Stubs - Dark Phoenix

 

Dark Phoenix (aka X-Men: Dark Phoenix) (2019) starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Jessica Chastain Directed by Simon Kinberg Screenplay by Simon Kinberg Based on X-Men by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby;  "The Dark Phoenix Saga" by Chris Claremont, John Byrne. Produced by Simon Kinberg, Hutch Parker, Lauren Shuler Donner, Todd Hallowell Run time: 114 minutes. Color. USA Superheroes, Fantasy

What is the worst thing a Superhero film can be? It’s a question that Dark Phoenix succeeds in answering: boring.

A sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Dark Phoenix manages to build on that film’s failures, actually making that film look better by comparison.

This is the second time this franchise decided to tell the Dark Phoenix story based on an extended X-Men comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne, the storyline first appeared in X-Men #129 (January 1980); one of the most well-known and heavily referenced stories in mainstream American superhero comics. In the previous telling, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Jean Grey is played by Famke Janssen.

Following the release and disappointing returns on Apocalypse, Fox was said to be pressing "the reset button" on the franchise. Bryan Singer was not going to be back in the director’s chair, but they kept on screenwriter Simon Kinberg, who decided it was time to again tell the Dark Phoenix story, but reiterating that he would adapt it differently than they had in The Last Stand, if given another opportunity to do so. Kinberg was also tapped to direct, his debut.

Second Look - Deadpool 2 (All Three Cuts)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Deadpool and Deadpool 2.

Deadpool 2 sits in a unique position within the X-Men film series. Not only did Fox greenlight this sequel by the time the first film released, but after its premiere in May 2018, it would receive two additional cuts within the same year: the direct-to-video extended Super Duper Cut in August and the theatrically-released PG-13 Once Upon a Deadpool in December. Due to a lack of an official word on the matter, one could conclude that Fox wanted to make as much money as possible ahead of the Disney/Fox merger that completed in March 2019, but in any case, Deadpool 2 did break additional box office records on in its initial release, including highest-grossing R-rated film of all time (by just $3 million over Deadpool) until 2019’s Joker.

Since I’ve made it no secret that I’m a fan of Deadpool, it should come as no surprise that Deadpool 2’s existence piqued my interest enough that I watched all three cuts of the film as they came out. Although I still liked the film after rewatching it in the context of the rest of the X-Men films, I now find that the difference between Deadpool and Deadpool 2 feels more like the difference between Shrek and Shrek 2: while the sequel has more narrative complexity and shows more technical competency than the original, it doesn’t age as well due to the dated humor rooted in the exact moment it came out.

Second Opinion - Logan (+ Logan Noir)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Logan and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

As the X-Men film series started going beyond the original trilogy, it was natural that the fan favorite Wolverine would receive his own solo films with the rough X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the improved The Wolverine. This would be later followed up on with the R-rated third film, Logan, and although Deadpool’s own R rating did not factor into Logan’s, Deadpool’s success paved the way for further R-rated superhero films in the Hollywood landscape, as well as Logan’s own critical and financial success. While I had barely any familiarity with the X-Men films on my initial viewing, extending only to the first two Deadpool films and maybe the original X-Men film, I thought it was one of the best comic book films I had ever seen, enough to also watch the alternate version, Logan Noir. During my recent deep dive of the X-Men films in release order, I found it interesting to rewatch Logan again in the context with the rest of the series, finding it to still be just as good as I remembered.

Stubs - X-Men: Apocalypse

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Olivia Munn, Lucas Till. Directed by Bryan Singer. Screenplay by Simon Kinberg. Based on X-Men by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Apocalypse by Louise Simonson, and  Jackson Guice. Produced by Simon Kinberg, Bryan Singer, Hutch Parker, Lauren Shuler Donner. Run time 144 minutes. Color. USA. Superhero, Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

What happened?

Even before X-Men: Days of Future Past (2013) was even released, the followup was already in the planning stages. According to director Bryan Singer, the next film would concentrate on the origins of the X-Men and feature younger actors in the roles of Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm. The idea was to complete the trilogy of X-Men films that began with X-Men: First Class (2011) and would take place in 1983, 20 years after First Class and ten years after Days of Future Past.

Filming began on April 27, 2015 with Singer back in the director’s chair in Montreal, Canada and production would last until late August, with additional filming in January 2016. The film was released on May 6, 2016 in London and not until May 27 in the U.S.

Second Look - Deadpool (Film)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Deadpool

Back in 2016, the original Deadpool film left a major impact, as it not only stood out within the superhero landscape at the time, but also altered Hollywood’s perception of the R-rating when it raked in a massive profit (~$782.8 million against a budget of $58 million) and broke several box office records, including the highest-grossing R-rated film ever made. However, the film faced a tough road before it saw the light of day. Although the idea of a Deadpool film with Ryan Reynolds attached had floated around since the 2000s, it hit some resistance at multiple points, including Tom Rothman (chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment) rejecting the film, believing it wouldn’t be successful, and having his mouth sewn shut in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Origins). Origins still proved successful enough that a Deadpool project moved forward, though it didn’t get greenlit until some test footage leaked onto the internet to a very positive reception. Even then, however, Fox gave the project a much smaller budget than usual for a superhero film, an amount Ryan Reynolds once described as the “cocaine budget”.

At the time I first saw Deadpool, as someone already a fan of the character, I found it a breath of fresh air in the otherwise serious superhero landscape between the MCU, which had just finished Phase Two and would start Phase Three that year, and the DCEU, which would finally have a second movie in the gloomy Batman v. Superman after the dreary Man of Steel. Watching the film again now, in the context of viewing the entire X-Men film series in anticipation of Deadpool & Wolverine, I still enjoy it and appreciate its significance to the history of comic book films, but I admit that it lost a little luster with time.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Following the release of The Wolverine, the next film in Fox’s X-Men series, X-Men: Days of Future Past (DOTP), returns to the greater ensemble cast. Released in 2014 while the concurrent Marvel Cinematic Universe was in the middle of Phase Two (both figuratively and literally), this film notably beats Marvel Studios to the time travel punch by five years, serving as a soft reboot of the X-Men films (while incidentally serving as the literal middle of it) by setting up an alternate timeline. While I was aware of this film as it came out, I did not end up watching it until I began my earnest viewing of the series as a whole, though I did know about the timeline reset going in. While it actually does a good job with this premise, there are places where it gets a little muddy.

The Wolverine

Note: This review contains spoilers for X-Men, X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand.

Despite the cold reception X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Origins) faced on release, the X-Men film series continued going strong and development began on a follow-up film simply titled The Wolverine, based on the original Japanese arc of the Wolverine comics. Although development began in 2009, with Darren Aronofsky later set to direct, it ran into certain production troubles along the way. These troubles included a delay brought on by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Aronofsky’s departure and finding a replacement director willing to take on the lengthy commitment. In spite of these obstacles, the final film released in 2013 to higher critical praise than Origins and greater box office returns, earning $414.8 million against a budget of $100-132 million.

Considering how much Origins had missed the mark, I knew going into The Wolverine that there would be some improvement, especially after seeing some fans characterize it as an “apology” for its predecessor. What I didn’t quite expect, however, was that The Wolverine not only held up very well after over a decade, but is easily one of the stronger films in the franchise.