Long before the filming of "Avengers", Marvel, which was still in financial distress at the time, packaged and sold the IP copyrights of more than 400 characters in the X-Men series.
After Fox took over the IP of X-Men, starting from the first "X-Men" in 2000, this series not only had advanced concepts at that time, but also gathered a large number of outstanding actors such as Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry. It left a lot of good memories for the audience at the beginning of the century. The first generation of X-Men fans are now middle-aged. With the end of the first generation of X-Men actors, no one would have imagined that superhero movies, which were still a niche at the time, would become the most popular mainstream movie genres.
Entering the new 10 years of the 20th century, the X-Men series restarted, and the prequel series was filmed. New actors such as "Far Shark" Michael Fassbender and "One Beauty" James McAvoy took over the series banner, and also He has shot several high-scoring works in a row, and in terms of IP connection, he has successfully completed the connection between the new and old actors and the worldview with the 2014 "Reversal of the Future".
And this year's "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (hereinafter referred to as "Dark Phoenix") takes the Phoenix girl as the most capable and complex female character as the core of the story. It is the final chapter of the prequel series, not only this long A grand farewell to the legendary IP that spanned 20 years, and also the end of the second generation of X-Men actors, this may be the last time we see Yimei, Fasha, Big Cousin, Nizi and others on the big screen. table.
Although the current evaluation is somewhat polar, whether as the final chapter of the series or a film dominated by female superheroes, from the prominence of female characters to the overall dark tone of the film, "Dark Phoenix" is not without merit. .
1. Qualified answer sheet for the final chapter of the prequel to "Dark Phoenix"
At the beginning of the positioning of the "Dark Phoenix" project, "Dark Phoenix" was supposed to be a biographical film in the X-Men series ip that highlighted the role of independent heroes. It is also different from the previous "X-Men" movies that focused on group portraits. As an expansion of the world view, "Dark Phoenix" should be similar to "Wolverine" and "Deadpool".
However, with the progress of the film company's capital acquisition, and even the overall copyright operation of the X-Men series, "Dark Phoenix" has become the staged final chapter of this series, or the final chapter of the series, a kind of prequel that becomes the main story. The sense of surprise also invisibly increases the audience's expectations for all aspects of the film, which will undoubtedly be harsh in evaluation.
Fortunately, from the perspective of the final film, "Dark Phoenix" still maintains the level of a Hollywood commercial blockbuster. The story line is clear, the logical structure is reasonable, and the visual effects also maintain the consistent level of the previous work. It is a fairly qualified final chapter answer sheet for the series.
2. The rise of heroines and political correctness
In recent years, regardless of Eastern or Western film creation, "political correctness" has become an important reference factor in film creation. Dark Phoenix is undoubtedly a politically correct feminist superhero movie. In Chinese parlance, it is also a "big heroine" movie.
The story of the whole story closely revolves around Phoenix Girl's growth and emotional description, and depicts Phoenix Girl's childhood psychological shadow, her ability to change in adulthood, and her emotional relationship with her teammates and her lover. The director also placed the key to the success or failure of the story on Phoenix's final spiritual choice. In the story of "Dark Phoenix", all the X-Men who appeared on the scene were also not as powerful as the phoenix who ran wild. The Phoenix girl finally successfully saved the world with her own strength, and she was able to kill Magneto and Professor X many times. With all male characters, there is no doubt that it is a feminist hero movie.
This kind of value is not only reflected in the plot of the story, but the emotional theme of the movie also revolves around the moral discussion on whether Professor X should hide his life from Phoenix. In fact, this kind of value discussion is also a tried-and-true theme presentation mode in superhero movies. It also concluded that Professor X recognized his fault and apologized. In the end, X Academy changed its name to Phoenix Academy, which fully reflects "political correctness"; as for Magneto, who in the story has changed his ways and returned to the countryside, he practiced it with practical actions." Become a Buddha on the ground."
3. New exploration: "Darkness" movie style attempt
As a biographical story of Phoenix, "Dark Phoenix" reflects the "darkness" characteristics that are highly consistent with the title. The darkness is first reflected in the shaping of the heroine's spiritual world. From the little girl's out-of-control ability causing a car accident at the beginning of the movie, to the emotional pain in Phoenix's heart when she became an adult, she learned about the life experience that was concealed by Professor X, especially the second time with her father. The cruelty of the reunion made the audience feel empathy for the heroine. It also produced reasonable persuasion for the role of Phoenix in the X-Men. It should be said that this method of facing the hero's heart is rare except for Batman, which is a darker IP.
The darkness of the movie is also reflected in the audio-visual language style, such as the horror scene of the jungle dog barking when the villain lands on the earth. It can be seen that the story is trying to get closer to the genre of thrilling and suspenseful movies. It should be said that the style attempt of "Dark Phoenix" also plays a certain role in enriching superhero movies.
4. Feelings and expectations as a farewell
As the final chapter of the series, due to the feelings of farewell, "Dark Phoenix" also strives to recall the relationships and previous feelings of the characters in the previous stories while completing the biography of the characters. Whether it is Raven and Hank's memories of the first battle, or the differences between mutants and humans, and even the relationship between the characters reflected in the communication between the professor and the president. At the end of the film, the emotional connection between the retired Magneto and the retiring Professor X also reminds fans of the intimacy and breakup between the two when they were young, recalling the high-score reputation of the previous work, and taking care of fans of feelings.
Although "Dark Phoenix" is a bit abrupt as the final chapter of the series due to the copyright acquisition, although "Dark Phoenix" is not as stunning as the swordsman, it has taken care of the needs of all aspects, and is a movie with a solid overall quality , which also gives the series a beginning and an end.
Although this wave of actors and series cooperation may end here, the overall series IP of the X-Men is progressing towards a better platform, with the return of these 400+ characters to Marvel, the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe In the planning, the two major IPs of the Avengers and the X-Men will appear on the same screen in the future, and the story must be more worthy of the audience's expectation.
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