THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The New Mutants is the last Marvel Comics property to be produced by 20th Century (Fox) Studios until its official purchase by Walt Disney Pictures. Because of this, plans for a film trilogy of this specific comic book team was scrapped and we got this one film. Due of this change, the reshoots took so long that it would be delayed from its 2018 release and wouldn’t come to theaters until the infamous year of 2020. Was it worth the wait? Well, let me explain real quick.
PLOT
The film takes place in what appears to be in an institution. Danielle Moonstar has just woke up from a coma, after being attacked by some sort of bear that killed her father. Cecilia Reyes, the only present medical doctor, explains that the only reason she survived is because she is a mutant. She wants to figure out what kind of power she has before letting her go. During her stay, Danielle meets other teenagers with abilities: Roberto Da Costa who can manipulate solar energy, Rahne Sinclair who can turn into a wolf, Sam Guthrie who can propel through air and Illyana Rasputin, who has sorcery abilities such as teleporting through another dimension and summoning a soul sword, along with an eldritch armor appearing on her arm within each spell. She also has a small dragon at her side she names ‘Lockheed’, mostly disguised as a hand puppet. They are unable to leave because Reyes has surrounded the area with force fields. As Danielle is able to bond with Rahne and the boys, Illyana remains antagonistic towards her. Within their time together, they believe that they are likely to be recruited by the X-Men. Danielle does end up having a romantic relationship with Rahne, but the latter and everyone else start having living nightmares. Rahne lives through being branded by a reverend that bewitched her, while Sam lives through a mining incident he accidentally caused, which lead to his father’s death. Roberto lives through seeing his girlfriend again, who he accidentally burnt. And for Illyana, she relives her experience of the ‘Smiley Men’ that haunted her childhood. Reyes is able to deduce that Dani’s powers are to create illusions based on people’s worst fears, which explains what everyone else was going through. She is ordered by her employers of Essex Corporation to kill Dani. As she puts her under, the mutant sees that many children are experimented once their powers are controlled. As she sees this, her fear has her lose control and affect the real world as the group goes through their greatest fears again. Before she could be euthanized, Rahne saves her by attacking Reyes which causes her to flee. As the teenagers regroup and understand their stay in the institution, they realizes that the only way to escape is to kill Reyes. They do find her but before she could kill Dani, the same bear entity she feared of, killed her first. They all fight the bear whereas Dani remains unconscious until she finally wakes up. When she confronts the bear, she is able to calm it down which causes it to dissipate. With the force fields down, all five teenagers grab their belongings and head to the closest town.
THOUGHTS
I was like many viewers who had excitement for this back when marketing originally began in 2017, but lost anticipation when the delays started happening. I still chose to see it because I knew that this would be the end of 20th Century’s era of the X-Men franchise and I had to see what was represented. Seeing this in 2020, I have to say this is such a mixed bag for me. Like Justice League, there is some good stuff that keep me invested but there is so much cons where I can’t say I love it. This is the kind of movie where studio interference ruins the potential in display. I thought it was a cool revelation on how it connected to the X-Men by revealing that Essex was involved with Transigen from Logan, which confirmed that the corporation kept his blood that was uncovered in X-Men: Apocalypse and eventually used it within the same timeline for the previously said film. What ruins that is how it also feels forced at the same time. There are so many characters in such little time. While DC's Justice League definitely needed more than 2 hours to nail the character development, I gotta say that this needed 2 hours rather than 30 minutes less as it seemed to have some kind of solid story to follow. Because of that, it is rushed badly. I get that comic book fans can fill in the gaps of what isn’t discussed but there are many viewers don’t bother to read the material feel clueless. Knowing that, makes it hard to connect with the characters that carry the story. This movie also has a similar situation like Dark Phoenix where the reshoots have to cram all of the material originally planned for a trilogy is in a singular film. And that is exactly why the potential is ruined. Even though I believe the story to be solid, there were still many things that confused me. First off, the first security camera is shown in the corner but it’s recording