Marvel May - The New Mutants (2020)

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and this is the last X-Men review for Marvel May . But, it wasn't intended to be so, as 20th Century Fox had several films planned for development, but all of them were scrapped either due to creative issues or because the Disney buyout of Fox caused them to be scrapped. For example, a Multiple Man movie was planned, and set to star James Franco, a Kitty Pryde solo movie was also planned, and a highly anticipated Gambit movie with Channing Tatum was in the works. Not to mention, a third Deadpool, an X-Force movie from director Jeff Wadlow, and more. Fox wanted to build stiff competition for Marvel Studios with the entire expansive catalog of characters and teams related to the X-Men. But, none of them were meant to be, and Disney was stuck with two movies, already produced, that needed to be released. First was Dark Phoenix, and finally we have the subject of today's review: The New Mutants.

         Released, or should I say, snuck into the public, in 2020, this movie focuses on a group of teenage mutants with powers so dangerous, they are kept in a hospital for their safety, and the protection of others. However, the primary doctor at the hospital, Dr. Cecelia Reyes, gives them false hope by telling them since they can control their powers better, then they will be allowed to join the Xavier School and join the X-Men. 

        Now, the mutant teens in this movie include Illyana Rasputin, Rahne Sinclair, Roberto da Costa, Sam Guthrie, and newest among them Danielle Moonstar. Each of them, somehow, had lives that resulted in tragedy, which landed them in the hospital. As the movie progresses, we see our main teens develop bonds, learn to better harness their powers, and we even see a bit of romance build between Dani and Rahne. Also, we learn that the hospital is but one of many projects assembled by the Essex Corporation (which was alluded to in a post-credits scene in X-Men: Apocalypse), and the teens were NEVER going to the Xavier Mansion. 

         And because of Dani's powers, physical manifestations of the teens' greatest fears and sources of trauma begin appearing throughout the hospital, and the teens, despite their fears, have to band together to stop these nightmares from destroying them all. And that's really all you.need to know about the story. 

        Honestly, I see where Josh Boone was trying to go with this movie, as teen survival horror was popular for quite a while, and still is. The idea of a sort of Paranormal Activity with mutants is kind of neat, but this just wasn't the property to do that kind of story with. Honestly, I have nothing against Fox wanting to do a horror film in the X-Men universe, but the New Mutants was the wrong offshoot team from the X-Men to do so with. 

        The line-up of the New Mutants team isn't bad, either. Teaming Danielle Moonstar/Mirage, Illyana Rasputin/Magik, Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane, Roberto da Costa/Sunspot, and Sam Guthrie/Cannonball together definitely works, and actors Blu Hunt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Henry Zaga, and Charlie Heaton all did an excellent job with their performances, and definitely showed the sense of tense fear that they're supposed to feel throughout the movie. Unfortunately, one of my favorite members of the New Mutants team, Amara Aquilla/Magma, wasn't included in the movie, which I found to be a bit disappointing, as I would have loved to see her in this movie. 

          The visual effects, while fine for a low-budget horror film, are just below passable for an X-Men movie. And, to end it all, Josh Boone did a decent enough job, but the themes of this movie, and the horror elements, just didn't work for this team. And the two-and-a-half year delay for this movie also wasn't worth it. Yeah, Fox delayed the film from its intended 2018 release date, with the plan being to go into reshoots to improve to a point. However, with Fox being acquired by Disney, it's unclear whether said reshoots happened, and ultimately the film was released based on what was already finished, and delayed further due primarily to COVID. So, this is yet another X-Men movie I can't fully recommend, and I'm giving The New Mutants a rating of 0.95/5. 

      Well, that's gonna wrap up the X-Men franchise. But, join me next Monday, as we'll be continuing Marvel May with the Blade trilogy. 

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