Now, everyone can see X-Men: The New Mutants. That wasn’t always the case. It’s out now on DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K, and On-Demand and it seems like a million years ago that the film first got bumped from the release schedule. It was back in 2018, and thanks to a studio change of ownership and that whole pandemic thing, the film finally landed in Drive-Ins (if you could find one) in August of 2020.
For fans of X-Men, now there is no excuse to experience the most unique of movies in this universe as it straddles the line of superhero/supernatural and horror. All geared towards scoring a PG-13 rating that is hard to pull off, particularly in the horror milieu.
X-Men: The New Mutants’ co-writer/director Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) has crafted a world that finds five special young people grappling with a world that they are struggling to understand. These teenagers aren’t simply adjusting to life, post-puberty, these are mutants whose skills are epic, and as such are seen as a potential threat. The Fab Five are sent to a facility where they can obtain those skills, before heading off to Professor X’s iconic school.
Thing is, as these five starts to figure out, this facility is hardly what it has been advertised. Things start getting a little spooky, and dangerous.
The ensemble, who may have found themselves forcefully drawn together, find a kinship with each other that is palpable and is probably the best thing about the latest X-Men flick. Maisie Williams is Rahne Sinclair, while an actress who is seemingly everywhere (including last year’s stellar Emma), Anya Taylor-Joy is Illyana Rasputin. Charlie Heaton, of Stranger Things fame, portrays Sam Guthrie, while Roberto is Henry Zaga.
They are all gathered by Dr. Reyes (Alice Braga) and the thing that immediately starts to set off bells with this crew is that their attendance here appears to be anything but voluntary. Any attempt to leave the grounds is, well… impossible.
The five “New Mutants” may have had disturbing or life-altering incidents before finding themselves in a clinic that specializes in teaching mutants the tools necessary to control their powers at the most and limit their seismic collateral damage at the least. Don’t want to put ideas in Boone’s head, but he gives off a feel with his script that this could be a pointed indictment of Christian camps and the like who seek to “purge” the homosexuality out of teens. The thing is, that would have made for a better parallel than trying to make this about X-Men, power, and what occurs.
By limiting the action to the facility where these mutants find themselves, the scope of what is covered is inherently limited. Yet, Boone shows his mettle for moviemaking with his capturing of compelling characters that have us being somewhat invested in the outcomes of their fate.
Now, the events of New Mutants take place after Logan. For those that don’t remember, one of the most riveting aspects of that Oscar nominee was how it painted a world where Mutants were fading from view on the world stage. The arrival of new mutants is an interesting premise, especially given the fact that they are all young and as such, could be the start of something new. Instead, this winds up feeling very self-contained and for those of us who follow the movie business part of the movie world, one knows that the entire X-Men universe is getting rebooted now that Fox finds itself under the Walt Disney banner.
It’s an inside movie world problem to have, but it’s a challenge to become emotively tethered to these characters knowing full well that what was once seen as a new beginning is firmly an isolated, one-off end.
There’s an issue with X-Men: The New Mutants. Producers have tapped someone who keenly knows the melodramatic landscape that is teenagers, but his history does not necessarily scream “special effects-driven action.” What winds up occurring is a film that is about two-thirds angsty exposition—that weighs down the entire effort—and one-third vapid action sequences. It’s sad because producers knew what they were getting with Boone, yet with the delays (which supposedly had nothing to do with the actual content of the film), it seems like those in charge of the studio was trying to do their best to “fix” the film in post. That’s never a good sign.
There were the lowest of expectations heading into viewing X-Men: The New Mutants. I was surprised at my engagement with the cast, despite my aforementioned thoughts. There is also a fair amount of exposition, also stated earlier, and that is done through some extremely well-written dialogue delivered by a talented group of young thespians. I suppose that could be the key to the enjoyment of any film, honestly, go in without any expectations, and always be surprised.
When it comes to bonus features, dive first into the Meet the New Mutants featurette. This spotlights that Fab Five and their bond becomes clear, beyond simply saying it so. What I mean is so often in these behind-the-scenes featurettes, casts talk about how they felt like a family, yet it never comes across as sincere. First, these actors form a bond that we sense on the screen and second, it comes through on home video extras, such as this one.
Longtime X-Men fans will appreciate Origins & Influences that finds iconic comic artist Bill Sienkiewicz and several of the filmmakers delve deeply into the roots and influences that helped define the onscreen New Mutants.
There’s a number of deleted scenes included that smartly speaks to the decision-making process of the filmmaker. One can tell a lot by what a writer-director included and what he or she didn’t—that is especially true here.
Lastly, be sure to dive into Director Josh Boone Chats with Marvel Comics artist Bill Sienkiewicz. Having the artist behind the images that inspired the image-maker have a discussion is a priceless addition to any comic book movie.
Film Grade: B-
Bonus Features: B