angle is shoulder high. I hate continuity errors and that is a prime example. If Essex is able to track mutants like Professor Xavier’s Cerebro, how did they find Dani and other mutants before he could? I mean it is impressive when a villain does a skill better than the hero would but it would be interesting to know how that’s possible. Illyana’s powers are interesting but are the most complex because we don’t know her limit. If she can teleport from another dimension, why hasn’t she tried to travel somewhere outside the institution? If the force fields are a problem, than they should say that. And what are the extent of her powers? We see her use a lot of them but we’re clear on her limits. I mean how does Lockheed go from puppet to actual dragon? Someone please explain this and don’t just say sorcery. Has anyone outside the force field ever discovered it? If there is a village that’s miles away, I feel certain someone would pass by at least once for whatever reason. I don’t buy it that would be ignored like the dome in The Simpsons Movie. Also why is Reyes the only one watching these teenagers? If she wants to to keep them in check, she should’ve had security guards on top of them as well rather than do this on her own. If that was the case, Dani would’ve not attempted to jump off a clock tower. And the fact that Illyana found her file so easy is mind boggling in a furious way because she wasn’t even trying, it was the first thing she found when walking in Reyes’ room and it’s unrealistic that she’d leave that around. And lastly, considering that the film ends ambiguously as the teenagers leave the compromised facility, what will be next for Essex? I assume they know Reyes is dead so we have to bet they would be looking for them in the long run. Now that I’ve said all the cons that boil my brain, it’s fair for me to switch to the pros that make this somewhat watchable for average viewers. The best thing about this film is how it is another step back of the superhero genre that pays off, whereas we have teenagers fighting for their free will rather than seeing ideal heroes saving a city or a planet. To keep things fresh, it’s supposed to be it’s first attempt of a horror film of the previously said genre. I admit that I was jumpy on a few occasions. The Smiley Men were very creepy to see and due to Marilyn Manson’s vocals, it remained so. I wasn’t crazy about the overall cinematography by Peter Deming but the tracking shot for the opening kept me not only invested for the rest of the film, but also got me frightened of the Demon Bear. If the visuals on both creatures didn’t pay off, I would likely roll my eyes with disappointment. It’s clear that no matter the quality, an ensemble is what makes movies watchable and it’s no exception with this movie. I actually thought Alice Braga was good as Cecilia Reyes. Compare this role to her lead in the USA series Queen of the South, she can bring a ruthless presence. Besides that, she also brings a sneaky persona that can even be a conniving one as well and I think she makes it work. Of all the five protagonists, I personally believe that Anya Taylor Joy impressed me the most with the role of Illyana aka Magik. I do question her powers but what I liked is how personal she made her to be. She is depicted as someone who hides her trauma with a more cunning approach towards others. I think that is a unique example how people change drastically as they find their way to cope with what haunts them. And with that in mind, she does become a badass when overcoming her fear in the end like the rest would. Henry Zaga definitely owned up to the role of Roberto aka Sunspot because he does a good job making him someone who has his own guilt but finds a way to become courageous. I also thought Charlie Heaton was good with Sam aka Cannonball because he does good in representing his conviction. There were moments where it didn’t feel like he was fully fleshed out but Heaton is able to convince us to commiserate with him. Last but not least, what I believe will like the most is the couple of Dani aka Mirage and Rahne aka Wolfsbane, which only pays off due to the chemistry of Blu Hunt and Maisie Williams. The romance between both characters because it is genuine to see but the reason it is interesting to see is because they’re both alone yet don’t feel that way when together. Williams is able to reflect the character’s traits that are also in context of wolves due to her powers. She can be territorial and although she is most afraid of her past, she becomes fearless the longer she’s with Dani. For Hunt, she presents Dani as one who is unsure of what she can do but creates certainty and of course bravery when realizing how powerful she is. In short, Director Josh Boone gave us something that did and didn’t live up to its hype: We find a way to connect with new characters but it’s concept feels misused. If superhero movies remain your favorite than hopefully, you’ll enjoy this one too.
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