JOHNNY´S VEINS

By Richard Newby

[This story contains spoilers for Dark Phoenix]

“We’re the last of the first class,” Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) solemnly tells Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), in an acknowledgement of the loss accrued over the past three films, and a expressed crisis of faith that reframes their role within Xavier’s (James McAvoy) dream. It’s a moment of reflection we don’t see enough in superhero sequels. Simon Kinberg’s Dark Phoenix, the last film in 20th Century Fox’s 19-year X-Men saga, is punctuated by moments like this. Rather than relying on the explosions, global travel, and giant set pieces that led to X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) being dubbed overstuffed, or lacking focus like first adaptation of this story in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Dark Phoenix is held together by small interactions where two characters take time to debate, to contemplate, and to work through moral issues in a way that limits the film’s scope to what at times feels like a stage-play interpretation of a superhero film.

A lack of urgency in this era of quick-paced superhero films that aim to make every moment top the previous, either by way of action, jokes, or stakes, is a tough sell. While Kinberg’s decision to go with a quiet epilogue instead of a grand finale isn’t earning any favor with film critics (and it is struggling at the box office), Dark Phoenix’s intimacy is a refreshing change of pace that outweighs its issues.

It’s odd that a film adaptation of a story as iconic and epic as Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, and John Byrne’s Phoenix Saga should be associated with a limited scope, but the chamber piece-esque perspective on the X-Men provides denouement we’re so rarely afforded. We expect superhero sequels to grow bigger and bigger as they go along, with the hopes that they culminate in something as epic as Avengers: Endgame. Regardless of how much we love superhero cinematic universes, there is often an emotional shorthand at play, one that doesn’t always allow for breathing room so that characters and audience members can sit with a loss or question decisions. But Dark Phoenix, taking a page from Logan, goes for a more restrained route. It breathes deeply, slowly, while denying us that whoosh of an exhale. While not nearly as assured as Mangold’s film, and more than a little self-aware of being unable to beat the mighty MCU in scale, Dark Phoenix is far more interesting and coherent a film than its being given credit for.

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