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Film, Movie Reviews

Movie review: ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ respectable end to movie mutant saga

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“X-Men: Dark Phoenix” (PG-13)

The “X-Men” saga – at least in this iteration – is finally coming to an end with “X-Men: Dark Phoenix,” an exciting and satisfying conclusion to the Marvel movie mutant series that began in 2000 with Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Halle Berry, and introduced the world to the talents of an Australian actor named Hugh Jackman.

Since that time, the “X-Men” have assembled for six movies (not including three featuring Wolverine/Logan and two for Deadpool), the last being pitiful “X-Men: Apocalypse” in 2016. Thankfully the deck has been reshuffled for the finale to feature the comic book’s acclaimed “Dark Phoenix” saga, which benefits by the rising popularity by “Game of Thrones” star Sophie Turner in the title role.

Interview Flashback: Hugh Jackman talks ‘Days of Future Past’

“Dark Phoenix” begins in 1975, where after a tragedy involving her family, a young Jean Grey (Summer Fontana) is taken into Dr. Charles Xavier’s (James McAvoy) School for the Gifted, where he teaches the telepathic mutant to harness her powers. Fast-forwarding to 1992, the adult Jean (Turner), along with fellow mutants Beast (Nicolas Hoult), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and Quicksilver (Evan Peters), are recruited by the U.S. government to save the astronauts of a NASA space shuttle, which is in distress, spinning in space and ready to explode any minute.


AUDIO: Tim reviews “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” with Tom Barnard on 
“The KQ Morning Show” on KQRS-FM.

The dangerous mission works, but in an attempt of rescuing the shuttle captain, Grey absorbs what seems to be a solar flare, which gives her powers far beyond what she can control. Tragically, the instability in her mutation leads to a tragic death that fractures the X-Men: some of which including Magneto want to kill her, while Professor X and Jean’s boyfriend, Cyclops, want to save and possibly cure her. Standing in everybody’s way, though, is an alien race lead by the malevolent Vuk (Jessica Chastain), who seek the Dark Phoenix’s powers to impose rule over the planet.

“Dark Phoenix” is a reboot within a reboot story of sorts for the “X-Men” movie universe, following the critical and fan lambasting of the plot in “X-Men: The Last Stand,” where Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) was resurrected after sacrificing herself to save her fellow X-Men in “X2: X-Men United.” The plot misfire was rectified somewhat, though, with the time-traveling plot of 2014’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” which allowed for director and writer Simon Kinberg (replacing excommunicated “X-Men” helmer Bryan Singer) an opportunity to bring justice to the comic book fan-favorite storyline.

To that end, fans should be satisfied with “Dark Phoenix,” even though a few parts – especially at the beginning and the end of the film — echo too closely the beginning and the ending of “The Last Stand.” Of course, the big benefit now is the right use of the always evolving world of visual effects, which is done in ways familiar in some instances, and refreshing and new in others.

What makes the film worthwhile is the cast, including Turner, McAvoy, Fassbender, Holt and Chastain in the key roles. While she receives top-billing, Lawrence’s appearance is reduced to a supporting turn here, while Sheridan, Shipp and McPhee appear in more functional roles. Underused again – like he has been from the very beginning – is Peters’ always entertaining Quicksilver, who essentially disappears after two large action showcases. But while the leads have a lot of presence, the film still needed someone with the charisma of Jackman to anchor it, an attribute the actor instantly brought to franchise as a relative newcomer in 2000.

“X-Men: Dark Phoenix” is a vast improvement over 2016’s “X-Men: Apocalypse,” a dreadful disappointment coming off of the blistering success of “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” which is arguably one of the best in the “X-Men” film series involving nearly all of the major X-Men characters past and present. “Days of Future Past” served as a solid, passing-of-the-torch film from the legacy cast to the prequel cast established in 2011’s “X-Men: First Class” (McAvoy, Fassbender, Lawrence and Hoult), and was the last to feature Jackman, Stewart and McKellen in meaningful roles (apart from Jackman’s powerful “Logan.”). The bloated and tedious “Apocalypse,” quite simply, couldn’t live up to hype and left a promising revival hanging in the balance.

Photo: 20th Century Fox/Disney

“Dark Phoenix” thankfully restores the “X-Men” saga to its former glory, recapturing the tone of the previous, great “X-Men” films, which traditionally have been far more serious than their Marvel Cinematic Universe counterparts. While the MCU films have largely been about publicly-accepted superheroes saving the world, the “X-Men” films have keyed in on how the mutants with superpowers have been societal outcasts, a theme that is examined once again after the “X-Men” fall out of the public’s good graces after the space shuttle crew rescue.

