Dark Phoenix (2019)

All we want from these X-men movies are some scenes in which the mutants pool their resources and unleash their powers in imaginative combination and this 2019 episode, one of the "Muppet babies" ones of late, delivers lots of that - we especially liked the  train carriage scene - and we also get some more of poor Jean Grey's backstory, though after some new details about how she came into Professior Xavier's care as a child, her story becomes the same old same old one about her reckoning with her awesome powers - it seems the only new thing that can be done with this character is adding different adjectives to her name.

★★★☆☆

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X2: X-men United (2003)

The best of all the X-men movies, this sequel of the original has it all - a thrilling non-stop action plot, moments of laugh-out-loud humour mostly thanks to Wolverine, and the best thing of all — alone, worth the price of admission — is the invasion scene at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in which audiences are treated to a fast-paced and exhilarating showcase of the mutants' weird and wonderful gifts.

★★★★☆

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X-men: Apocalypse (2016)

Nothing will ever compare to the school invasion scene in X2: X-men United in which audiences are treated to a fast-paced showcase of weird and wonderful mutant powers — here, in X-men number 9 (counting Deadpool), things are decidedly less artful: the mutant "gifts" are presented mostly in slow-mo and further laboured by exposition of the sort, "You're in my head!? How are you doing that!?" "It's my gift..." (an exchange between students at a mutant school), and in fact, aside from a strong whiff of a political agenda (there is a near decapitation performed by the villain whose prisoner is on his knees on a sandy desert floor) nothing actually happens — for inordinate amounts of time, the mutants pose smugly, chests out, arms akimbo against cgi backgrounds, frequently not doing anything at all while the villain, a hideous, mouldy Marlon Brando-lookalike with displeased downturned lips, grumbles and performs haircuts.

★★☆☆☆

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

This movie makes the mistake of stripping away too much of the mystery of the brooding Wolverine character, in a more cheaply made film than usual X-men instalments, with less impressive effects and a far too simple and often cornball origin story, disappointing for a series which is usually so stylish and complex.

★☆☆☆☆

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X-men: Days of Future Past (2014)

What the X-men franchise probably didn't need, with all its humans and mutants and feuding subfactions of each, was the added complication of time travel because this instalment involving a Terminator-style battle across time to stop assassin robots, is almost too convoluted to enjoy.

★★★☆☆

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X-men: First Class (2011)

This episode of the X-men franchise goes back to 1962 to explain Professor Xavier's love-hate relationship with Magneto (they used to be buddies) and calms down the fever-pitch energy attained over the course of the original three X-men movies while still delivering the themes and set-pieces expected of the series.

★★★★☆

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X-men: The Last Stand (2006)

The third installment of the X-men series dutifully upholds the superhero filmmaking law which states a third installment superhero movie must be so unrestrained it collapses from its own bombast.

★★☆☆☆

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