The newest series of X-Men films (beginning with 2011's X-Men: First Class) appears to be drawing to a close after four movies, with the underwhelming Dark Phoenix.
Written and directed by Simon Kinberg, Dark Phoenix sees the telepathic Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) become uncontrollably powerful after an encounter with a mysterious celestial force. Invading aliens (led by Jessica Chastain) want to use Grey's new power for their own sinister ambitions, while the rest of the X-Men (James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, and others) scramble to fix things.
The biggest problem Dark Phoenix has is on the screenwriting level. Grey is the character with the arc in this story, but the movie focuses more on everyone else trying to deal with her newfound powers than it focuses on her. Even a good superhero movie needs a character arc, and while Grey has one here, the movie makes the mistake of keeping viewers at arm's length from that character.
The action scenes are serviceable, and Dark Phoenix is not a bad film, but it is a highly forgettable one.
