While the X-Men travel to space, Jean Grey develops a power that is very strong, but also can be dangerous if it gets out of control. Jean has thoughts in her head that won’t go away and she goes insane because of that.
Blaine: There hasn’t been an “X-Men” movie as dark as “Dark Phoenix”. The main subject of “Dark Phoenix” is Jean Grey, a mutant with telepathic and telekinetic abilities. Jean also has this very strong power that can be hard to control and is very dangerous. Jean’s background has been explained before in these “X-Men” movies, so there’s nothing really knew to tell, but she and Charles Xavier are really close and “Dark Phoenix” shows how close they are. Jean accidentally killed her mom in a car crash when she was a little girl because she had not yet learned how to control her powers. She was told her dad was killed in the car crash too. Truth is the father abandoned Jean because he couldn’t accept her for what she is and felt she was a bad luck charm after killing the mother. Charles Xavior thought different and saw a very special girl who needed help controlling the power that she has.
The mutants were thought of as freaks in past “X-Men” films and the ones that are good were trying to show people that they aren’t all bad, but something ruined that. Other mutants would make the mutant population look bad by turning against humans and causing destruction. Things changed in “Days of Future Past” when Logan went back in time to 1973 and Raven saved President Nixon and other men from the White House from Eric/Magneto. A lot of mutants wanted to do good after seeing Raven as a hero on live television. People were realizing that mutants aren’t a threat. The mutants proved they can defend people from danger when Apocalypse, a powerful mutant, showed up and tried to create a world where there is only mutants and humans extinct. The X-Men faced Apocalypse and saved the world. At the beginning of “Dark Phoenix”, the mutants are thought of as heroes. Charles loves that the mutants are being treated with respect and wants that to last forever. What Charles doesn’t realize is how much danger he puts the X-Men into. On their space adventure, the X-Men encounter some sort of energy and it gets absorbed into Jean. It gives her a huge upgrade for which she can not control.
Raven, a mutant with the power to disguise herself as anyone, looks after the X-Men as if they were her own children. She is taking responsibility seriously. When Raven was growing up she felt invisible at times and wanted attention. Eric brain washed her. Then Raven wanted revenge on the humans after scientists killed mutants and experimented on them like lab frogs. Raven wanted to kill the person who was in charge of it all. Charles tried to reason with Raven, but she wouldn’t listen. She was acting childish. Finally, Raven decided to listen to reason and became an inspiration for a lot of mutants. Like I said she saved Nixon. Raven didn’t want to be a role model at first, but realizing how much she meant to young mutants really turned things around for her and she became a leader. Now, Raven is acting more like an adult. When Jean is in trouble, the X-Men go after her and when Jean becomes dangerous Raven tries to reason with her and let her know she is not a threat. Jean pushes Raven away and Raven gets stabbed through the chest by spiked wood from a damaged building. No surprise there because judging by the look of it things it wouldn’t end well. Raven meant a lot to everyone. She was a role model, a sister and a lover.
Raven could have had a romantic relationship with Hank, a mutant scientists who transforms into a beast, but they had a hard time working things out and there was so much going on that it was hard for them to be in a romantic relationship. As Raven is dying, she tells Hank she loves him. Raven meant a lot to Hank and losing her hurts him. Hank realizes that Raven was everything to him and he regrets not having a romantic life with her. Hank has always been calm, but in “Dark Phoenix” there is a side to him you never thought you would see. Hank wants Jean to pay for what she has done. He has vengeance in his system.
Eric Lehnsherr/Magneto was public enemy number one after trying to kill President Nixon and putting a baseball stadium around the White House. But then he helped the X-Men defeat Apocalypse, which helped him out a lot because they were saving the world and word spread that he helped. After he was no longer public enemy number one, Eric was free to be wherever he wanted. “Dark Phoenix” shows Eric has been gathering mutants himself and bringing putting together a nature preserve, where there is no TV or phones. Eric doesn’t get the news that Jean killed Raven until Hank shows up. Eric was as close to Raven as Hank and he was in love with her. But Raven and Eric grew apart and they had their arguments, but there was still love there. Eric has lost so much loved ones in the past that it caused him to be the man he is now. A man with hate and vengeance. Eric lost his mother when they were both in a prison camp during World War II. Eric had a wife and daughter who’s lives were taken away by officers looking for him when he was public enemy number one. He still had Raven and Charles though. Eric is a man who has lost so much and yet losing someone still hurts and it’s painful for Eric to learn Raven is dead.
Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy are great dramatic actors and they show a lot of power through the emotion in their eyes. They show a lot of that in “Dark Phoenix”. Michael Fassbender shows his eye emotion in the scene where Eric learns Raven is dead. Michael shows Eric doesn’t know what to think about it because it’s hard to believe. It’s too much for him to handle because this is someone he has known for thirty years and he feels lost. Then Michael shows a lot of serious rage in his eyes when Eric faces Jean. Eric wants nothing but revenge and that causes him to be violent. Eric has a conscience, he just doesn’t listen to it that much. He needs to be reminded that he is not alone in the world.
Charles and Scott are the only two people who are on Jean’s side and will stop at nothing to help her. Charles realizes that everything that has happened is his fault for putting his X-Men at risk. Also Charles was the one who lied to Jean about her father and he must go to confront Jean to let her know how sorry he is. Charles will stop at nothing to help her. Charles has to go through so much, like destructed buildings, just to get to Jean. Jean takes a good look at Charles and realizes that he has always been there for her. He lied to her, but that was to spare her feelings. But ever since they first met, Charles has stuck by Jean and has been there for her. Charles is more close to Jean than her real father. Charles loves Jean like a daughter. Charles reminds everyone who has rage over Jean or not what Raven was standing for before she died and she didn’t give up on Jean.
The X-Men have dealt with a lot of threats in these movies. Magneto, mutant haters, indestructible robots that hunt mutants and an all powerful Egyptian. Now they face an alien race led by Jessica Chastain and her character is trying to make Jean evil. But Charles lets Jean know how much she means to him. Charles wouldn’t have gone through so much if he didn’t care for Jean. Jessica Chastain’s character goes with plan B, which is drain the power from Jean like a batterie. Jean can’t allow the aliens to succeed and to save everyone she takes the alien leader into the sky and destroys them both.
I’m not sure if people rely on the mutants anymore because they made themselves look bad and caused a lot of damage after Jean went out of control. But other than that they still have each other and are doing well at the school. Charles leaves the school because after everything he’s been through it’s too much just being there. Charles has always been the one there for Eric whenever he needs someone to talk to, but at the end of “Dark Phoenix” it’s Eric’s turn to be the one there. Eric is probably the only person left who is very close with Charles. Jean’s death doesn’t connect to the ending to “Days of Future Past” where Logan sees Jean alive and well. I mean Logan went back to 1973 and made a new timeline. Jean was dead before, but after changing the past, a lot of things changed in the future and Jean being alive was one of them. Before the screen goes black in “Dark Phoenix”, it shows a flaming phoenix in the sky, so Jean is possibly still alive.
My rating on “Dark Phoenix” is four out of five stars
Blaine: Composer Hans Zimmer (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception and Dunkirk) said he was done writing music scores for comic book movies after he did “Batman vs Superman”, but retirement from that genre didn’t last long because he got involved with “Dark Phoenix”. The score Hans wrote for “Dark Phoenix” is as catchy as “Dunkirk”, “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Inception”.
