Then you really have no business making movies. Simon Kinberg's directing on this film was abysmal, nevermind his writing. Seriously how do you make Jessica Chastain suck in a role?
shareIndeed. It's bad news when a big franchise movie is directed by somebody who has never directed before. Similar with Star Trek: Nemesis.
shareThis guy wrote the Last Stand, did people really expect any improvement from Kinberg?
shareEven that film was not as bad as this one. But really how can you be such a bad writer/director that not even Chastain can salvage your character?
shareEvidently screenwriting let alone directing just isn't his strong suit. He also wrote the 2015 Fantastic Four, This Means War, Jumper, and XXX: State of the Union.
shareYou’re right. The Last Stand was much worse. It was not only unfaithful to the original storyline but there was also some pretty sexist politics involved from Fox.
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The Last Stand was written by Simon Kinberg, Zak Penn, and Matthew Vaughn.
You might want to do some research because film didn’t even use their script beyond basic concepts. In their script it was Jean that destroyed the Golden Gate Bridge for example. Ever heard the phrase “that wasn’t in the script”? Filmmaking isn’t simply about following a script.
Plus Chris Claremont (writer of the comic) said it was a vast improvement, which is a fact. Did you ever read the original storyline?
Okay? So now with Dark Phoenix, he was director and solo writer and it still sucked? In fact it did worse than Last Stand. And he's an entire filmography of bad movies under his belt. Did you do that research?
shareQuestion: do you judge movies based on the criteria of their genre and whether or not they succeeded at what they are trying to accomplish (which is what legitimate film criticism is)? Or do you simply judge based purely on your personal preferences?
With that said, did you genuinely believe that Dark Phoenix failed at telling a story about struggling with emotional trauma and overcoming it? Because that it was trying to accomplish.
I ask because most people don’t judge it by that criteria and compare it to the wrong story arc.
"..Question: do you judge movies based on the criteria of their genre and whether or not they succeeded at what they are trying to accomplish (which is what legitimate film criticism is)? Or do you simply judge based purely on your personal preferences?
With that said, did you genuinely believe that Dark Phoenix failed at telling a story about struggling with emotional trauma and overcoming it? Because that it was trying to accomplish.
I ask because most people don’t judge it by that criteria and compare it to the wrong story arc."
Okay, in the first place, those two forms of film criticism are not mutually exclusive;'legit film criticism' lol. And the film clearly failed on both accounts anyway. It was just a failed retread that everyone was doing just for a paycheck.
Criticism is literally defined as the analysis and judgment of the merits and faults of a literary or artistic work. Its why Roger Ebert had preached for decades that a film should be judged based on its genre and what it was trying to accomplish. If you are not doing that then you’re just being a pundit rather than a critic.
Do you really believe it failed at what it was trying to accomplish? I’ve read all the reviews on this movie on Rotten Tomatoes and that element is rarely talked about because most reviews are from pundits rather than critics. A lot of them thought that Jean was being manipulated by force rather than being unstable due to trauma. That is something that only happened in the cartoon version but many people believe that is canon and the same rules apply to the film. It reminds me of how critics didn’t notice that Starship Troopers was a satire when it came out. This is what I meant about people judging it with the wrong criteria.
As for it being a “retread” of X3: That was based on a different story arc. The Last Stand was an adaptation of the Gifted storyline with elements of the Dark Phoenix arc. While Dark Phoenix was based on Jean’s origin story and the Hellfire Club arc. See, the Dark Phoenix Saga is called a “saga” because it is a long narrative comprised of three story arcs (the Shi’ar arc, Hellfire Club arc, and the Dark Phoenix arc). This is what I meant by people comparing it to the wrong story arc.
That's just an opinion brah, even if it is Ebert. More importantly, it's coming across as an attempt at a sleight of hand to dismiss criticism of a poor film. Film is entertainment mate. DP failed as such. Comparisons to what story they're taking inspiration from become irrelevant after awhile.
shareThe dictionary literally defines “criticism” as Ebert describes it. So that wasn’t just Ebert’s opinion, he was merely stating a fact. Sure film are entertainment but not all films are meant to entertain everyone as they tend to have a certain target audiences. So you can’t really judge them all with the same criteria.
For example: Teen Titans Go! To the Movies certainly does not have the same target audience as The Dark Knight. The former is a silly comedy made for children and the latter is a dark crime thriller made for a more mature audience. I’m sure most adults wouldn’t find the TTG movie entertaining but that doesn’t matter since they weren’t the target audience.
This is why a critic shouldn’t judge a film based on their personal preferences because it probably just wasn’t made for them. A good critic thinks about the target audience.
A good studio would also pay for a better director and writers.
shareCan’t say I disagree with you on that.
shareYou’re that guy from IMDB2. I knew your avatar looked familiar.
shareAnd you're the one that left IMDB2. Knew that a while now.
shareYour username started with “P”. “Political” was it?
Btw, I should have said this earlier. But M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening” is considered by many to be entertaining because it is unintentionally funny. However, that is the very reason why it is considered a bad horror movie because it fails at what it was trying to accomplish.
So judging whether a film is good or not is not solely based on entertainment value but whether it succeeded at what it was trying to accomplish.
And most people agreed that DP failed. But thanks for the lesson.
shareYeah, but as I’ve stated earlier most didn’t know what it was trying to accomplish because they were comparing it to the wrong story arc. Most even thought it was trying to be a grand finale because that is how it was marketed, when it is in fact an origin story. lol
Yes, I’m one of the few that actually read reviews on RT and not just look at the meter.
it's her job to put on a good performance... she failed.
shareFassbender still killed it tho.. its impossible for him to suck in a movie
shareYeah, the character had no personality, wasn't interesting, and had unclear motivation. Even her powers were vague and seemed to exist based on what needed to happen in any given scene.
shareJessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence were poor in this movie which is odd as they both have talent.
Simon Kinberg has some solid writing in his resume, however this was his directorial debut and he fudged it. Since this he has went on to make The 355 (2022) which I haven't seen but I know it bombed at the box office.
I imagine his directing days are over. Two bombs in a row.