Over the years, there have been numerous instances where a
film had to be pushed back from its originally intended release date. The
reasons for this can often vary from film to film and range from scenarios such
as the need for reshoots after poor test screenings or, on a more somber note,
circumstances caused by outside forces that are completely beyond their control
like, say, a global pandemic. But while this is often a natural thing for films
to go through, today’s film, The New Mutants, is quite possibly one of
the most infamous films in recent memory if only because of how utterly long it
took for it to get released. To put all this into perspective, the latest installment
of the X-Men franchise was filmed in the summer of 2017 and was originally
set to come out on April 13th, 2018. It ultimately came out… on
August 26th, 2020. How did this happen, you ask? Well, when its
first delay was announced, it was reported that the film was set to undergo
some reshoots that would allow it to further embrace its horror elements.
However, by the time that the reshoots were set to happen, 20th Century
Fox was purchased by Disney, which meant that the X-Men franchise was
now under the control of Marvel Studios. Thus, this retroactively made The
New Mutants the final installment of one of the superhero genre’s most
prolific franchises as it awaits its inevitable reboot as part of the Marvel
Cinematic Universe. And yet, after several months without any major
developments, it was reported that the film was finally set to come out on
April 3rd, 2020, with its director, Josh Boone (The Fault in Our
Stars), revealing that the final cut of the film would largely be in line
with his original vision… and then came COVID-19. Thus, like almost all the
other blockbusters that were set to come out this year, the film was pushed
back yet again before finally being set for an August 28th
release, officially putting an end to its release schedule woes. And while it may
not be the kind of film whose quality matches its highly publicized reputation,
I will still give it credit for what it could potentially do for both the X-Men
franchise and the superhero genre going forward.
After an incident involving a mysterious force that ravages the
Native American reservation that she lives on, teenager Danielle ‘Dani’ Moonstar
(Blu Hunt) finds herself in a hospital run by Dr. Cecilia Reyes (Alice Braga).
Reyes informs Dani that she was the sole survivor of this attack and that she’s
been brought to her facility because she’s part of the mutant race and must
learn how to properly control her abilities. Dani soon meets the four other
teenaged mutants at the facility, including Rahne Sinclair (Maisie Williams),
who can transform into a wolf, sorceress Illyana Rasputin (Anya Taylor-Joy),
Samuel Guthrie (Charlie Heaton), who can propel himself like a cannonball, and
rich kid Roberto da Costa (Henry Zaga), who can manipulate solar energy. And
just like her, they’ve all experienced moments in their lives where their
abilities have resulted in unspeakable tragedies. Through their interactions
with one another, the quintet begins to speculate that Reyes is preparing them
to be transferred to Professor Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters so
that, naturally, they can join the X-Men. At the same time, though, they also start
to get inundated with disturbing nightmares revolving around the inciting moments
of their traumatic pasts. Because of this, they soon begin to realize that Dr.
Reyes’ facility is not the mutant sanctuary that they were led to believe it
was. Instead, they discover that Reyes is working for an organization that
plans on using their abilities for sinister purposes. And as it turns out, they’re
particularly interested in Dani because while she doesn’t quite know what her
powers are, they may have something to do with whatever caused the destruction
of her home.
One of the biggest selling points of The New Mutants is
that it’s a horror-themed superhero film which, if we’re mainly talking about
the films that have been released since 2008, is an approach that the superhero
genre hasn’t really tackled, for the most part. Now, obviously, there have been
plenty of horror-themed superhero projects over the years such as the ongoing Marvel
Zombies series and the horror genre, in general, has been a major part of the
comics industry for quite some time. However, when it comes to, specifically, films
based on Marvel and DC characters, the last major horror-themed superhero films
to come from either company were the Blade trilogy, 2005’s Constantine,
and the Ghost Rider films starring Nicolas Cage… all of which were made
in the time before the Marvel Cinematic Universe truly redefined the genre. With
all this in mind, The New Mutants deserves quite a bit of credit for its
willingness to tackle a genre that superhero films of the cinematic universe
era haven’t really addressed yet. Obviously, one’s thoughts on how effective
the film is at being a horror film may vary, but overall, it does deliver some
solidly effective horror imagery, which isn’t too surprising given that its
cinematographer, Peter Deming, has worked for the likes of Wes Craven and Sam
Raimi. And while I’ve very much gone on record about how I’m not much of a
comic reader, it seems like making a horror film with these particular
characters is an appropriate enough route to take given the serious nature of
the source material. This also means that this is a superhero film that
intentionally doesn’t try to be a big-budget, action-oriented outing like most
of the other films in the genre. As neat as this is, though, the film does suffer
from being a bit undercooked in some places when it comes to its story. Nothing
in here is ‘badly written’, for the record, but at the same time, those long-rumored
reshoots probably would’ve smoothed out a bunch of its rough edges.