While the film is being billed as “the shocking end to the X-Men saga,” fans shouldn’t fret too much over not seeing their favorite film mutants again. Essentially what this means is that “Dark Phoenix” is the last film that was produced wholly under the 20th Century Fox banner, which finally was absorbed by Disney in the spring. What it surely does mean is that either there will be new “X-Men” films cast by Disney and the MCU (good luck recasting Jackman’s Wolverine!), or at the very least, the introduction of select X-Men characters (who will likely be recast) to the new “Avengers” tales post-“Endgame.”


AUDIO: Tim reviews “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” and more with Jordana Green and guest host Joe Anderson on “Paul and Jordana” on WCCO-AM.

No matter what the case may be, at least “Dark Phoenix” did right by the franchise by completing its sprawling, 19-year-long tale in a meaningful sort of way. Sure, the franchise, never earned the gazillions of dollars the MCU did, but it rarely lost sight of good storytelling and created plenty of characters fans cared about. If anything, the first “X-Men” in 2000 kicked off a new wave of superhero films that burgeoned into the genre juggernaut that it is today. And talk about mutating … without “X-Men” and the clear appetite fans had for superhero fare, who knows were the genre would have gone had Fox didn’t take the initiative and risk to produce the film nearly 20 years ago. Dark as the themes in the series may be, they brought a whole new cinematic light to comic book movies.

Lammometer: 7.5 (out of 10)

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.

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Film, Movie Reviews

Movie reviews: ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass,’ ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’

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Disney

By Tim Lammers

“Alice Through the Looking Glass” (PG) 3 stars (out of 4)

Wonderland is as buoyant, beautiful and bright as ever in “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” a satisfying prequel/sequel to the 2010 billion-dollar blockbuster. Despite a thin storyline, the film is once again bolstered by a lovable cast, spectacular visual effects and stunning production design and costumes. Fans will likely favor the original “Alice” to this follow-up, but it’s an entertaining film nonetheless.

Mia Wasikowska returns as Alice, who after three years of adventures at sea and exploring new lands with her late father’s ship returns home and is beckoned to Underland by Absolem (voice of Alan Rickman, in his final film role), the blue caterpillar-turned-butterfly. Turns out that Alice’s old, dear friend the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) is dying of a broken heart, since he happened upon a remnant that reminded him of the tragic loss of his family to the Jabberwocky years before.

After pleas from the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and company to find a way to save Hatter, Mia sets out to snatch from the personification of Time (Sacha Baron Cohen) the Chronosphere – the power source that runs the Grand Clock. It will enable Alice to travel back in time and right the wrongs of the past – that is if her enemy, the banished Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), doesn’t get the device first in a bid to get her crown back.

While Wasikowska and Depp are as strong as they were in “Alice in Wonderland,” Bonham Carter once again steals the show with her big head, bombastic personality, wild chants and maniacal laughs. Her performance alone makes “Through the Looking Glass” worth peering into, even though the time travel narrative falls far short of the events that sparked “Wonderland.” Baron Cohen (along with some CGI mechanical minions) proves to be a grand addition to the “Alice” film family as Time, a touchy taskmaster whose ticker is weakened by the Red Queen and her wicked wiles.

While “Alice Through the Looking Glass” has its share of flaws, the film’s spectacular visual effects make up for the shortcomings. Director James Bobin smartly crafted several jaw-dropping sequences, including trips across the Oceans of Time (which allows the film to cross over into prequel territory). The film also boasts stunning costumes and breathtakingly beautiful settings, both real and virtual. They’re wondrous visions to behold.

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“X-Men: Apocalypse” (PG-13) 2 stars (out of four)

X misses the spot in “X-Men: Apocalypse,” a lackluster follow-up to 2014’s brilliant “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” With a tedious 2 hour 20 minute runtime, an overload of visual effects and a plot spread far too thin across too many characters, director Bryan Singer’s fourth “X-Men” film is without question his weakest. It’s a shame because the talent is all there, but ultimately, they’re trounced by the overambitious storyline.

Picking up 10 years after the events of the 1970s (and the rewriting of X-Men history) with “Days of Future Past,” “Apocalypse” picks up in 1983 with the unearthing of the titular character, the all-powerful mutant taking the form in an armored, blue-skinned Oscar Isaac. Once entombed in Egypt, Apocalypse’s followers figure out the key to unleash the mutant, who is hell-bent (along with his four horsemen) on imposing his powers on the citizens of Earth because they’ve lost their way.

Having the wherewithal to even tap into the immense mind powers of Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), Apocalypse seems unstoppable, that is until Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Hank McCoy/Beast (Nicholas Hoult) and a new band of mutant recruits (Tye Sheridan as Scott Summers/Cyclops, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler) spring into action to recover their kidnapped mentor and desperately attempt to defeat a seemingly undefeatable enemy.

