Living out in not very populated areas can have its advantages and the one I took advantage of was that I could potentially go to the movie theater again without many people to be there with me to see New Mutants. I was proven correct as the showing I went to on Friday consisted of myself and four other people for a room that typically holds around 50 people. That said in the future I will try to aim to be the only person in a viewing so I can feel safer about sitting in a room in a public business for well over an hour.
All that aside, I enjoyed the movie, even though it is far from perfect. As an X-Men fan there was plenty to enjoy if I did not get too hung up on the movie being more in the spirit of the story it was based on and not a more direct adaption. Because there are some large departures from the source material with pretty mixed results.
Since it has been a couple of days since I watched the movie I do not feel right doing a review. I do want to just get my thoughts out though, thus this post. That said it does mean getting into spoilers so keep reading at your own risk.
Spoilers under the picture.
The movie feels like someone was given a written rundown of the characters and the comic book story line and then were left to interpret it however they saw fit. And I shy from calling it like fan fiction as some of the choices made with the movie does not feel like it comes from someone who would be a fan of the comics and/or comic book characters. Take for instance the decision to make Dani and Rahne lesbians and in love with each other, even though shipping for the characters in this movie would favor Illyana to be lesbian and Sam and Roberto being a gay couple. Not to mention some questionable casting choices.
I honestly did not even realize that Sunspot was in the movie, as I assumed it was another character from the X-franchise that they were using, until I saw a tweet bringing up that Roberto was being played by a light skinned Latino actor instead of a darker skinned one to reflect how he looks in the comics. And after seeing the movie there is really no good reason why the director could not have decided to have a darker skinned actor play the part. And the fact that the movie gives us a glimpse of Roberto's girlfriend from Brazil in a photo with him and she is darker skinned makes this casting decision more confusing.
Dr. Reyes is such a weird choice to even be in this movie as there is almost nothing about her comic counter part, Cecilia Reyes, that is reflected outside of the fact they are both doctors and their power set. In fact in the credits the character is listed as just Dr. Reyes,which seemed pretty spot on. Though her casting does give us a second time a dark skinned Latinx character in the movie is cast with a light skinned Latinx actor. Which is just not a good look at all.
Then there is the fact that some things just do not hold up if you take a moment to think about it. The biggest glaring example of this is Illyana and how in the world she is trapped there when she can teleport. At first the movie just shows her armored arm and soul sword, so one can assume that is the extent of her powers, but then it introduces limbo and the fact that Illyana can teleport herself there. It could possibly try to explain that she has to return to the place she disappeared from but later she can be seen teleporting to a different location. Why she does not just teleport through the force field keeping everyone on the grounds is never once given anything close to an explanation. And that is not even the only major thing about her that is not explained. In the movie she has a puppet Lockheed that she carries around then during the big battle at the end Lockheed becomes an actual dragon for a while before turning back into a puppet again. Not once is it explained or even really remarked/reacted to. It just happens. And if it is to be explained that it is a part of Illyana's magic powers it gets more puzzling as magic is never set up in the movie, let alone in the Fox X-Men movie universe.
The jump to Dani having no control over her powers to being able to gain complete control over them to save the day at the end came off as weak. It just feels like there is a step/scene missing to show that she even has the potential to gain that control before mastering it all. It is a pity there were no reshoots, as this could have been a quick fix that could have been done then.
That all said for the things I liked, Illyana just steals all the scenes she is in. I loved Sam, especially since he was never made into a stereotype. Loved the Dani/Rahne romance. It is just so sweet. Also loved that the movie looked to be the first step to introducing Mr. Sinister. Of course that introduction will not happen now, but it did a great job setting it up. Also loved the use of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer clips as a way to foreshadow plot points. It was nice short hand that helped keep things moving with everything the movie was trying to cover. Loved just seeing the teens just interacting together and bonding. I love stories about friendships.
Overall not a bad movie even with its flaws. Something I think most will be happy enough to just enjoy as a rental or on a streaming service.
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