X Men – Matthew Liedke on Film

REVIEW: ‘Dark Phoenix’ shows a franchise burnout for the ‘X-Men’

Back in 2006, I, like many others, were largely disappointed with “X-Men: The Last Stand,” the supposed finale of the series to that point. Amazingly, “Dark Phoenix” has upstaged “Last Stand,” proving to be a finale even worse.

“Phoenix” takes place a few years after the events of “X-Men: Apocalypse.” Following the defeat of Apocalypse, the X-Men have become a sort of emergency response team and because of their helpful actions, mutants are better respected.

However, trouble begins forming after the team’s latest mission, where Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) is hit by some sort of energy during an attempt to save a space shuttle crew. It turns out the energy is a legendary power that makes Jean’s powers more unstable and brings out an aggressive side of her personality. Additionally, an alien force led by the character Vuk (Jessica Chastain) is after the power.

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REVIEW: ‘Logan’ Is A Perfect Last Hurrah For Jackman

After being an integral piece in the film that helped launch the 2000s superhero blockbuster craze more than a decade ago, the time has finally come for Hugh Jackman’s final adventure as the clawed mutant in “Logan.”

The film follows the titular character, commonly known as Wolverine, as an aging man who is struggling to get through his day-to-day life. He works a dead-end job, his healing powers are weakening, he’s being poisoned by the very metal that’s in him and he has to take care of a sick Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart).

As Xavier’s brain illness worsens, problems increase for Logan when he comes in contact with a young mutant named Laura (Dafne Keen). Logan and Xavier soon learn that Laura was part of an underground mutant experiment and is on the run. As a result, the three are forced to stay on the move and find a safe haven.

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X-Men: Days of Future Past review

Director:
Bryan Singer
Cast:
Hugh Jackman
James McAvoy
Michael Fassbender
Jennifer Lawrence
Peter Dinklage
Rated: PG-13

So many X-Men characters, so little time, but plenty of time travel.

The seventh film in the “X-Men” franchise and the first to return some of the characters from the original trilogy, “Days of Future Past” starts off in a “Terminator” like atmosphere. The film takes place in the not so distant future with much of the mutant race either dead or in hiding and the human race not doing too well either.

The reason for the devastation is summed up in an opening expository dialogue by Patrick Stewart playing Charles Xavier. It’s explained that some time after the events of “The Wolverine,” robots, titled Sentinals, were unleashed to hunt down mutants with the ability to adapt to any power they are faced with.

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The Wolverine review

The latest film belonging to the “X-Men” franchise takes place a few years after the end of “Last Stand.” Logan, played by Hugh Jackman, known as Wolverine, is now living on his own in the wilderness. He is haunted by nightmares on a constant basis and can’t seem to escape his demons. One night, when he makes his way into a town, he meets a woman named Yukio, played by Rila Fukushima, who arrived to summon Logan to Japan to meet with her employer, Yashida.

Yashida, played by Hal Yamanouchi, is an old acquaintance of Logan, the two having met in World War II. Yashida wants to meet with Logan not only to thank him for saving his life during the war, but to also offer him an opportunity to get rid of his healing ability. As Logan ponders the proposition, he starts to learn there is more going on behind the scenes of Yashida and his family than what was first let on.

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X-Men: First Class review

Director:
Matthew Vaughn
Cast:
James McAvoy
Michael Fassbender
Jennifer Lawrence
Kevin Bacon
Rated: PG-13

Arguably the best X-Men movie out so far.

X-Men: First Class tells the origin story of how the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants came to be by going into the back stories of both Charles Xavior (McAvoy) and Eric Lehnsherr (Fassbender). We begin with their youths, Xavior growing up and learning that there were others like himself by meeting a young girl who can shape shift into any person named Raven, meanwhile Lehnsherr grows up being experimented on and treated poorly under the watch of Sebastian Shaw (Bacon), who has plans of world domination through mutants.

Once the two reach adulthood, the CIA contacts Xavior to help learn about the growing number of mutants appearing, Meanwhile Lehnsherr is out getting vengeance on those who had ruined his childhood and destroyed his family. Eventually the two characters meet and decide to seek out and help young mutants in the world. However once they gain light of Shaw’s plan they realize that he needs to be stopped and set out to deal with him, the two protagonists also learn that their ideals may be more conflicting than they first thought.

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