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Dim, er Dark Phoenix Review

Barry

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Dim, er Dark Phoenix Review
« on: June 07, 2019, 09:03:56 PM »
    Review of the Dark Phoenix, maybe the Dim Phoenix.

With eh X-Men the second time is tries to be the charm, in this mild remake of the third X-Men movie.  But the first X-Men were a failure too in the comics.

You don’t have to read this part:
True story: In 1963 Stan Lee was tired of writing origin stories. So he came up with the idea to create a comic called “The Mutants.”  How did they get their powers? Stan would say, “They were born with them.” The publisher did not think that people would know what mutants were, so they called the team “the X-Men.) Stan would later say, why would they know what the X-Men were?

As always in the 1950s and 1960s, women in comics, even at Marvel were given minor roles and treated like children. While a teen aged Peter Parker became Spider-MAN, Jean Grey, a mutant, was called Marvel GIRL.  As with the Invisible GIRL of the Fantastic Four she was treated as a sidekick.

The only cancellations Marvel had in the 1960s were The Hulk, Dr. Strange, Nick Fury of SHIELD and the X-Men. The X-Men was just not developed well.

As Marvel became an international company in the 1970s they wanted to create a group that had international characters, so they brought back the X-Men in 1975. Written by Chris Claremont it had a remarkable revival and became one of the most popular series era.  Part of that was his introduction and strengthening of the female characters, especially Jean Grey, who becomes the Phoenix in issues 101-108 (1976) when she gains additional powers in outer space.
Other than an origin, Dark Phoenix (#129-138) is near the top of the top ten stories ever told in comics.

The conclusion of the Dark Phoenix saga in the comics is NOT what the writers had planned.  As the Phoenix Grey had committed the murder of a billion people, but now was cured. EXCEPT the editor, when he got the story, was concerned that it would NOT pass the censors. So he had the original ending rewritten where Jean dies. (Marvel later puiblished the original ending.

Now you can read about the movie:
This was not the worst super-hero movie I have seen. The Spirit was. It was not the worst movie I have ever seen.  The Spirit was, but this is the least enjoyable X-Men movie (there have been 12) that was made. I guess I give it a grade of C.  If you have NOT seen an X-Men before don’t bother with this one.  You might want to wait for cable.

I saw this in an Imax theatre. The photography was good here and the special effects were fine, but mostly not special. Good surround was often negating by a noisy, obtrusive soundtrack.

Not boring but underdone the writing here is just not up to many of the original X-Men movies.  The cast, perhaps because of the writing and poor direction seem to phone in their parts.  This is especially true of Jennifer Lawrence, who I think, is a terrific young actress, but she is not given anything to really do here. Everyone else, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbinder were certainly just okay given the strange plotline.

The movie tries to be both an origin movie and an epilogue and succeeds in neither, bouncing from past to present. Sophie Turner, as Jean Grey, does well and is given a zillion close-ups. But we saw a lot of the in X-Men 3 and so we know how it will turn out.

This i the endgame of Fox's 12 picture run of the X-Men. They had run out of ideas with X-Men Apocalypse. Instead of bringing in new creative people they gave this movie over to the writer of the disappointing X-Men 3. Maybe a complete reboot will help.  Sit throughable but nothing special, wait for the next Spider-Man movie.

Small spoiler alert:
I was turned off, by the opening shot of the X-Men in 1985 asked to save a trouble space shuttle.  Why? The Space Shuttle (launched by a rocket) was man’s first reusable spacecraft and the X-Men rescue it with a jet plane that can go into space.  If we had that jet we would not need a space shuttle.  So the beginning was not relevant and a bit silly.



« Last Edit: June 07, 2019, 10:16:21 PM by Barry »
McIntosh MX170 Controller: Projector JVC DLA-RS4100; Screen: Stuart StudioTek130: Amps: McIntosh MC-611(center),MC1.25KW (lf&rt);  Krell S-1500 Atmos/Surround; 4kDVD Panasonic UB9000; Speakers: Revel Ultima Salon 2, Ultima Voice 2, (Surround) W 990, Atmos C763L; Subs: SVS SB-13 Ultras;  Cable: 4K Verizon; Broadcast: Mediasonic HW-150PVR; Wiring: Shunyata; Apple TV,

tripplej

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Re: Dim, er Dark Phoenix Review
« Reply #1 on: June 08, 2019, 08:41:16 AM »
Thanks for the review and the historical details. I will catch this movie on blu ray. :)
Samsung UN75F8000 LED TV, NAD T-777 (7.2 Receiver), Oppo 103, Sony PS4, Panamax MR-5100, 7 Paradigm Reference series 8" in ceiling speakers (AMS-150R) - 30 degree tilting speakers, 2 Paradigm SE Sub, universal remote MX-450, universal advanced RF base station MRF-3501

Re: Dim, er Dark Phoenix Review
« Reply #2 on: June 08, 2019, 10:48:18 AM »
Thanks for saving me the trouble of going to the theater. I'll wait for the UHD to arrive :)
Blu-ray Reviewer / Technical Writer
Sound & Vision Magazine

Re: Dim, er Dark Phoenix Review
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2019, 10:24:34 PM »
Thanks for saving me the trouble of going to the theater. I'll wait for the UHD to arrive :)
I told you so. It is that bad. 
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AVSCraig

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Re: Dim, er Dark Phoenix Review
« Reply #4 on: June 22, 2019, 11:19:12 AM »
I'll pass on this. 
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We carry projectors, screens, speakers, receivers etc. !!
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Barry

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Re: Dim, er Dark Phoenix Review
« Reply #5 on: June 22, 2019, 12:21:50 PM »
Smart move
McIntosh MX170 Controller: Projector JVC DLA-RS4100; Screen: Stuart StudioTek130: Amps: McIntosh MC-611(center),MC1.25KW (lf&rt);  Krell S-1500 Atmos/Surround; 4kDVD Panasonic UB9000; Speakers: Revel Ultima Salon 2, Ultima Voice 2, (Surround) W 990, Atmos C763L; Subs: SVS SB-13 Ultras;  Cable: 4K Verizon; Broadcast: Mediasonic HW-150PVR; Wiring: Shunyata; Apple TV,

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