Not the best movie, but certainly not bad. I definitely appreciated the openly queer angle (on top of being mutants, because what are mutants if not a metaphor for all types of marginalized people), and I thought the setup and acting and writing were all pretty good.
The ending broke my suspension of disbelief, I'll admit. I would much rather have had the climax of the movie be a big mutant-powers showdown with Dr. Reyes, because clearly she had some powers of her own. The whole demon bear actually being a tangible entity in the real world just felt kind of cheesy and out of the blue. I get that Dani's out of control powers were making all sorts of things manifest in reality, but the bear showing up when Dani was half conscious seemed... convenient? Like it wasn't attached to her as much as the other things were? I don't know.
As a whole, it's definitely worth a rewatch down the road! And I don't know if they're planning a sequel for this, but I'd be interested if they were, to see where the story can go from here. I have no familiarity with how these characters were presented in the comics, if they all were, but this seems like a solid start for a new storyline.
THE WACPINE OF ‘THE NEW MUTANTS’
WRITING: 4
ATMOSPHERE: 3
CHARACTERS: 6
PRODUCTION: 6
INTRIGUE: 2
NOVELTY: 3
ENJOYMENT: 4
The Good:
Maisie Williams is the only standout among the younger actors, and this is far from her best performance.
Visually, this film works well, even though some scenes are too damn dark.
That final battle is fairly cool, one of the more original superhero fight and great use of Magik.
The Bad:
My first impressions of this film is a cheesy YA series pilot or some low-budget YA horror film from 20 years ago, and that immediately clouds my judgement for the rest of the film.
Blu Hunt is a relative newcomer and while she is sweet to look at and a fine choice to play one of Marvel's few Native American characters, her acting isn't always up to the level you'd expect.
None of the actors is particularly good, and that becomes evident once they are forced to show strong emotions, which falls flat most of the time.
I guess the ragtag narrative has been constructed the way it has in an attempt to create tension and horror, but it only manages to leave the audience scratching their heads. The intense parts are all over the place and come across as annoying rather than creepy.
With a sluggish pace the film builds up some kind of relationships between the central characters, but a lack of any real chemistry between most of them and a general feeling of emptiness in the surrounding world (where the hell is everybody?) makes most of this development feel pointless. This is also, why the kissing and loving feels very forced. Rahne and Dani are the only characters who seem to receive proper character development since the film focuses mainly on them.
The connections to Marvel and Fox's X-Men franchise are so thin that this could just as well have been a completely original, supernatural YA film. There is a general lack of superheroing and a general threat, which in this case works against the film. The script also doesn’t do a very good job explaining to casual viewers who these characters are and what their powers are supposed to be.
Josh Boone doesn't seem to know whether he'd like this film to be a YA drama, some kind of supernatural horror or just another entry within the superhero genre. It doesn't properly feel like any of those three alternatives.
The last act of the film is where everything falls apart; as suddenly The New Mutants decides to be a very generic superhero monster horror and you kind of wish that it wasn't.
The Ugly:
Did they just casually drop some racist jokes?
WACPINE RATING: 4.00 / 10 = 2 stars
This movie has some pretty famous young actors in it. I'm pretty surprised lol. Anyway, this was really honestly not that good and there was so much over the top and bad CG.
Dani Moonstar is a native American girl orphaned after a tornado destroys her community and kills her entire family. She is taken to a hospital to learn to control her mutant powers, but the hospital hides some dark secrets.
With Dani are 4 other young mutants and their caretaker, Dr Reyes. The girl from Witch, Arya Stark and the older brother in Stranger Things are the "big" names in this movie. I felt like the mystery and the technology were really well done and interesting, but the whole thing is really a very slowly paced film with overt and terrible-looking CG. This movie sold as a horror superhero movie but it's only capable of jump scares. I can't remember any good music in this film either to complement the story.
There was an unexpected romance in the film that I thought was really cute, but it was way too quick. I thought about them being teenagers locked in a building and it sold it a bit more but still...
The charaters' powers are all pretty crazy and powerful which makes sense really in the context of the film but it was a bit over the top them trying to outdo each other. I felt like the climax of the movie was really underwhelming and relied a bit on more power of friendship elements we find a lot in anime. I didn't really like that.
I also thought that Rahne's character was stupid. She's a werewolf but transforms just into a wolf like an actual dog. Her mid transformation form is much more powerful. Additionally they CG her some dog ears. Why not just get her prosthetics?
This would be a fun film to watch with friends but not in cinemas, not for the cost of the ticket. Especially when Logan is the previous film, it's disappointing to have this be the finale.
Review by ALAMLEDPVIP 5BlockedParent2023-01-11T19:21:14Z
The New Mutants, a highly anticipated superhero-horror film, finally received its theatrical release after years of production delays and scrutiny. Despite its troubled history, the movie turned out to be a decent, if not outstanding, addition to the genre. Expectations were high but the film falls short of being a cinematic disaster, while also lacking the thrill of being an excellent movie. Though it positions itself as a unique hybrid of a superhero and horror film, the horror elements are underutilized and the movie ends up being just quirkier than most of its peers. The performances by the cast, including Anya Taylor-Joy, are adequate, with no standout performances. The plot contains forced moments meant to be epic, but they fail to have the intended impact. Overall, The New Mutants is a peculiar addition to the superhero genre, with a mix of cliche and fun elements, but nothing that sets it apart from other films in the same vein.
The New Mutants, una película de terror y superhéroes muy esperada, finalmente recibió su estreno en cines después de años de retrasos en la producción y escrutinio. A pesar de su historia problemática, la película resultó ser una adición decente, si no sobresaliente, al género. Las expectativas eran altas, pero la película no llega a ser un desastre cinematográfico, al mismo tiempo que carece de la emoción de ser una película excelente. Aunque se posiciona como un híbrido único de superhéroe y película de terror, los elementos de terror están infrautilizados y la película termina siendo más peculiar que la mayoría de sus pares. Las actuaciones del elenco, incluida Anya Taylor-Joy, son adecuadas, sin actuaciones destacadas. La trama contiene momentos forzados destinados a ser épicos, pero no logran tener el impacto deseado. En general, The New Mutants es una adición peculiar al género de los superhéroes, con una mezcla de clichés y elementos divertidos, pero nada que la diferencie de otras películas en la misma línea.