Dark Phoenix brings the current X-Men saga to a close, but according to critics, the film ends the franchise with more of a whimper than a bang. Despite its stellar cast, the involvement of longtime franchise writer/producer Simon Kinberg (who makes his directorial debut here), and an iconic storyline taken straight from the comics, the would-be blockbuster only managed a 23% on the Tomatometer and failed to win its opening weekend at the box office, falling second to the animated sequel The Secret Life of Pets 2 by almost $14 million.
But what did average moviegoers think of the movie? Dark Phoenix currently sports an Audience Score of 64% — that’s more than 40 points higher than the Tomatometer score — so we decided to comb through the user reviews to get a sense of why the film resonated more with regular moviegoers than the critics. As we’ve found with other films, it really came down to audiences being more forgiving of some of the film’s flaws. Were there those who outright loved the movie? Absolutely, but there was a wide range of opinions offered, and we’ve collected some of them below. Check out the user reviews of Dark Phoenix and let us know what you thought of the film, and these reviews, in the comments. (Note, some of the reviews have been slightly edited for length and grammar/spelling.)
(Photo by Doane Gregory/20th Century Fox)
Horrible writing… It felt like the writers of this movie knew nothing about the characters besides maybe what had come before from the Fox X-Men universe.
– Nate 4, 0.5 stars
Not as bad as people are making it out to be. It is watchable. It is, however, very cheesy, and there is not really a solid plot/storyline to drive the movie forward. It was kind of sloppily done.
– Bianca F., 2.5 stars
Have always been a huge fan of the X-Men. However, this felt rushed, like trying to tie up ends. The premise was great and the material was there, but the delivery was all over the place.
– Michelle, 3 stars
Liked the effects. Disliked the departure from the original storyline. No character development.
– Al-kareem T., 3 Stars
Not too complicated of a story.
– R, 4 stars
People keep saying this movie is unwatchable and terrible. IDK what those people are watching, but I was glued to the screen the whole time. Yes it has its problems like any movie but I enjoyed it. Sophie did a good job!
– Carlos, 3 stars
It’s just not the same since Wolverine is not in it any more, and I wasn’t really crazy about what happened to Raven. I’m still a big fan of Michael Fassbender, who played Magneto. If it weren’t for him, the X-Men would just completely suck.
– Northside Movie Critic, 3 stars
The movie wasn’t perfect, but it isn’t entirely bad. Sophie Turner, Michael Fassbender, and James McAvoy lift this movie, which suffers from very minimal action sequences.
– Uma M., 3.5 stars
Sophie Turner dazzled as both hero and villain in this powerful finale to the X-men series. This movie had the best character development, and Jessica Chastain was very well played as a mysterious villain.
– Jaylon, 4.5 stars
I have no clue what all the hate is about. I loved this film. The tone, the VFX, and the score were all breathtaking. McAvoy and Turner stoke the show with astounding performances. 10/10 would watch again.
– Rodger C., 5 stars
(Photo by 20th Century Fox)
Somehow Fox managed to make a worse Phoenix movie than X-Men: The Last Stand.
– Nate 4, 0.5 stars
Was hoping this movie would stay more true to the comic. Well, sort of?
– Charles, 2 stars
I just don’t think anyone has figured out how to tell the Dark Phoenix story adequately yet.
– Adam E., 3.5 stars
It’s not ANYWHERE NEAR as bad as I was afraid it would be or the critic reviews are saying it is. That doesn’t mean it’s amazing, though. It does have its problems if it’s trying to be THE Dark Phoenix Movie, but it never could have been with the underdeveloped characters they were working with. At least I didn’t walk out saying, “I can’t believe The Last Stand was the GOOD Phoenix movie.” It’s missing some very crucial aspects of the Phoenix Saga that made it great — that significantly disappoints, particularly in the third act. Very sad it’s not the Phoenix movie I’ve desperately wanted since I was a kid.
– Darknight Crawler, 4.5 stars
The makeup work on mystique looked even worse than in Apocalypse. The CGI looked like something that would have impressed if this came out in the early 2000s.
– Nate 4, 0.5 stars
Loved the fight scenes. It needed more refinement and lacked the finesse of The Avengers. Loved the traditional power hand gestures. Very indicative of mutant powers.
– Xavier, 2.5 stars
Casual moviegoers or those with extra cash will enjoy this. A very decent film with great visuals and special effects.
– Rohit S., 3 stars
How can you have an X-Men movie and not put the mind-blowing mutant powers on display? That was my only concern. Thanks to the extensive re-shoots, the train sequence has become the best battle in the entire X-Men film series.
– Uma M., 3.5 stars
(Photo by 20th Century Fox)
X-Men: Apocalypse wasn’t very good. This one was worse. So many deviations, it was ridiculous.
– James R., 2 stars
It’s better than The Last Stand and Apocalypse.
– Carlos, 3 stars
Not a bad film, but not a good one either. If you were expecting it to be like Avengers, Venom, or like even previous X-Men films, it’s not the same. But it’s not a bad X-Men film, and if you really wanted to see it, or you’re a big X-Men fan, I think you’ll like it.
– Rohit S., 3 stars
It’s not the best X-Men movie, but I think it’s a step up from the previous one, and it was enjoyable, even though it felt a bit rushed towards the end.
– Daniel M., 4 stars
Best of X-Men series in a while. Great story and action.
– Phoenix Rises, 4 stars
The reviews are totally wrong about this one. This was a massive improvement compared to The Last Stand.
– Jaylon, 4.5 stars
Sad ending to this franchise. Maybe Disney will do better.
– Charles, 2 stars
Fox had an opportunity to let us say goodbye to these characters before the Disney/Fox merger. Instead of a Logan-type ending, we were left with nothing really changing in this world, just like a typical superhero movie.
– Ryan K., 2.5 stars
Not the worst X-Men movie, but not the best way to end the first true superhero movie franchise.
– Erick, 3.5 stars
I do recommend seeing this in theaters, if only because it’s a decent enough goodbye to the X-Men franchise we’ve known for 19 years and a glimpse of what Marvel will be doing again in, say, 12 years? See you then…
– Darknight Crawler, 4.5 stars
Check out all of the user reviews for Dark Phoenix so far.
