In 1980, Marvel Comics' Uncanny X-Men was the most popular comic book on the planet. In June, Chris Claremont closed what had been a story arc that had been building for about two years or so. One of the original X-Men, Jean Grey, had, ah, graduated from Marvel Girl to Phoenix, but the truth was, she was possessed by a cosmic entity known as the Phoenix Force. Jean was seemingly killed off, having sacrificed herself, in issue 137.
That, however, was undone just a few years later when other writers decided to reboot the original team as X-Factor. However, that's another story for another time.
Twenty years after the conclusion of the original Dark Phoenix story, 20th Century Fox introduced a theatrical version of the X-Men, built more around the X-Men's founder, Charles Xavier, and his former best friend turned nemesis, Erik Lensherr, aka Magneto. The Dark Phoenix story was told in a more compact form, if you will, in "X3: The Last Stand".
Thus, many believe that Simon Kinberg's "Dark Phoenix" is a means of correcting the mistakes perceived to have been made in "Last Stand". Unfortunately, Kinberg again proves his writing style is badly flawed.
Kinberg also messes with Marvel canon in a big way. Stan Lee & Jack Kirby introduced Jean as a 16 year old in the very first X-Men issue in 1963. Kinberg's vision has Jean being admitted into Xavier's school as an 8 year old.
SAY WHAT?
In the course of the movie, Jean (Sophie Turner, fresh from Game of Thrones) is possessed by the Phoenix Force while on a mission in space. Said entity had already destroyed most of the D'Bari, which had been illustrated in Uncanny X-Men 135 in 1980, so the surviving D'Bari, now presented as a race of shape-shifters, not unlike the Skrulls, are in pursuit of the Phoenix Force, and, upon learning of its taking a human host, are now after Jean.
If you look quick, Claremont makes a brief appearance in a scene at the White House, and, yes, the film is dedicated to Lee, who passed away a few months ago.
Following is the trailer:
Hardcore fans will complain about the insertion of Magneto (Michael Fassbender), since he wasn't part of the original story, but here, Erik has become more of a pacifist himself, forced to fight only when threatened. The D'Bari were under the protection of the Shi'ar Empire, but since Fox didn't have the rights to the Shi'ar.....! Unfortunately, as menaces, the D'Bari are uninspiring and devoid of any personality, an accusation thrown in the direction of Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique) in the last X-film. Jessica Chastain is wasted here, her performance duller than dirty dishwater. Even the aliens on Star Trek had more personality.
It didn't help matters that the theatre was nearly empty on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
Rating: C-.
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