X-Men: Dark Phoenix: Movie Review

"X-Men Dark Phoenix" is the final film for Fox's X-Men franchise. A franchise that has had its ups and downs but one that has spanned for almost two decades. This final film wasn't perfect or was it grand. It was actually just alright. But it is the quintessential example of why this franchise had stood firm throughout the years. Even with all the negativity, these films found a way to leave their marks. And like its predecessors, "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" rises and provides its audiences a highly-entertaining but still flawed send-off.

When a solar flare damages the Space Shuttle Endeavour, the X-Men are tasked to save the astronauts trapped inside the ship before they are consumed by the flare. All goes well until Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) gets trapped and gets consumed herself. Against all odds, Jean Grey survives and has become a very powerful being herself. Unfortunately for her and her colleagues, Jean Grey is having a hard-time controlling this energy and she has started to hurt the people that are closest to her. Lost physically and mentally, how can the X-Men stop Jean Grey from wreaking havoc on Earth.

If there's one thing that we best remember about the "X-Men" franchise, it would be its awesome action sequences. And "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" in this regard did not disappoint. We found ourselves blown away with its creative setups and set pieces. While there are fewer action set pieces this time around, the visual effects has significantly improved especially compared to the last film, "X-Men: Apocalypse". The effects were vibrant, punchy, and looked jaw-dropping amazing at times. Additionally, the unfathomable power of Jean Grey was also translated so well in this film. The biggest letdown for "Dark Phoenix" was its plot and character developments. Simply put, there's little to none. The film had this overall shallowness that made it feel full of action without much substance. Minus a few scenes that really struck a chord emotionally, expect to be hampered down by a very dull and pedestrian story.Given the potential of the Dark Phoenix force within Jean Grey as a significant plot piece, there's almost no clear explanation to what it is and what its intentions really are or why it even chose Jean Grey in the first place (the film explains this but it came from a very unreliable source - the film's antagonist - in our opinion). In the acting department, the film delivers. We feared that Sophie Turner will have a cheesy and outlandish performance but she proved us wrong. Her performance turned out strong and believable. The others in the main cast and supporting cast also provided great but no memorable performances. Overall, "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" is more action than anything else. Is that really a bad thing? Not really. We found ourselves loving it with its excellent action and effects. Just don't expect a story befitting as the conclusion to a storied film franchise.

Rating: 3 reels

Why you should watch it:
- the creative action sequences are awesome as usual
- outstanding visuals and effects

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the character development felt lacking
- the Dark Phoenix entity wasn't really explained all that much