As passionate as Singer has been about the “X-Men” movie universe since the first film in 2000, you can’t fault him for trying to make the most out of his latest opportunity to tell another tale about the Marvel movie mutants. Yet at the same time, it feels like he’s trying too hard to one-up what transpired in “Days of Future Past” both in terms of the film’s overwhelming special effects and about a dozen mutants, causing the film to lose its focus.

By the time “X-Men Apocalypse” limps to the end, you get the sense that this current iteration of the “X-Men” movie saga is up as its next generation is trained to take on its next foes. It’s too bad, considering the prequel films that came before it started off with such promise, only to end in such an underwhelming fashion. It’s a real disappointment.

Film, Interviews

Interview: Screen legend Diane Ladd talks ‘Joy’

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Jennifer Lawrence and Diane Ladd in 'Joy' (Photo: 20th Century Fox)

By Tim Lammers

Screen legend Diane Ladd does double-duty, in a sense, in director David O. Russell’s critically acclaimed dramedy “Joy,” both as the wise grandmother of the title character, Joy (Jennifer Lawrence), and as the film’s narrator. The amazing thing is, Ladd’s enlightened sense of storytelling — which establishes a larger-than-life presence of her character throughout the film — wasn’t originally in Russell’s plans.

Ladd, who was already done with filming “Joy,” said she actually got the call from Russell just as she was wrapping up her upcoming film, “Sophie and the Rising Sun.”

“David put the producers on the phone and they said they tested the picture,” Ladd said in a phone conversation this week. “They said, ‘Without question, everybody adores Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper. But after testing the picture, we need more light in it, and you are everybody’s favorite character in the movie because you constantly give Joy hope. Because of that, we want you the narrate the whole picture.'”

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Now playing in theaters nationwide, “Joy” is based on the true-life tale of Joy Mangano, a divorced mother of two who defied the odds in the early 1990s with her invention of the Miracle Mop, a product that helped the burgeoning inventor lay the foundation of what would become a business dynasty. “Joy” also stars Robert De Niro as Joy’s hard-edged dad, Rudy; Virginia Madsen as her sheltered mother and Rudy’s ex-wife, Terry; Bradley Cooper as QVC executive Neil Walker; Edgar Ramirez as Joy’s ex-husband and loyal advisor; and Isabella Rossellini as Rudy’s new wife and Joy’s principal investor, Trudy.

Ladd stars in the pivotal role of Mimi, Joy’s faithful grandmother.

The actress, who earned Oscar nominations for her work in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” “Wild at Heart” and “Rambling Rose,” said narrating “Joy” was the hardest work she’s ever done because she had “already put the character aside” to work on her role in “Sophie and the Rising Sun.”

“I went off and created a whole new character, so when I came back, David was quite incredible in guiding me,” Ladd said. “He helped me lower my voice three octaves so I would sound older, and give off more wisdom and age. To prepare myself, I would do a bit of method acting, or more specifically, method narration. I would sit in meditation and put myself in a state of unconditional love so I would never judge (the people that wronged Joy).”

Ladd, 80, added that the image Russell gave her to narrate the film was Clarence from the Frank Capra Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

“It was almost if Mimi was an angel and not a human. Maybe her soul had come in ahead of time so she’d be there to help Joy and this family,” Ladd observed. “Maybe she was there to help because if Joy succeeded and fulfilled her destiny, she could put a minimum of 500 people to work, and the people she picked were Spanish and Latin people who needed jobs. Suppose she hadn’t been there to fulfill her destiny, like George Bailey did in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’? What would have happened to those people, and a lot more now? The spiral goes on and on.”

As far as her character’s physical presence in “Joy,” Ladd said she absolutely loved how Russell and co-writer Annie Mumolo created a strong Bond between a grandmother and her grandchild. As the mother of two-time Oscar nominee Laura Dern, Ladd knows the bond between generations very well.

“I told David right away that American Indians have a saying: ‘The soul of a grandchild’ lives in the heart of a grandmother,'” Ladd said. “As a mother, it took five friends of mine to help tell Laura what to do. But if my mother, Mary, said something to Laura, she was right there. They had such a connection.”

Now, Ladd says, she has the same sort of relationship with Dern’s daughter.

“Once Laura and her daughter had a fight and Laura went off, and I said, ‘Come on, Jaya,’ and I think she thought I was going to preach at her. But instead I took a blanket and we went outside, and we laid on the ground and looked up at the trees and the sky — and in a little while Jaya was telling me all of her feelings,” Ladd recalled.

Having lived those vital, real-life roles, Ladd said she’s developed a clear understanding of how the grandmother and grandchild dynamic works, and was more than happy to bring that knowledge to her work with Lawrence in “Joy.”

“I think grandmothers see clear because responsibility isn’t always on us,” Ladd said, laughing. “A grandparent can pull back and relax more, and have a little more detachment. The parent’s on the line, man. God’s got your backside pinned to the wall.”

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