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LaaF…Culture!

“random musings and unfounded theories with pop culture”

June 8, 2019 “Dark Phoenix” Almost Rose From the Ashes, But I Still Root for the X-Men Over the Avengers. 

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3 Sentence Review: 

“Dark Phoenix” was definitely an improvement over the “Last Stand” but, sadly, it still fell short of capturing the heart of the original story (for the life of me I don’t understand why they chose the SAME writer as “Last Stand” and you could feel the fact there there were NO female writers, that helped make the first ones in this series so much better than the last two entries).  The first two thirds of the film were solid, keeping me engaged with compelling human conflicts, but the last third of the film, although pulling off some great action scenes (a hard feat to pull off in this day and age), felt rushed to simply hit plot points without weaving them well together (reminiscent of the last season of GoT), not helped by the lack of dynamic range in the performance of our title character (GoT is not enough to justify the choice of Turner to play the role).  Yet, the film was still true to the spirit of what made this series shine, working through the gravity of consequences when there is trauma untended and family that is found when you’re an outcast.    7/10

 

Why I Still Root for the X-Men Over the Avengers:

I believe I will always have affinity for the X-Men over the Avengers.  Not only because I grew up collecting X-Men comics with such awesome art (John Bryne, Jim Lee) but because they felt like the underdogs that I could relate to more and wanted to root for.  The Avengers live in a world that generally accepts and respects them.  The X-Men live in a world that fears and misunderstands them…a world in which they must constantly prove their worth just to live.  The core members of the Avengers had enough power  and charm to exist on their own (and each had their own comic books before banding together).  The X-Men exist from conception as a team, having to work together as a team to survive, synching the way they fight to play off each others strengths, even their maturation as characters is in relationship to each other – they would not be complete without each other (even Wolverine would not be the Wolverine that we’ve come to know and love without Charles and the young mutants he often takes under his wing).  The Avengers characters seem much more homogenous (most are white males with some sort of OP based on brute strength).  While the diversity of the X-Men (most famous for the Uncanny team that came together in the 70s: different countries, different genders, wildly different powers) not only made them look interesting it gave them an unmatched kind of synergy.  As a young awkward nerdy Asian-American kid, who felt on the outside for much of his life, the X-Men were a team that I was drawn too and dreamed to see realized in the world.

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