little action in the whole thing, but the final set-piece on a train makes great use of all these characters mixing their powers up and combining them to take out these forgettable villains. While I was worried about how some of special effects might turn out, it's actually a very nice looking film with some gorgeous moments here and there. It's a hell of an improvement on the ugly third act of Apocalypse where everything is just ugly brown sludge.

5/10 Dans

Dark Phoenix is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below: