The New Mutants (2020) | Film Review

The X-Men’s latest installment (and final one before being absorbed and retooled under the Disney umbrella), The New Mutants, has had quite the storied path to release, as director Josh Boone’s take on Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod’s – outrageously misspelled in the credits as Macleod – graphic novel struggled repeatedly to land a hard and fast release date. Finally, movie theaters are open and The New Mutants have arrived.

Loosely based on that 1982 graphic novel (though you will not find Professor Xavier in this adaptation), Dani Moonstar (Blu Hunt) escapes the destruction of a tornado hitting her Native American reservation, only to wake in a hospital facility of sorts. She quickly learns from Dr. Reyes (Alice Braga) that her father is dead, and that she is being held for treatment at this facility until she can learn to control her mutant powers, proving she will no longer be a danger to the world around her. The trick being that Dani has no idea what her mutant abilities ultimately are.

Dani also quickly learns that there are a small assortment of other mutants being treated at this facility: Illyana Rasputin (Anya Taylor-Joy), a bit of a murderess sorceress who carries her favorite purple dragon Lockheed with her everywhere; Rahne Sinclair (Maisie Williams), a lycanthrope; Sam Guthrie (Charlie Heaton), a young man who can fly at incredible speeds like a cannonball; and Roberto da Costa (Henry Zaga), essentially an uncontrollable fireball. Each of these mutants struggles with a childhood trauma of sorts – though character development is spotty at best for most – and all are trapped in this mysterious facility which is surrounded by an invisible dome force field to contain them.

First and foremost, Josh Boone is specifically in search of a darker, horrific vision for his version of The X-Men universe, a departure from the main series. He mostly succeeds in this arena, as The New Mutants distinctly separates itself from its parent series with relative ease. This world lives and breathes dire malice throughout the proceedings, and several moments come genuinely close to striking real fear.

Our patients begin experiencing their traumas via waking nightmares – including an intensely recreated demon bear and terrifying, gangly-shaped fanged humanoids reminiscent of Slender Man – which Boone and his cast equate themselves well to this concept. Yet, while mostly engaging, the film does lack a distinctly memorable moment to truly lift this from intriguing concept to rave-worthy affair. And that is honestly where The New Mutants takes a whiff.

All of the pieces for greatness are here. You have a very talented cast; Taylor-Joy, Williams, and Hunt could even each easily handle their own solo franchise (although Heaton’s Kentucky accent drinks a bit too much bourbon for a solo run). There is an intriguing and original break from countless other X-Men films by slowing down the action set-pieces and allowing psychology to wade in. Not to mention a hefty dose of horror. There are numerous story aspects that deserve to be fleshed out as well, including the burgeoning romance between Dani and Rahne or the nihilistic backstories of each of our mutants.

So why can’t Boone find a way to give this movie some teeth that will leave a sting longer than five minutes after you’ve left the theater? Everything is here and the potential to revitalize the X-Men brand is clearly within grasp by even a slight refining of the material. Boone and co-writer Knate Lee just needed a bit more oil and grease to get this motor humming, yet seem to struggle to identify how best to exploit those opportunities. In other words, despite the unfortunate release delays, this is NOT a bad movie by any turn of the phrase. It’s simply an unremarkable one.

By the time the end credits roll around, you will have an entertaining enough ride with The New Mutants. The pacing is fluid, the cast is doing everything they can, and you can see the potential for greatness around every corner, even if it is unfortunately tossed aside as easily as that historic Fox logo. Filmgoers will show up excited and amped for a demon bear, but we are fundamentally left with a mildly cranky baby cub instead.