{"id":21975,"date":"2019-09-15T23:37:26","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T06:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=21975"},"modified":"2019-09-15T23:37:57","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T06:37:57","slug":"review-dark-phoenix-4kuhd-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2019\/09\/review-dark-phoenix-4kuhd-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"X-Men: Dark Phoenix 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>X-Men: Dark Phoenix<\/em><\/strong> is by no means terrible but it certainly is a weak ending to a franchise and the main issue with this movie is lacked any real emotion, even though the technical aspects weren\u2019t bad.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

X-Men: Dark Phoenix<\/span>
\n(2019)<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Genre(s): <\/strong>Science Fiction, Adventure, Drama<\/span>
\nFox | PG13 \u2013 115 min. \u2013 $45.99 | September 17, 2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Date Published:<\/strong> 09\/16\/2019 | Author:<\/strong> The Movieman<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/u><\/strong>Directed by: <\/strong>Simon Kinberg
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Simon Kinberg (written by)
\nCast: <\/strong>James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Evan Peters, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jessica Chastain<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DISC INFO:
\n<\/u><\/strong>Features: <\/strong>Commentary, Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, Theatrical Trailers
\nSlip Cover: <\/strong>Yes
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>Yes
\nFormats Included: <\/strong>4K, Blu-ray
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>2<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Audio (4K\/BD): <\/strong>English (Dolby Atmos), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (DTS 5.1)
\nVideo (4K): <\/strong>2160p\/Widescreen 2.38
\nVideo (BD): <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 2.38
\nDynamic Range: <\/strong>HDR10
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH, French, Spanish
\nCodecs: <\/strong>HEVC \/ H.265 (4K), MPEG-4 AVC (BD)
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A, B, C<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe opinions I share are my own.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Note:\u00a0The screen captures were taken from the Blu-ray disc and\u00a0do not<\/span> represent the 4K Ultra HD transfer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n

THE MOVIE \u2014 2.75\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Plot Synopsis: <\/strong>The X-Men face their most formidable and powerful foe when one of their own, Jean Grey (SOPHIE TURNER), starts to spiral out of control. During a rescue mission in outer space, Jean is nearly killed when she’s hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable.<\/p>\n

The X-Men \u2014 including Charles Xavier (JAMES MCAVOY), Raven (JENNIFER LAWRENCE), Beast (NICHOLAS HOULT), Cyclops (TYE SHERIDAN), Storm (ALEXANDRA SHIPP), Nightcrawler (KODI SMIT-MCPHEE) and Quicksilver (EVAN PETERS) \u2014 must now band together, along with off-and-on foe Magneto (MICHAEL FASSBENDER), to save her soul and battle aliens, led by Vuk (JESSICA CHASTAIN), that want to use Grey’s new abilities to rule the galaxy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Review: <\/strong>There\u2019s little doubt that the X-Men<\/em> franchise has been rather messy (btw, I don\u2019t count Deadpool<\/em>). After starting off well enough with the first X-Men<\/em> and excelling with X2: X-Men United<\/em>, it did falter a bit with the rushed Phoenix storyline on X-Men: The Last Stand<\/em>, not to mention the Wolverine spin-offs where there\u2019s not much of an argument that Logan<\/em> was the best of the bunch.<\/p>\n

The series underwent a reboot of sorts that began on X-Men: First Class<\/em> and merging the two timelines in X-Men: Days of Future Past<\/em> which I immensely enjoyed, and the \u201cRogue Cut\u201d was a fun experience as well. However, X-Men: Apocalypse<\/em> took the series a step back with a weak storyline and a rather lame villain \u2014 who seemed to come straight out of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers<\/em> \u2014 despite being played by the wonderful Oscar Isaac. But with the impending Fox-Disney merger and whisperings of production problems, I didn\u2019t have much anticipation for Dark Phoenix<\/em> <\/strong>(adding \u201cX-Men\u201d in later advertisements) and the end result was… well, not as bad as I expected, but this certainly not very good either; at the very least it\u2019s not at the bottom in the franchise, so win?<\/p>\n

Dark Phoenix<\/em><\/strong> features some okay, if not also inconsistent, performances. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender had strange accents that went in and out depending on the scene (one in particular where they were yelling at one another stood out); Alexandra Shipp\u2019s accent especially was especially dreadful and rather distracting. I will say, Sophie Turner was alright in essentially the lead role, though her hand movements as Jean Grey utilizes her mind control powers, and this was for a few of the others as well, was almost comical; can\u2019t place too much blame since they are controlling non-existent objects that will be CGI\u2019d in later. It\u2019s like the most expensive game of charades…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On the plus side, I did like Hans Zimmer\u2019s restrained score with an angelic voice under the music and seemed to resist using the big drumbeats that he\u2019s been known for. It\u2019s really solid where it not only sounded nice, didn\u2019t become merely background noise (see most of the MCU films) but also wasn\u2019t distracting or took away from the scene.<\/p>\n

Simon Kinberg, who had his hand in writing three in the franchise (The Last Stand<\/em>, Days of Future Past<\/em> and Apocalypse<\/em>) and producing a few others (First Class<\/em>, DOFP<\/em>, Apocalypse<\/em>, Logan<\/em>), has stepped into the director\u2019s chair following Bryan Singer, and honestly while there\u2019s nothing especially noteworthy about this style, kind of looks like many other VFX-heavy movies, and at least I was able to tell what was going on.<\/p>\n

Kinberg also worked on the script and although it\u2019s not the strongest stories, or villain for that matter, I did feel it was good enough to keep my attention. Having said that, the writing itself tends to be awful, the dialogue was especially atrocious, even laughable at times, where I could predict certain lines before were spoken. Pretty clear, someone else should\u2019ve been brought onboard to punch it up, although in fairness, not sure it would\u2019ve helped all that much.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n

SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 4.25\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

This \u201cUltimate Collector\u2019s Edition\u201d release (matching the Disney 4Ks) comes with a glossy slip cover<\/strong> and Digital HD<\/strong> redemption code.<\/p>\n

Audio Commentary<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Writer-Producer-Director Simon Kinberg and Producer Hutch Parker. This track is fairly interesting as the pair seem to have a good friendly relationship and they break down certain scenes. (Also available on the 4K UHD)<\/p>\n

Deleted Scenes (8:22)<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 There are five scenes that got the axe and most of them for pacing issues. Includes an optional commentary with Kinberg and Parker.<\/p>\n

Rise of the Phoenix: The Making of Dark Phoenix<\/em> (1:20:32)<\/u><\/strong> is an expansive five-part featurette\/documentary :covering the pre-production, casting, production design, special effects and filming & editing. Contains interviews with the major players including James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Sophie Turner, Simon Kinberg, Nicholas Hoult and many others.<\/p>\n

How to Fly Your Jet to Space with Beast (2:03)<\/u><\/strong> is a funny little featurette with Nicholas Hoult in Beast makeup showing the audience how to fly the X-Jet.<\/p>\n

Theatrical Trailers (6:27):<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n