Review of new mutants: Fox X-Men movies end with Whimper

Two years later, five release dates and a global pandemic, New mutants Is here.

A group of mutant teenagers is learning to collect their superpowers with the help of the mysterious doctor Cecilia Reyes (Alice Braga), or is the one who has led them to believe. X-Men Spin Off F by co-writer-director Josh Boone (Fault in our Stars) Lame from plot point to point until finished innocently. A film that can roar on the screens rarely makes a sound.

I got into it New mutants With low expectations. Amidst the delays, Disney and 20th Century are not providing press screeners during the global epidemic, and Josh Boone’s recent statements about casting for the role of Roberto aka Sunspot (Henry Zaga), a cloud is hanging there.

But I still had questions. How will Boone do the iconic “Monster Bear Saga” (translation) of Chris Claremont and Bill Cinquez?New mutants # 18-20) For the big screen? Unfortunately he’s not really ready to make a film boon.

No characters New mutants As if Stephen King had written it is squeezed into the plot One flew over the cuckoo’s nest, Especially when not suing anyone. The superhero moves from the horror-movie horror scenes to the teen-flick with attitude and chill vibes, but he never fully embodies one direction or the other, leaving it unaffected.

And where is Boone New mutants Intended to scare, it’s easy. The film’s lead role in the opening scene, Daniel “Dani” Monster / Mirage (Blue Hunt), shows her being dragged into the woods by her father as they are chased by a monster bear. Deep nods, low throbbing, atmospheric lighting and the screams of a literal man from the fire must have given me a kind of emotional response. He did not. Boone may be a fan of the “monster bear” story, but he doesn’t bring the audience along. The climax of the film is nice to watch, but it’s not so interesting to tolerate more bear depth. It exists. Much like this movie.

Photo: Claire Folger

Three times Dani repeated the proverb of the demonic bear: “Every man has two bears inside, he is always locked in the battle of your soul. A bear is good at all things: compassion, love, faith. Everything else is evil: fear, shame, and self-destruction. ”

New mutants The latter seems like an expression. From the script’s point of view, Boone never goes out of his way to let cinematography, music or artists do their work, stepping on moments that work by explaining to the audience what they are seeing with otherwise unnecessary performances.

Ileana aka Magic (another Taylor-Joy) puts Roberto in a false detector bar. It takes no effort to understand that it is a lie detector. Ileana asks Roberto a question. He answers with obvious lies. He then tells the group that he knocked Roberto on the wrong detector. Adolescents don’t really talk to each other like this, mutants or not. No one does this.

New mutants There’s little recognition for bringing queer romance to the big screen, but it’s almost funny that the relationship itself grows so fast; A buck to test. The sad thing is, it’s better than any other big budget superhero flick. It doesn’t make it a functional romance.

Adapting any comic book to the screen is a challenge, and the carbon-copy approach can be as skillful as loose translation. The real problem with New mutants There is a failure to move beyond the superficial. Boone assigns teenage mutants to teen clicks, such as the girl in a misunderstood joke (Sunspot) or Dark Back Story (Magic) and the audience expects something to be felt as there is a violin playing in the background.

Photo: Claire Folger

Yet she is positioned as the lead New mutants, Dani has hardly been given a chance to grow as a character. All the emotional development of the film takes place Around By her, other cast members. It’s a missed opportunity for donors and audiences, and a real shame for Native Americans considering the absolute rarity of the lead roles. Boone also had the opportunity to update the humor (featuring his own problematic depictions of race and ethnicity) but he was never the man for the job.

Wrote the script for Boone New mutants With childhood friend Nate Lee. What he means by “monster bear saga” is reflected in the original story of Rahne Sinclair / Wolfsben (Massey Williams) who grew up in an Uber-religious house. No coincidence then, that Rahne looks more like a movie star than a donor.

The beautiful way in which Claremont and Cenquix presented their laughter was a true horror of growing up. It’s messy, it’s horrible. The body keeps changing, the mind changes and the fear grows so great and it is impossible to be with them so quickly. No element of the original “monster bear” story ever felt like an afterschool special. It felt raw, scary and real. He pushed the boundaries of sequential storytelling, but also told his young readers that they could expect more from themselves and the art they crafted.

New mutants Doesn’t look like a movie made for teenagers. It also rarely feels like a movie made about teenagers.