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Rating: 1 out of 5
If you don’t know this about me, I love the X-Men series. It all started back when I was a wee child, and I got hooked on X-Men: The Animated Series. I watch that show religiously on Fox Kids. I loved X-Men: The Animated Series so much, when my mom had to go decorate for her school’s prom, the staff turned on the series because it came on right at 11am. The show’s plot and the story were way over my little kid’s mind at the time, but it was all about Wolverine back in the day with his blue hair, yellow outfit, and claws. When the first X-Men movie came out, I was reliving my dream of the X-Men coming out. Hugh Jackman is Wolverine.
As time went on, the film series became worse and worse. Honestly, what the hell is going on with the X-Men series? The film has either been hit or miss. When the movie, The New Mutants was announced, I felt in my bones that it might not live up to expectations. I didn’t know any of the prominent characters, and the commercials didn’t appeal to me. Hey, I was wrong about the Guardians of the Galaxy film. After watching the movie, yup, I was right. Should’ve skipped it because this film was straight-up huh material.
Danielle “Dani” Moonstar (Hunt) is a young Cheyenne Native American whose life changes suddenly. After her father hides her in a tree, her entire reservation and world are entirely destroyed by a strange tornado. Dani is the only survivor of the ordeal. Dani awakens in a strange, empty hospital run by Dr. Cecilia Reyes (Braga). Dr. Reyes tells Dani that she is not an ordinary human being and has a unique mutant DNA. She advises Dani to remain in the hospital until she learns the effects and how to control them. Dr. Reyes introduces Dani to four other teenagers with special DNA: Samuel “Sam” Guthrie (Heaton), Illyana Rasputin (Taylor-Joy), Roberto “Bobby” da Costa (Zaga), and Rahne Sinclair (Williams). Dr. Reyes has brought each of them to the hospital to learn how to control their powers, as each one has experienced some type of trauma or tragedy. As the group receives treatment, they soon all experience horrifying hallucinations from their past. Soon they learn that they are prisoners being trained for a specific project.
I’m pretty sure that this was the last X-Men film to be made by 20th Century Fox before it was acquired by Disney. Hell, I am not an X-Men expert, but I had no idea who the characters were. I felt like 20th Century Fox tried to copy the Guardians of the Galaxy route and failed miserably. If there was a plan for sequels, might as well scrap those because I highly doubt anyone would care to watch the films.
The story tries to be an origin story that is dark but also sentimental. That is the problem with the X-Men films; they are dark and have this view that people don’t like mutants. Marvel has greatly shown that mutants are incredible, and it is time to get with the times. In this story, Danielle “Dani” Moonstar is the only survivor after a tornado rolls through. She awakens in a facility that houses other young mutants. The story spends a considerable amount of time trying to figure out what Dani’s powers are and not really giving a reason why the young mutants are in the facility. Halfway through the film, you are so bored that you really don’t care what happened to anyone. The film shows that Dani’s powers can create illusions based on the fears and desires of other people. When Dani shows her fear, it is a giant ass bear that whips ass. It should’ve eaten a few people.
With teens, you know there will be some MAJOR drama. The story gives very little character development to any of the other characters. You kind of get their backstory in passing, but nothing where you care for them. The story’s primary focus is on Dani and her relationship with the other characters. First, one of the most annoying characters was Illyana Rasputin, aka the sister of Colossus. From the get-go, she hated Dani and had a major stick up her ass like she was hot shit. I wanted her to get her ass handed to her. The story also shows Dani having a love relationship with Rahne Sinclair, who can turn into a wolf, and is struggling to reconcile this with her religious beliefs. This relationship was the highlight of this whole awful film.
The special effects and CGI were quite strange to watch. You would think that the CGI would be a positive, but it hurt this film pretty bad. Not as bad as the acting, but it was pretty bad. Watching Illyana go through her portals or whatever they were just didn’t do it for me. When her “dragon” became real, Puff the Magic Dragon would’ve been better to look at.
Back to the acting, it was all over the place. Anya Taylor-Joy, I really, really like you, but damn, that accent and annoyance really turned me away from you. I have never wanted you to get slapped more than watching this film. Maisie Williams, I actually thought you did a decent job at this film. I have never been to Scotland, so I will give you credit for the accent. Still, I thought you had the best part as a werewolf who had major issues being religious. Charlie Heaton, it felt like I was watching you recreate your Stranger Things character. It seemed like you copied and pasted your performance.
I’m done talking about the New Mutants. Where the cake that says, “At Least You Tried.” The focus should be on making a decent or better X-Men film. If I was extremely bored, I would watch it again and then wonder why I put myself through it again.
