This isn’t a prank, right? I’m not getting Punk’d? The New Mutants is actually in cinemas right now? Not long ago, the X-Men franchise fizzled away in a whimper, thanks to X-Men: Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix, before 20th Century Fox merged with Disney. Apparently, this movie has been in the can since 2018, and it was Fox’s ambition to bring us a new X-Men storyline, until The New Mutants was delayed and delayed and delayed. This doesn’t bode well for the quality of the picture, but talent like Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones, Charlie Heaton from Stranger Things and Anya Taylor-Joy still make a tantalising opportunity as a mutant teen romp. I also hear that The New Mutants will provide some horror elements to the superhero genre, and that’s excites me. I feel like Homer Simpson in the lost camp raft, looking at the Krusty Burger map, and learning ‘hey, there’s a NEW Mutants’ now – ahh, maybe that joke would be funnier in another form.
When Danielle Moonstar (Blu Hunt)’s community gets blown away by a supposed hurricane, Dani is the only survivor. She wakes up tied to a hospital bed, where Dr. Cecilia Reyes (Alice Braga) informs her that she is a danger to herself. This facility is for freshly-minted mutants, humans with superhuman abilities that are yet to control themselves, but Dani doesn’t even know what her mutation is. She meets her fellow patients, and forms a quick bond with Rayne (Maisie Williams). Soon the patients start having harmful visions, without a clue where they’re coming from. Is it Dani, or an evil force coming from outside? Perhaps the facility is not what it seems as well. The New Mutants is written by Josh Boone and Knate Lee, and directed by Josh Boone.
It’s hard to put a finger on just one spot where the movie doesn’t work for me. I think The New Mutants is juggling many balls, and leaving grubby greasy smudges as it catches them. The movie wants to inform us on who these characters are, fill in their backstories, set up a haunting mysterious terror, and incorporate unknowns about the nature of Dani’s gift, and the facility. It can be done; it is done, but it’s not done well. What’s most disappointing is that I think this is an excellent movie idea; take the visions from It, and put them in a One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest setting, with mutants. Unfortunately, I didn’t grow to care about any of these people until around the half way point; I think about the time Illyana (Anya Taylor-Joy) starts calling out what she believes is actually going on. The movie should have worked to ground us better with a few different choices in the beginning, like more clearly establishing our setting, by having Dr. Reyes explain what this facility is, or at least what she’s telling them it is, and having us connect with the other characters better from the jump. A few times, the movie doesn’t tell us why these mutants are patients until moments before a spooky vision, and it’s like the character development is rushing to catch up to the action. Even Dani herself is largely underdeveloped – she goes from hiding in a tree, to group therapy, and the first time she makes a decision, it is to jump from the church tower due to survivors’ guilt. Perhaps she could have been found in the woods by police, before being taken to the hospital, and shown us her personal devastation at the loss of her community. I think of Rogue in the first X-Men movie, and how we learn pretty quickly who she is, by her horrified reaction to her boyfriend’s condition, her choice to wear gloves and to hit the road; Dani is not given the same opportunities to be investing.
I guess what I’m skirting around the edges of saying is that, the writing’s not great. You only get a limited window to create a worthwhile setup and it’s incredibly important. But more than that, the writing noticeably fails within scenes, even with simple dialogue – it’s unclear how long Rayne has been in the facility, yet in group, she is relaying what has happened to her like its brand-new information; it’s not for the other patients surely, it’s meant for us. Dani also jumps from saying that the force field around the hospital creates a beautiful cage, to saying her father used to call human bodies beautiful cages for the soul, with the smoothness of sandpaper. A lot of the dialogue doesn’t flow, and is confusing because the movie hasn’t put the parameters in place for us to understand where we are at. Don’t even get me started on Dr. Reyes, who decides to ramble and agitate Dani right before she’s about to put her to sleep, when Dani is supposed to be dangerous, she has Dani’s trust and she could have done it so swiftly; isn’t that in the villain handbook under ‘Cardinal Sins’?
Eventually, I did care about these characters, but it’s mostly because I’m a sucker for superheroes. The talent assembled is pretty good, and it’s all disappointing that it’s not better utilised. Anya Taylor-Joy is the standout, as an aggressive Russian with a hardened backstory and ‘magik’ ability. Never did I ever think I would see Shadowcat’s comic dragon on the big screen and its inclusion, if only brief, was a welcome surprise. After playing a Stark in Game of Thrones for many years, Maisie Williams just can’t escape wolves, can she? Arya is taking this Faceless Men stuff to the extreme here. At first, I didn’t see how her ability to turn into a dog was going to be special enough to be entertaining, but when she’s in mid-transformation, oh boy, she can be as ferocious as Logan’s X-23. And it’s unique enough to have a gay Native American lead anything, but with her superhuman ability, and its countless creative opportunities, it just adds to the disappointment that we probably won’t be seeing any more of the New Mutants.
Lastly, I want to talk about the supernatural threat running through this movie. First of all, it’s not as frightening as the movie would like it to be. And it’s a hard sell. After some thought, I understand that Dani manifests fear and she cannot control it yet. The demon bear occurs when Dani is overwhelmed, attacking wildly, unless she can calm ‘herself’ down. Right? Still, the visions are so random, because they occur even when Dani is calm, like when Bobby (Henry Zaga) gets attacked in the pool and Dani is chilling with Rayne. They also attack people she likes, like Rayne in the shower with the priest. If this is so, harnessing the gift of fear doesn’t explain how Dani could see the true nature of the Essex Corporation in Dr. Reyes mind, unless Reyes is scared of them, but the movie doesn’t indicate that she is. I’m also not sure if Illyana was actually attacked by eyeless beings in the past, or if Dani made her trauma worse. Or, if they do exist, if they come from a dark extension of Illyana’s magic world, or elsewhere. I’m so confused. And, since Dani’s fear-inducing ability is so antagonistic, wouldn’t the Essex Corporation love to harness that? Illyana would be the one they’d want to kill, considering she can disappear into another dimension, and she is obnoxious. I’m so so so confused! But as I say, there’s a good movie in here, touching on themes of fear, trauma and friendship; in execution, it needs a major make-over. Perhaps the movie has convinced me to give the original comic a try (Christmas present hint, loved ones).
Look at Guardians of the Galaxy – nobody knew who those characters were once upon a time, but now they are among Marvel’s favourites. You don’t need household names to tell a magnificent story. Unfortunately, The New Mutants falls onto the Fan4stic side of movies coldly, and I doubt these actors can expect a recall to come out and play again. As a teen movie, not even a few The Breakfast Club style scene can shine it. It’s barely horrific. And as a mutant movie, where’s the love? Even as the credits rolled, I still had questions; why is Blu Hunt billed so low when Dani is the central star of the movie? I’m not sure how all that works, but it seems wrong to me.
2.0
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