The New Mutants Review

Josh Boone’s The New Mutants has had a very rough history. The film completed production in September 2017, with a first trailer releasing online the next month, October 2017. The film was scheduled to arrive in April of 2018. It was then delayed, to February of 2019. Then it was moved again to August of 2019. Word of reshoots and script changes may have also delayed the film, but it was then debunked by Boone stating no reshoots were ever done. Then the Disney acquisition of Fox was completed and the film was put on hold. Reports stated Disney was not happy with the film, but it was still on the schedule for release. There were also talks about the film possibly releasing on streaming platforms such as Hulu or Disney+, but ultimately do to contractual agreements the film had to be released in theaters. It was then slated for March of 2020, but was then pushed back once more due to COVID-19, until finally the film would release August 28th 2020. Now that the film is out, what did we think? Was it a disaster? No, I don’t think it was. 

From the first trailer I wanted to like this movie. A superhero film with horror take? That sounded like a new and interesting idea. While you could consider ‘Blade’ a horror film, or even ‘Constantine’ superhero horror is not a common genre. While the film never goes full horror, there are a lot of  horror elements and some jump scares for good measure. While the majority of superhero films seem like there’s a ‘Avengers level threat’ needed to be solved, it was also a nice change of pace to have a film on a much smaller plot but that could ultimately lead to something bigger. That is where my disappointment in the film is, not the film itself, but with the potential for what could have become. Now that isn’t the fault of the movie that I feel this way, but outside forces. It ultimately feels like the film doesn’t matter because Disney will reboot the X-Men franchise back into the MCU. But let’s put that thinking aside for now, and let’s talk about what I liked about the film. 

The first and second acts are I think, done well and I was intrigued with what was presented. The characters were mysterious and I wanted to learn more about them. Blu Hunt plays Dani Moonstar, aka Mirage in the comics. She is our main character and we follow her journey throughout the film as we discover her powers. I haven’t seen Ms Hunt in many other films, but I like the vulnerability she brings to her character and I thought she did well. Illyana Rasputin aka Magik is played by Anya Taylor-Joy, and while I like her in other films, ‘Split’ immediately comes to mind, I liked her here as well, she played the strong cocky type which fit her character. Her dragon companion Lockheed was cute as well. But in all honesty, I found her accent to be a little distracting. Same goes with Charlie Heaton’s character Sam Guthrie aka Cannonball, his souther accent was a little over the top. I know he is a good actor as seeing ‘Stranger Things’ has proven that. I did like how he confined in Henry Zaga’s Roberto da Costa, aka Sunspot, and they had a fun brotherly relationship going on. Rounding out the New Mutants is Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair aka Wolfsbane. I think I liked her character the most. Her performance was great, and I felt she was the most empathetic character. While I have small complaints, it does not take away from the overall performances these actors did. No one was terrible, and they all gave personalities to these characters and brought them to life. The plot however was a different story. 

I would consider this a character driven film, as the plot is very thin. I mentioned earlier I like the smaller scale, but there is a difference between smaller and a thin plot. I like that the story is kept at the institution only, and focuses on the young mutants dealing with the troubles inside. Without going into greater detail, we will discuss this in a future podcast episode, this film suffers what I would consider ‘Iron Man 2’ did or ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ did, they setup things for the future and didn’t focus enough on the current situation. This film was to be the beginning of a trilogy, and as one I’m sure this would have become stronger with the stories told after the fact. While some films knock it out of the park with their origin story film, I feel this is one that would have had a better second outing. The first act of this film starts out slow, building up the characters, and ramps up during the second act. I’m not sure if this is a good thing, but there were scenes with the group together and it reminded me of 2017’s Power Rangers having that chemistry, which were the best moments of that film. I felt that connection between all of them in the second act. This is also where the horror elements appear, and there is some great imiagery here. The message of the film, of overcoming fears and trauma is done pretty well here too. Unfortunately the third act does suffer and while there are some cool moments, it was not a satisfying way to end the film, almost as if there was something missing before the credits role. It’s not enough to hurt the film as a whole but just a bit disappointing.

The music in the film was different. In superhero movies you’re used to hearing large themes and sweeping action, Mark Snow’s score is dark and sinister, which felt right for the film. It felt dreary in a way you feel trapped like the young mutants are. Even the track called ‘Victory’ doesn’t feel completely victorious, it’s short lived, and exactly fits the tone of the film adding to the atmosphere. As for the cinematography, I feel like they could have lit the dark scenes a little better, it was too dark at times, but the camera work was well done, and nothing looked out of place. The visual effects were well done, except for a few shots at the end I noticed were a little off. I do wish we had a chance to see more of Magik’s world, because visuallly it looked stunning, and it contrasted well with the look of the film. 

Overall I liked the film. I enjoyed myself, but I did go in with low expectations. This film had so much going against it, and while I’m happy it didn’t become the disaster ‘Dark Phoenix’ was or 2015’s ‘Fantastic Four’ I’m sad to know that we won’t be getting any more installments in this world, because it could have been a fun trilogy. Who knows, maybe if it does well, Disney and Marvel will consider moving forward no either have this along side their rebooted X-Men or use this as an entry point. They are keeping Deadpool, so anything is possible. I hope it does, because the film could have been awful, but it wasn’t. I’d like for it to have a second chance. The good news is, as this is now the last official X-Men related film from 20th Century Studios, I’d say it was a good note to end on. 

I gave the film 3 Fresh Geeks out of 5

If you would like to know how I rank the film in terms of X-Men movies

Dark Phoenix

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-Men: The Last Stand 

X-Men: Apocalypse

The New Mutants

The Wolverine

X-Men

X2

X-Men: First Class

Deadpool 2

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Deadpool

Logan