We also see Sophie Turner, she of Game Of Thrones fame, take on the role of Jean Grey who becomes Phoenix. We first meet Jean as a little girl who has no real clue about the extent of her mutant powers. When she discovers their true power, it leads to a traumatic and tragic event that becomes a life changing event.

The origin side of the story takes its time to develop but in the film’s last reel, the crazy ramps up to considerable heights. There is a battle between an alien life force and almost the entire roster of X-Men and it is spectacular. Each of the X-Men’s powers are tested to the fullest and often times they come up short.

The underlining theme of this film as with many others in the franchise is the importance of family and not necessarily the one you are born with. It’s a valid inclusion The film in parts is amazing to look at but feels more like a charter of a bigger storyline than a self standing movie. Time will tell where the X-Men franchise goes from here.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/xmenmovies

Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. Wrestling with this entity inside her, Jean unleashes her powers in ways she can neither comprehend nor contain.

With Jean spiralling out of  control, and hurting the ones she loves most, she begins to unravel the very fabric that holds the X-Men together. Now, with this family falling apart, they must find a way to unite — not only to save Jean’s soul, but to save our very planet from aliens who wish to weaponize this force and rule the galaxy.

Staring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, and Jessica Chastain, Dark Phoenix is in Australian cinemas February 7, 2019!
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The great thing about the Wolverine spin off films is that they’re more humanist drama/action movies than they are traditional comic book adaptations. This applies even to the much-derided X-Men Origins: Wolverine. They represent a maturation of the comic book films that are freer to explore other genres outside the literally derived, primary-coloured storyboard format.

James Mangold’s two Wolverine films – this one and its predecessor, The Wolverine – are a particular case in point. Absent are the ridiculous spandex suits which would be more at place in Strictly Ballroom, and in their place are civilian clothes, gritty drama, bloody violence and even (gasp) boobs! The gratuitous brutality and potty-mouth language are more at home in a Tarantino flick than an X-Men movie and that’s not where the comparisons with Tarantino end. Interestingly, Mangold’s films share much with Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 with his first Wolverine film being an ‘Eastern’ (samurai/kung fu) and his second, a Western featuring our favourite grumpy lone wolf bladeslinger reluctantly defending those in need. Indeed Mangold even goes so far as to explicitly cite the Western classic, Shane, as if to drive home the reference. This does, however, make these two films an admirably unique duo within the Marvel film canon.

Both Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart have publicly confirmed their departure from the X-Men franchise with this film and Logan is a good one to go out on. Largely casting off the shackles which usually restrict seasoned thespians in these types of roles, both have the freedom here to explore the idiosyncratic minutiae of their respective characters, allowing them to shine as performers like no other Marvel film before it. And we know from Jackman and Stewart’s performances elsewhere that they are certainly up to this task.

The other standout is young Dafne Keen who gives a performance reminiscent of Natalie Portman in Leon. While she may not say much, it is a fine internalised performance with much depth. There’s a future career to look out for.

There remains a couple of major plot point omissions (continuity errors, perhaps?) such as how on earth did Wolverine get his adamantium claws back after they were so dramatically excised in the previous solo film? And there still hasn’t been a straightforward explanation as to how Xavier returned from being obliterated by Jean Grey in X-Men 3: The Last Stand. (Yes, I know they implanted his mind in another body – but the same crippled body…?) Given that these are two major features of the story arc, it’s amazing that Mangold manages to get away with it. But it’s a measure of his overall level of quality that we can so easily turn a blind eye to these seeming blatant oversights.

Stuart Jamieson
www.facebook.com/TheWolverineMovie

X-Men: Apocalypse will apparently bring to a close the early and formative story of the X-Men and it’s been a bit of an uneven ride. It started with the youth oriented X-Men: First Class (which followed in the steps of the first adult X-Men film by doing a good job of establishing the characters) then built more momentum with the hybrid X-Men: Days of Future Past (which had a more involving storyline) and then squanders most of that momentum with this latest film.
 

 
Director Bryan Singer seems to have been too easily seduced by all the toys in his toy box. With all the visual effects available to the modern director, Singer ends up throwing so many wow visual moments at you, Professor Xavier (James McAvoy), Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and the rest of the crew just get lost in the shuffle. Even new baddie Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) can’t really transcend the makeup and bombast.

Seen in isolation, X-Men: Apocalypse is a bit disappointment but watching this as the end of a what is a quite engage trilogy might be a more fulfilling experience.

Rob Hudson
www.foxmovies.com