The New Mutants ⭐️⭐️
This is a frustrating movie. It doesn’t go full in on being a superhero film nor the promise of being horror is spoiled by not being scary (enough). What we’re left with is a mostly one setting drama often poorly straddling two genres.
“But then, I was disappointed when they didn’t give Dani braids, although I like Blu Hunt,” he added. “I was disappointed when Rahne wasn’t a redhead with spiky hair, although I adore Maisie Williams. I was disappointed that Sam isn’t tall and gawky, although I do like Charlie Heaton. But mainly I was very disappointed that Roberto isn’t short and dark-skinned. Yet another example of Hollywood white-washing. There’s just no excuse. So basically, Josh Boone erased everything I contributed to the way the characters look. And now, the movie has come out at last, and apparently they’ve credited someone named Bob Macleod as co-creator. They couldn’t even be bothered to check the spelling of my name sometime in the last three years. And that can’t be fixed. That will be on the movie forever. I think I’m done with this movie.”
The New Mutants Director Deletes Instagram Following Film’s Debut
… you’ve been warned, SPOILERS ahead …
Superheroes need multiple settings to put their powers on display
My biggest problem with this film was how boring it was having these young X-Men mutants confined to a hospital. The confinement is boring. Mutants need to fly to wondrous places, if you have fire, then you need to burn some stuff besides yourself, if you have a weaponized arm, you need to shoot something.
Alas, every super power is constrained, trapped in this prison like the graphic above, an indentation of what could be, but not what is.
Yeah, this doesn’t work for a superhero story. Not even an anti-hero story. It might work as a drama, but waking up in a hospital is very cliched.
The acting was … not very good
The actors didn’t have much to work with, granted, but they didn’t do much with what they had either. Did they read this script before signing on to star in the film? I guess it was like, “cool, we’re making a Marvel movie!” instead of, “read the script, it blows, no thanks.”
How dare I suggest to actors that sometimes they should pass on projects, but this is one of them.
Zero desire to see another New Mutants story
Maybe not even zero, can we talk negative numbers? We gave this two stars? If not for the promise of what it could have been, I don’t see why. The more I think back to the feeling watching the movie, the less I liked the experience. Not entertaining, mostly boring, but brief flashes showing it had potential.
Sigh. This is not, not, not the movie to get moviegoers back after the pandemic.
Reviews by Others
What do others think of The New Mutants?
Recommended
- Black Gekikara: “I am envious of you Americans who get to witness this in IMAX and I pray that they release the UNCUT version with the bluray! It is so obvious it was cut down and while they still managed to keep the story streamlined, it was too much water-down! Put some meat back on that bone and throw it down my throat Fox!!!!”
- Cinema Spotlight / Jason: “It’s flaws lie in its lack of conviction as its cross-genre approach has potential but in the end the final product feels too safe and self-limited to take full advantage of its broader goals and ideas. I still found it quite enjoyable and, considering that the planned trilogy is all but canceled at this point, it works well enough as a standalone film with its own identity to warrant some rewatchablity.”
- Elena Square Eyes (3/5): “…is just fine really. It could’ve been scarier, and it could’ve delved more into these characters, so it doesn’t end up fulfilling the potential of its concept. It has a 90 minute runtime and you do feel that, an extra 20 minutes could’ve done wonders for character development and allowed for scenes to breathe as it was hard to gauge how long Danielle and the others had been in the facility before everything went wrong.”
- Funk’s House of Geekery (6/10): “When you balance out the solid casting and engaging actors with the shonky script and cheesy dialogue you get a mid-level movie among the X-Men franchise. It’s unlikely to kick things back into gear, but it’s not a waste of your time.”
- Plain Simple Tom Reviews: “Not terrible, yet also nothing special, The New Mutants has a decent story and setting, as well as a standout performance from Anya Taylor-Joy, but it doesn’t bring anything new to the franchise and will be forgotten about before too long.”
- TL;DR Movie Reviews: “In the end, do we recommend The New Mutants? Well, look, sure. It is a perfectly okay film, and if you are a fan of the mutants, there might be some fun moments seeing them brought to the big screen. But if you are looking for a final chapter, this is not the film for you. “
Not Recommended
- 9 Takes / Menkaure IX (4/10): “Overall, the movie is entertaining, but it lacks the star and acting power to elevate it to the same league as other Marvel entries. While tolerable as it was, it just feels like an unremarkable B-movie.”
- Alex Wiggan / It’s A Stampede: “So, after all this time, after all the countless stories and rumours about the quality of the movie, and after all back-and-forth over the release dates, is The New Mutants any good? No. No it is not.”
- Jason / Jason’s Movie Blog: “…doesn’t quite live up to its own inherit hype and ultimately comes across as a almost predictable hodgepodge mess of film genres and concept ideas that might sound good on paper, but lack the substance execution in reality to make everything flow properly.”
- Keith & The Movies (1.5/5): “It’s pretty clear the countless production hurdles and delays took their toll. He still deserves credit for sticking by the project and all those involved and seeing it through. I just wish the results were better. Instead “The New Mutants” is a hard-to-embrace grind”
- Matthew Liedke on Film (2/5): “…despite leaning into horror territory, never really goes all the way with it. The film just isn’t all that scary, and most fans of the horror genre will just see another superhero action flick with some scarier antagonists.”
- Often Off Topic: “I feel very ‘meh’ about this movie. What’s with the kids’ powers? One bursts into flames, is that not an existing X-Men power? Another is basically a wolf. One can…move really quickly. Then there’s Anya Taylor-Joy’s character Illyana, arguably the coolest character of the bunch”
- PopCult: “…is a total waste of resources on characters that deserved so much better. Boone & Lee take elements from the Chris Claremont/Bill Sienkiewicz run on the title but remix them in a wholly uninteresting and cliched way. The interpersonal dynamics feel half-hearted, and cookie-cutter, especially the way Illyana is presented.”
- Screen Zealots / Louisa (2/5): “…a young adult franchise that probably won’t go anywhere after this cinematic entry, and I won’t be losing any sleep over it.”
- Trailer Trashed: “…now ‘The New Mutants’ is finally here, it is just so disappointing. I mean I wasn’t expecting to be blown away, I am well past the point of expecting any X-Men related property to wow me in any way. But I was hoping for at least a semi-scary, entertaining story about kids with weird superpowers. “
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