The “X-Men” film series makes a second attempt to tell the iconic “Dark Phoenix” saga, and while it’s an overall better movie than last time, this is a fairly-bland retelling that just doesn’t justify its existence. The overall story shares so many beats with “X-Men: The Last Stand” that, even with all the different details and story arcs, there’s a painful sense of déjà vu throughout. The plot does benefit from having clear antagonists working against the X-Men, but Jessica Chastain’s big bad is too uncharismatic and too mysterious to make much of an impression. It’s also a bit shocking how much most of the X-Men are pushed into the background, and don’t get much to do besides show up for a couple action sequences. Most of that action is mediocre. If feels low stakes and kind of rushed, although finale has some fun moments, finding unique ways for characters like Magneto to use their powers…even after seeing so many films before this. And despite the connections these characters have formed across these movies, none of the emotional beats land. It could be just the fact that we’ve already seen this tale, or it could be that it doesn’t really matter what happens to them because the franchise will be rebooted by Disney in a few years. (You have to wonder if this film came out on its original release date of November 2018, long before the merger was finalized, if it would still have this problem.)
** out of *****