Dark Phoenix Parent Guide

On a mission to save the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, the X-Men encounter a massive wave of…something in space. Although they rescue the crew, Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) doesn’t make it out of the shuttle in time and is hit by the anomaly. When the wave passes, the rest of the X-Men find her floating in space, as healthy as ever. Upon their return to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, they realize Jean might not be as well as she seems, and worse still, her powers might be growing out of control…

There are quite a few things I liked about this film. For one, this is the only X-Men movie that confronts Charles Xavier’s (James McAvoy) manipulative behavior and its consequences in any depth. Other entries in the franchise usually hold him up as some uncompromising moral hero, although his mistakes frequently have serious consequences. Dark Phoenix also takes a more compassionate view of Erik Lensherr, aka Magneto (Michael Fassbender), who has been a dubiously relatable villain in the past. In this film, he is less a villain and more a penitent, albeit conflicted and reluctant, hero. By avoiding the trap of having one ultimate hero and one ultimate villain, Dark Phoenix can take a more nuanced look at its characters, with all their flaws and complexities.

On the downside, the film’s pacing is a bit wonky. The first two acts feel reined in, not slow exactly, just taking their time with the characters and subjects. By act three, things speed up, but rather than giving a sense of accelerating intensity, the movie just starts to feel rushed. Maybe that’s part of the reason I found it vaguely unsatisfying. Without spoiling anything, I found that by the end of the film most characters seemed to be at a status quo ante, despite the massive consequences and events stemming from the plot. Sure, the leads do some shuffling around and make some new choices, but most characters seem completely unaffected. When you’re one of the first superhero movies to come out after Avengers: Endgame, you’ve got to bring something more impressive to the table than the leftovers of X-Men 3: The Last Stand with a dash of Captain Marvel.

Parental concerns are going to be about the same as with other superhero movies, with violence being the primary issue. This film is slightly more graphic than some others in the franchise – leading to its very appropriate PG-13 rating - but less brutal than Endgame or Infinity War. And although it gets an automatic C grade from us for having one extreme profanity, there’s very little other cussing.

Dark Phoenix isn’t objectionable or bad, but that doesn’t make it great. Fans of X-Men or the superhero genre in general will probably find something to like in the film, and it’s not a terrible way to spend two hours despite its uneven pacing. Call me old fashioned, but I’ll take the corny early-2000’s X-Men films over this any day. With Hugh Jackman owning the role of Wolverine and Sirs Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart bringing a quiet dignity to the project, those movies have a special place in my heart. The special effects are worse, but they’re more fun to watch.