The New Mutants (2020)

Five teenage mutants - Mirage, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot and Magik undergo treatments at a secret institution that will cure them of their dangerous powers. Invited by Dr. Cecilia Reyes to share their stories, their memories soon turn into terrifying realities as they start to question why they're being held and who's trying to destroy them.

Related titles: The 12 previous X-Men films or any other superhero features. 

Leanne's rating: A sad 4/10 :(

Problems have plagued The New Mutants since its first trailer dropped in 2017. Since then it has had numerous delays and constantly changing release date. It is one of the first “big” films to drop in the cinemas since they have reopened and honestly, it was such a missed opportunity. It had the potential to breathe new life into the X-Men franchise that I feel, aside from Wolverine, never truly took off. On paper, it ticks all the boxes: strong leading cast, interesting (potential) plot, some diversity and a 15-age rating meaning it had the potential to be more scary or rude or whatever the purpose of a 15-age rating is to you.

Starting with the cast, I honestly have no issues here. The cast is full of excellent young actors. Anya Taylor-Joy (portraying Magik) has carved a name for herself with strong performances in Split, The Witch, Emma and honestly I could go on, I don’t think I’ve seen a film where she gives a bad performance and this film is no different. Maisie Williams (playing Rahne) is another star known for her portrayal as Arya in GoT but is again excellent in Channel 4’s, Cyberbully and the new release Two Weeks to Live. In TNM she has a Scottish accent that it takes a minute to get used to but is good. Charlie Heaton is also great in Stranger Things and despite playing a somewhat cliché character of Sam, he is still able to hold his own in the scenes. Relative newcomer, Blu Hunt plays main character Danielle Moonstar and like the others is excellent. In terms of performances, there are no issues as I feel that everyone brought talent to the table.

One of the biggest problems that I have with this film is the script. On multiple occasions it was laughable, so much so, that I actually laughed aloud in the cinema but not at the intended ‘funny’ lines. When I wasn’t laughing I felt myself cringing and feeling awkward by how cheesy the majority of the script is. Teen-based films have been successful in having these kinds of scripts but it mostly felt out of place and didn’t really match the characters on screen or the tone of the film.

I also very much so appreciate the LGBT representation and have since watching the film,  realised that this is the first superhero film to include queer representation. Moreover, it plays a key part in the film but isn’t there to drive the plot forward. This is such a rare find in films as LGBTQ+ characters are often just included as a token character to tick a diversity box or used as a sole plot point. It’s even rarer to find good queer women representation in the media as often these characters are included for the male gaze and are usually represented as feminine looking and dressing characters, that are oversexualised. Furthermore, bury your gays is also a trope that still exists, I won’t go into this too much but see Fanslashfic for more info on why LGBTQ+ rep still sucks in 2020. TNM does an excellent good job of avoiding all of these tropes. Neither of the women are there for plot or over-sexualised and despite feeding into stereotypes like plaid and short hair, I appreciate the more well-rounded representation. I also caught and wanted to shout out the tribute to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the queer witch relationship between Willow and Tara. It parallels the budding relationship between Rahne and Dani and pays tribute to one of the first major lesbian relationships to air on network TV.

As I said before, as a 15 rated film I was excited to see what the plot had in store. On the run-up to it’s release the film had be advertised alongside and before screenings of thrillers and horrors. Again, on paper the plot sounds great, ‘their memories turn into terrifying realities as they start to question who’s trying to destroy them.’ With the film, building up these characters traumatic events that led them to revealing their powers; it was making steps in all the right directions. Until in the late second half of the film, a random, giant bear turns out to be the problem … and I mean literally. Attacking herself from within Dani’s power was turning everyone’s worse fear into a reality – which has so much potential, until her biggest fear is a giant bear. It’s linked to Native American upbringing but feels out of place and just randomly shoved in. It doesn’t get the time spent needed on it and instead is rushed through to connect the mutants together. I also disliked the creatures that came from Magik’s fear, they looked like knock off versions of slender man and again didn’t really add anything into the story, just kind of ran around chasing the character’s and were simple defeated. Rahne’s fear was probably the most interesting in the form of her father Reverend Craig (which I had to Google as it's given no real explanation!) It’s interesting that TNM went the route of overcoming religious indoctrination especially as a queer character. It was another interesting plot point that could have been further explored.

Sadly, this 13^th and final instalment of the X-Men franchise has left me with many questions and it turns out the wait was not worth it because it will always be a misfire and a demonstration of what could have been for the closing of this franchise.

 

Rebecca's rating: 5/10

After initial filming starting in 2017, ‘The New Mutants’ finally gets a release in 2020 after countless setbacks, one of course being due to COVID-19. There was a lot of anticipation going into this, especially for a movie carrying the ‘Marvel Productions’ label. It also has a cast with some brilliant young actors including Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy and Charlie Heaton. However I feel like the narrative was really average with no complexities to challenge the audience.

The main character was Dani Moonstar, her Native American reserve was destroyed by a tornado, she hides, knocked unconscious and then wakes up in a facility and labelled a ‘mutant’. The story is then based around the other mutants in this facility which is overlooked by one doctor. You find out about each mutant and their power, and also the trauma which led to them discovering their power.

Dani then meets Rahne (Maisie Williams) and they form a friendship which then turns into a romantic relationship. Even though it wasn’t my favourite LGBT storyline I still appreciated the representation. I also enjoyed that it wasn’t the main focus of the film but kind of placed in there.

Ultimately it just left me feeling super underwhelmed. It had a lot going for it but just didn’t hit the mark on many areas. It was a shame because it was one of the bigger new releases after the resumption of the cinema and I was looking forward to it.