Movie Review: The New Mutants - The Breakfast X-Club

 

Ahh! After two years, it's here! It's time to review The New Mutants!
Originally set to be released in April 2018, this film has been plagued with delays due to reasons ranging from studio politics to a global pandemic. Those waiting for the film began to wonder whether it would ever see a theatrical release or at least just be sent to streaming. The New Mutants did finally hit theaters back in August, but between wanting to keep up some level of social distancing and the film's low critical score, I felt more comfortable waiting for the home release. Now that that's happened and I finally watched it, was the final film in Fox's X-Men franchise worth the incredibly long wait?

As it turns out, it was actually decent. I don't know if my expectations were just low with how it kept getting delayed, but I was surprised with how enjoyable I found it. It's nothing ground breaking, but a lot of the elements in place are executed well, making it a unique entry for the X-Men franchise.
Meant to be a horror superhero film, New Mutants does well in this aspect with some great visual effects as our protagonists experience their darkest memories and having to overcome them to survive. While it does get some decent scares in, I kept having this itch that they could have gone further with it. By the time we get to the climax, the horror aspect dropped down considerably and felt like another superhero movie with a big CGI powered slugfest. Still, if we compare this film to the other horror comic property this year, "Helstrom", I certainly got more out of New Mutants.

Within the world of X-Men, it's very similar to TV shows like "Legion" and "The Gifted" as we once again use a microscope to look at another part of the universe that's not connected to the major characters of the franchise. With our main characters basically in a mutant group home, we get to see how some are unfortunate enough not to be taken in by Xavier. All that said, the film doesn't shy away from connections, as the X-Men are referenced and we get another Mr. Sinister tease that ultimately wouldn't pay off (though I guess that allows Marvel a shot at the character). The setting of New Mutants is contemporary (possibly set a few years before the events of "Logan"), though one of the original plans was to set it during the 90's and feature James MacAvoy's Charles Xavier, and there were times I could see where the 90's setting would have worked. Though to be honest, the film probably would have worked in any timeframe they chose.

Our small cast were all around entertaining, each of them having a distinct background and personality that play off well with each other. My favorites of the film were Maisie Williams and Anya Taylor-Joy as Rahne and Illyana, respectively. The relationships between characters were fun to watch as well as they learn to come together. My favorite in this aspect was the romance between Rahne and Dani, though I have to give a shout out to the budding friendship between Roberto and Sam, even though they weren't able to reach the bromance level they're known for in the comics.

While "Dark Phoenix" ended the main series with little impact, "The New Mutants" shows how much creativity could still be had with the X-Men franchise, even though a future with these characters was gone before it really started. As the last film in the overall series, I can say it closes things out not necessarily with a bang, but with at least a little more flash.
As a whole, I think Fox did the best they could in their 20 years with the X-Men and I thank them for their part on making the comic book movie mainstream and the iconic performances that resulted from their films. But now we look to the future. The ball of limitless potential that is the X-Men is in your court now Marvel, and I look forward to see what you do with it.

My Final X-Men Film Rankings:
1. X-Men: Days of Future Past
2. Logan
3. X-Men: Apocalypse
4. Deadpool
5. Deadpool 2
6. X-Men: First Class
7. X2
8. The Wolverine
9. X-Men
10. The New Mutants
11. X-Men: Dark Phoenix
12. X-Men: The Last Stand
13. X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Video Game Review: "Spider-Man: Miles Morales" - You're Gonna Go Far, Kid

First the focus of an animated movie, and now his own video game. You're really coming up in the world, Mr. Morales. Set one year after the hit 2018 game, Miles Morales puts his powers and training to the test as he defends New York as its sole Spider-Man while Peter Parker is out of town. Considering Spider-Man games up to this point have all been about Peter and any use of Miles has mostly been his costume as an alternate skin, this is a pretty big deal. And for their second outing, Insomniac Games is able to knock it out of the park again as they expand on Miles' place in this Spider-Man universe they've crafted.

We once again have a truly engaging story as we get a deeper look into Miles' life, family, and friends. You become emotionally invested in Miles' relationships, which makes for another intense climax. Admittedly, the story does have some of the same beats from the first game, but does enough to set itself apart. It all actually kind of reminds me of "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm."

What I really like is how they really establish this as Miles' story. When it comes to Miles in other mediums, it usually seems like he's dealing with problems or villains from Peter's side of things; hell, he barely has his own rogues gallery. Once Peter is out of the game's story, the villains and problems Miles faces are truly his.
One of the things I liked about the last game was Spider-Man being able to walk down the street and interact with the people, showing his strong connection with the city. Miles' game is able to amplify this as one of the side plots with Miles growing his reputation in his new neighborhood of Harlem. The more Miles does for his community, the more the citizens appreciate him and come to accept him as just good as the first Spider-Man and their own local hero. You even get three additional skins due to this.
When it comes down to it, my main takeaway from this story is how important it is to stay connected, be it with family, friends, and the community as a whole, and how just reaching out can go a long way. And in these trying times, it's something we can all take to heart.

While the basic mechanics are similar to Peter's, Miles' body movements show how rough around the edges he is compared to the veteran Spider-Man. When he's swinging, his limbs flail around a bit while sometimes going backwards and he has to try to balance himself whenever he lands on a perch position (also seen during stealth attacks), showing his less graceful acrobatics. On the plus side, his lighter build seems to allow him to go faster and get more air compared to Peter.
But you also get two additional powers Miles is known for. The first is the Venom Blast, a bio-electricity attack that packs some extra punch in combat and speed, and could be used in some pretty ingenious ways. For this power, I usually liked to use it for the bigger enemies or when I started to get ganged up on. The Venom Blast is also a big plot point in the story as Miles learns how to control it, as it can be dangerous to himself and the people he's trying to help.

The other new power is camouflage. Triggering this gives you invisibility for a short amount of time, so you really have to think about when you use it. While it's good to use when you're about to be seen during a stealth mission, I usually like to trigger it when I do one stealth takedown and then take out another grunt right after, depending how close they are.

Much like Peter in the first game, Miles has a good variety of alternate costumes to use. This ranges from the proto-suits, unique designs made for the game, ones for fun, and some alternate versions of the character. While Miles' doesn't have a well known wardrobe compared to Peter, the game designers did a good job giving Miles a library of choice and crafting suits that feel unique to the character. If I had to pick my favorites to use, it would be Crimson Cowl due to its incorporation of a hood on the costume, the "Into the Spider-Verse" suit because I love that movie, and the Bodega Cat suit because it's fun to have a little feline sidekick.

While improving on various elements from the 2018 game, "Spider-Man: Miles Morales" brings a unique gaming experience that make it just as fun if not more so than its predecessor. It could have been easy to write this game off as a spin-off or something to tide us over until Peter's next game, but the end result shows Miles' story is just as important in the grand scheme of things.