The New Mutants
As previously mentioned in my Dark Phoenix (2019) review, 20th Century Fox had a mixed bag execution with their X-Men movies when it was under their ownership. Most iconic characters were shortchanged in meaningful development or personality while others like Wolverine, Charles, and Erik thrived. During that roller coaster time, a spin-off was in development with filmmaker Josh Boone at the helm wanting to focus on a young adult horror with a younger group of actors. It was filmed in 2016 but went though a rough spot of behind the scenes troubles. It wasn't meant to connect as to the muddled X-Men timeline but to be something different but it was delayed repeatedly off from its 2018 release date (due to Deadpool 2, Dark Phoenix, and of course Disney purchasing 20th Century Fox). This brings us to to film itself, The New Mutants, as it finally was released by Disney in theaters during the COVID pandemic as a sacrificial lamb. Now owning the rights to what Fox had, it was clear that the Marvel Cinematic Universe would reboot the famous characters but much later on. With it being the final project of that rocky series, I rented it on Amazon and was almost baffled with how much of a mess it turned out to be that desperately needed reshoots it never got.
Note: This is my 250th review...I didn't plan that far ahead for my 2020 watchlist and wasn't intending on The New Mutants being that milestone.
Those chances, however, are squandered with the end product that's not only short on runtime for a superhero flick but is undercooked on depth. In regards to individual character motivation or backstory, it ignores "show don't tell" with just expositing on summarized bits of why they ended up there. That isn't helped by the fact each member of this group is defined by a 1990s stereotype: rich kind of a jerk, "southern" accent, shaky "Russian" anti-heroine, Scottish shy person, and plot MacGuffin protagonist. It tries squeezing in elements that aren't fleshed out as it thinks it is such as an LGBT romance, horror, teen drama, and superhero cliches it attempts to avoid becoming. The simplified result of these kids meeting, learning about each others powers/traumas, and then a demon bear showing up is mess that desperately needed reshoots to expand on its important elements.
How are the actors? In regards to story importance, the actors to focus on are Blu Hunt, Maisie William, and Anya Taylor-Joy. Blu and Maisie both provide fairly competent performances while having decent chemistry despite the script issues (I'm grouping them together since their arcs are intertwined). Despite the inconsistent accent she has here, Anya is does her best having a little fun with her wild card role and is a personal favorite rising actress so seeing her here is basically brownie points. Dishonorable mentions Alice Braga and Henry Zaga for the former being wasted in a lackluster antagonist cliched part while the latter isn't on par with the acting prowess of his co-stars.
Overall Consensus: The New Mutants is what production hell creates as it's let down by its underdeveloped predictable story arcs, cliched characters without much depth, short runtime, and a premise not living to its potential. ⭑⭑ Runtime: 1 hour 35 minutes PG-13
Reasons to watch it: You are a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or director Josh Boone. You have seen the previous X-Men films and wanted to see how this spinoff turned out. You want to see a superhero flick attempt something new, even if it doesn't succeed. You are aware of the production hell this movie went through and wanted to see the end result.
Reasons to avoid it: You aren't a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or director Josh Boone. You have seen the previous X-Men films but don't want to see how this final spinoff turned out. You aren't in the mood for stereotypical archetypes with iffy accents that are missing depth. You don't like watching a rough draft of a movie trying to figure out what it wants to be that needed reshoots it never received.
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