The New Mutants

After having gone through a few release date changes from April 2018 to then planned reshoots changing it to February and then August of 2019 to not compete with Dark Phoenix only for Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox to then give it an April 2020 slot that the coronavirus pandemic then postponed until finally being released in August, The New Mutants has gone through a lot to finally get to theaters. While not meant to be and was supposed to be the start of a new trilogy, this is the last of the Fox era X-Men before the team and mutants in general will be introduced into the MCU. Unlike any of the previous films in the series, as well as many other superhero films, The New Mutants focuses more on horror and coming of age teen drama. Centering on five teen mutants, they are kept in a hospital by a doctor with force field powers to keep them from escaping. While she assures them that they're there temporarily until they master their powers and get to join the X-Men, things start to go wrong that prove there's more to what's going on. Another thing unique to this entry is how minimal the cast is, with the five teens and the doctor being the big focus and a few other people in small places. Blu Hunt plays Dani Moonstar who is capable of creating illusions based on people's nightmares, Maisie Williams plays the wolf turning Rahne Sinclair, Anya Taylor-Joy portrays the magical Illyana Rasputin, Charlie Heaton plays Sam Guthrie who can propel himself like a bullet, Henry Saga as the fire based Bobby da Costa, and Alice Braga as doctor Cecilia Reyes. The story, having been cowritten by director Josh Boone, is very interesting in its mixture of horror, teen coming of age, and superhero tropes though often hampered by how the focus goes from one genre to another without letting us stay too long. It's also obvious at times that a lot of the film is setup for future entries and while it would have been great to see them, knowing now that they're never going to be made is a bit awkward. The cast all provide strong performances, especially with the teens all having strong chemistry with each other. Although there are times when certain aspects, like Dani and Rahne's budding romance or Illyana's abrasiveness towards Dani, feels like they happen too quick or not elaborated on more. Even with its much shorter running time of nearly 100 minutes, some of the writing and editing makes it very sluggish and slow paced. One huge highlight that definitely adds to its horror themes is Peter Deming's brisk and haunting cinematography. The effects for each of the main characters' powers are all amazing, but especially in the depiction of the powerful Demon Bear. In the end, The New Mutants may have not been the best way to end a series that began in 2000, but at least it gave us something new and unique that is hard to forget. Over all: 87%
2020 top list so far:
1. The Invisible Man 2020
2. The Gentlemen
3. Birds of Prey
4. Onward
5. The New Mutants

6. Bad Boys for Life
7. The Call of the Wild 2020
8. Sonic the Hedgehog