It’s 2019 and we have another exciting version forming part of the overall X-Men franchise called Dark Phoenix, officially in cinemas nationwide this Friday. Consisting of a blockbuster cast anyone would be proud to boast in one setting, Dark Phoenix is a movie many have a keen eye on. In light of all the above it was always going to be interesting to see what the initial reactions were going to be, we’ve had a look and it’s not good, in fact according to various critics Dark Phoenix just might be one of the worst in the entire franchise. Disheartening yes but was that ever going to deter us? Definitely not as we like to make up our own minds. So, is it really that bad?

Cast – James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp & Jessica Chastain

Directors – Simon Kinberg

Genre – Sci-fi/Action

Running Time – 1h 54m

So the great news is Dark Phoenix is not the worst X-Men movie nor is it the worst movie to watch generally. Having said that though it’s also not that great or mind blowing, it simply does a job. When you look at the overall franchise, Dark Phoenix definitely doesn’t compare with the likes of Logan and Days of Future Past, two legendary movies that are not only the best in the overall franchise but also superb movies generally.

From an entertainment point of view, this movie provides it’s fair share of that with some great sequences and fights rendered, this is something we found ourselves enjoying quite a bit. Where it falls short is all the other stuff in between, from the plot (which we found a bit lacking) to the villains (something that is crucial in a movie like this). On the latter, there’s just not enough time spent on the character origins/development which tends to defeat the purpose. The ending was also a bit simplistic and left most things up in the air.

Dark Phoenix is by no means a bad movie, we have seen way worse before and this isn’t even close.  With a running time of just under two hours (which is way short for a movie like this) we feel more time could have been spent on further finessing an initial intriguing story line. If it was a general standalone movie then it probably would have received a good enough review but because it’s an X-Men movie (which is an iconic and legendary franchise) it just has too much legacy and history to compete with. Not the worst but also not that great, still worth a watch though. It gets a 6.5 out of 10 rating from us.

Thank you to the brilliant folk at MNet Movies (in association with Ster Kinekor) for the cool screening.

Picking up in 1992 after the events of X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix follows the X-Men as they attempt to defuse the rapidly growing and increasingly erratic powers of friend-turned-foe Jean Grey, played by Sophie Turner. Based on the trailer? We say… Yeah, good luck with that.

Featuring a powerhouse cast that can make anyone drool, we know we did, Sophie Turner stars alongside James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, and Jessica Chastain. Dark Phoenix hits cinemas on 7 June 2019.

Cast – James McAvoy, Bruce Willi, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson & Samuel L. Jackson

Director – M. Night Shyamalan

Genre – Drama/Fantasy

Running Time – 2h 9m

From Unbreakable, Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn as does Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, known also by his pseudonym Mr. Glass. Joining from Split are James McAvoy, reprising his role as Kevin Wendell Crumb and the multiple identities who reside within, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, the only captive to survive an encounter with The Beast. Following the conclusion of Split, Glass finds Dunn pursuing Crumb’s superhuman figure of The Beast in a series of escalating encounters, while the shadowy presence of Price emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.

Glass is unlike anything you are going to see anytime soon. As mentioned it takes its cue and is part of a trilogy that started with Unbreakable, a movie released back in 2000 and introduced us to the characters David Dunn (Bruce Willis) and Elijah Price aka Mr Glass (Samuel L. Jackson). This was then taken a step further with Split released in 2016. All the aforementioned movies were overseen by M. Night Shyamalanthe, the same creator and director of Glass.

For the entertainment factor the movie definitely has that especially the absorbing and out of this world performance from James McEvoy, we didn’t expect anything less from him to be honest. Samuel L. Jackson also comes through with a strong performance as the enigmatic mastermind Mr Glass, the only let down is Bruce Willis who despite his best efforts in his role as David Dunn, the character seems a bit forced and out of place.

There’s more that could have been done with the movie we also feel, despite its entertaining patches we were disappointed by its conceptual plot and how everything was carried out. Considering how Split was set up, Glass pales into comparison and we feel it’s an opportunity lost. Unbreakable we haven’t seen yet so we can’t quite say how this compares to it. If anything, Glass promises a great platform but falls short of delivering an epic classic.

Glass is a great conceptual movie that was perfectly built up through its predecessors Unbreakable and Split. Despite leaving us with several questions and the feeling of it falling short, it does provide some thrilling moments. No doubt that the main highlight of the movie is James McEvoy who in his role as multiple characters delivers a spectacular performance. If anything, you need to go and see the movie just for his performance. With all that said, Split gets a decent 6 out 10 rating from us. A decent enough watch that you will do best to go checkout for yourself and make up your own mind about. It’s officially in cinemas from today.

Special thanks to MNet Movies (in partnership with Ster Kinekor) for the great screening, as usual.