It’s also clear that this film was heavily influenced by the
classic teen films that were made by John Hughes in the ’80s. Case in point,
you very much get a Breakfast Club vibe from these proceedings straight down
to it being about five main characters who overcome their differences as they
confront their current predicament and the adult authority figure who oppresses
them. Overall, it’s nice to see an X-Men film like this that’s based
entirely from the perspective of younger characters (and no, not in the X-Men:
First Class way), and sure enough, this film’s leads all do great jobs in their
respective roles, with the biggest standout of the bunch being the story’s main
protagonist, Blu Hunt as Dani Moonstar. Right from the get-go, Dani is immediately
established as the most sympathetic protagonist of the bunch, a status that is
then further exemplified by the touching romance that forms between her and Maisie
Williams’ Rahne. In other words, these two are very much the heart of the film,
which is good considering all the dark paths that are taken regarding the main
characters’ tragic backstories. Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton is
another solid standout as Sam who, like Dani and Rahne, is one of the more
sympathetic leads whereas the other two, Roberto and Illyana, start off by
being rather vindictive towards Dani. Illyana is usually the more mean-spirited
of the two although this is offset by her having the most disturbing backstory
of them all… plus, she’s the one who gets to headline all the film’s big action
sequences. And while Roberto (a character who was previously played by Adan
Canto in X-Men: Days of Future Past as one of the young mutants in that
film’s dystopian future) is arguably the least focused on member of the group,
he still manages to provide some solid comic relief by way of his nonchalant
persona. Finally, closing out the main cast is Alice Braga as Dr. Reyes, who
does a wonderful job of effectively blurring the line between being a seemingly
helpful mentor and the malevolent agent that she truly is.
At this point, it’s probably safe to say that The New
Mutants will ultimately be known more for all the time that it spent off
the release calendar rather than anything in the film itself. Reviews for it have
been mediocre at best, but as can often be the case, its low score on Rotten
Tomatoes doesn’t quite reflect its overall quality. Yes, I will agree that this
is a rather average entry in the superhero genre, but that doesn’t mean that it’s
‘bad’, per se. It’s just that, in this instance, the reshoots that were planned
for this film but ultimately never happened probably would’ve been quite helpful
in expanding upon some underdeveloped plot-threads. And yes, I stand by that statement
even though reshoots have been a controversial subject when it comes to recent
Fox-produced Marvel films such as Dark Phoenix and, most infamously, Fan4stic
due to how much they have impacted the quality of their films. For what it’s
worth, though, The New Mutants benefits greatly from its solid cast and
for its noble efforts to be one of the first big superhero horror films of the
genre’s modern era. And so, with that in mind, the best thing that I can say
about this film is that, while it’s far from perfect, it could very well serve
as a great showcase for two potential ways in which the superhero genre can
evolve going forward. For starters, I can only imagine the possibilities for
future superhero films that embrace the horror genre, especially given the
recent rise in quality that the horror genre, in general, has been experiencing.
In fact, the MCU is already developing a horror-themed superhero film of their
own by way of the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel right down to getting Sam
Raimi, one of the most iconic horror film directors in the industry, to direct
it. Another key aspect that could help influence future superhero films is the fact
that this is a film that largely revolves around a younger cast. Granted, this
technically isn’t something that’s new for the genre as it has been applied to
films like Spider-Man: Homecoming and Shazam, but if we’re
specifically talking about X-Men, I do think that this could be a unique
way to redevelop the Children of the Atom for their future debut in the MCU. If
anything, it could help remedy one of the most common criticisms that fans have
had with the X-Men films in that they often focused on a select few
characters (namely, Wolverine, Professor X, and Magneto) rather than emphasize
the franchise’s team dynamic.
But on that note, I also want to point out that one of the
most surreal aspects of this film is the fact that, as I noted earlier, it is,
officially, the final installment of the X-Men franchise. Now,
obviously, this isn’t that big of a surprise given that it was the last film
in the series that was made before Disney purchased Fox, but it’s still
quite fascinating that the final installment of one of the most prominent
franchises in the history of the superhero film genre… is a relatively minor
spin-off. And to be clear, it’s not like this film doesn’t try to connect
itself to the franchise because it does even if its primary connections aren’t
the things that drive the plot (i.e. while not directly mentioned in the film,
Anya Taylor-Joy’s Illyana is, technically, the sister of X-Men mainstay
Colossus). Still, you’d think that the distinction of being the last X-Men film
of the franchise’s original run would go to a mainline entry like Dark Phoenix
or, heck, even one of the Deadpool films given how successful they
were. And yet, given that Dark Phoenix was also subjected to a largely
negative reception, some have noted that how the series ultimately
concluded mirrors the typically mixed results that it often yielded. In other
words, this is a franchise that has had both the highest of highs (e.g. the Deadpool
films, Days of Future Past, Logan, and X2: X-Men United)
and the lowest of lows (e.g. Dark Phoenix (even though, as you may
recall, I personally liked it), X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and X-Men:
The Last Stand). Thus, as I alluded to earlier, we’re at a point now where
most folks are just waiting to see how the Marvel Cinematic Universe adapts these
characters after it had spent the last 12 years operating quite well without
them. And yet, as much as I am looking forward to seeing the MCU incarnations
of these classic characters, I must admit that the conclusion of the original X-Men
franchise makes me rather sad. Sure, I only truly got into it during the
latter half of its run, but films like First Class and Days of Future
Past helped shape my love for the superhero genre just as much as the MCU
films have done. And, of course, regardless of one’s thoughts on these films,
they were essential to the process of shaping this great genre into what it is today.
Rating: 3.5/5
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