Movie · 2019 · Science Fiction, Action, Adventure · 1h 54m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 0.3/10 (682.9K ratings)
A Phoenix will rise. The X-Men will fall.
Overview
The X-Men face their most formidable and powerful foe when one of their own, Jean Grey, starts to spiral out of control. During a rescue mission in outer space, Jean is nearly killed when she's hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. The X-Men must now band together to save her soul and battle aliens that want to use Grey's new abilities to rule the galaxy.
Ratings
Curator score: 0.3/10
IMDb: 5.7/10
Letterboxd: 2.10/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 22%
Metacritic: 43
TMDB: 6.0/10
Director
Simon Kinberg
Production
Genre Films, Hutch Parker Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, TSG Entertainment, Marvel Entertainment
Cast
Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Michael Fassbender, Alexandra Shipp, Evan Peters, Jessica Chastain, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jennifer Lawrence, Scott Shepherd, Ato Essandoh, Brian d'Arcy James, Halston Sage, Lamar Johnson, Summer Fontana, Hannah Emily Anderson, Josh McLaglen, Todd Hallowell, Julianne Jain
Where to watch
Disney Plus, fuboTV
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, effects-heavy X-Men chapter with a few strong performers and some solid mutant melodrama, but it’s widely regarded as undercooked, emotionally flat, and surprisingly dull for a story this operatic. If you want the franchise’s Phoenix material, there are stronger versions of the same core conflict elsewhere.
Best for
completionists finishing the X-Men series
viewers who enjoy mutant soap opera and cosmic power stories
fans of the cast more than the plot
people curious about a notorious franchise misfire
Skip if
you want a tightly written superhero movie
you dislike repetitive emotional beats and thin villains
you’re looking for the best Jean Grey/Phoenix adaptation
you prefer energetic ensemble action over brooding melodrama
Overview
Dark Phoenix has the ingredients of a big, tragic superhero finale: psychic power, family betrayal, cosmic accident, and a team forced to choose between duty and love. In practice, it plays like a franchise running on fumes, with a story that feels compressed, familiar, and oddly inert for a movie about one of the X-Men’s most explosive arcs.
Worth noting
There are flashes of what could have worked. The cast is committed, the central Jean Grey conflict has real comic-book grandeur, and a few scenes lean into the operatic messiness that this material needs. But the movie never finds a convincing emotional rhythm, and the villain material is especially forgettable.
Bottom line
As a conclusion to this era of X-Men films, it lands more as a shrug than a climax. Fans of the characters may find enough to watch, but most viewers will come away wishing the film had trusted either the tragedy or the spectacle more fully.
Top Letterboxd reviews
maria (2.5★) · 5355 likes
jean: i can't control my power! x10000charles: i can help you jean!scott: JEANNN! *heart eyes emoji*erik: *i'm a bad guy... wait, i'm a good guy...*jeffree-star-looking-jessica-chastain's-character-whose-name-i-don't-even-care-to-remember: *evil face emoji*
THE END
👽 Zara 👽 (3★) · 2884 likes
don’t know if i have the heart to tell my 14 year old self that charles and erik didn’t kiss
trin (2★) · 2727 likes
whole franchise ends with charles and erik in paris on a date, WHICH COULD MEAN NOTHING
nathan (2.5★) · 2159 likes
michael fassbender: whose blood is that?
sophie turner: can we talk about something else?
michael fassbender: whose blood is that?
sophie turner: literally anything else
michael fassbender: whose blood is that?
sophie turner: please, anything else
michael fassbender: whose blood is that?
sophie turner: ....
ME: IT’S JENNIFER FUCKING LAWRENCE’S, CAN WE PLEASE CRACK ON WITH THIS, I AM BEGGING YOU
Ralph (1★) · 2116 likes
It might not be the worst X-Men film, but it is definitely the most dull entry in the franchise.
2004 · Action, Adventure, Science Fiction · 2h 7m · PG-13 · Curator 8.2/10 (2.8M ratings) · Where to watch: Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, fuboTV, Netflix Standard with Ads
A benchmark for balancing power, responsibility, and personal collapse in a blockbuster framework.