The New Mutants

Really, since the late 70's, we have seen a plethora of superhero films, or, as I like to call them, comic book films. More to the point, of all those films, one of the franchises we've seen many incarnations of is that of the "X-Men" one. "The New Mutants" is basically taking five teenagers attempting to, not only to realize what their mutant ability is, but also how to harness it so they can control.

Others to round out the cast are Adam Beach as Dani's father, Thomas Kee as Sam's father and Colbi Gannett as young Illyana.Illyana Rasputin (Anya Taylor-Joy), Rahne Sinclair (Maisie Williams), Sam Guthrie (Charlie Heaton) and Roberto da Costa (Henry Zaga) are four young mutants being held against their will in an isolated hospital for psychiatric monitoring. Dr. Cecilia Reyes (Alice Braga), believing the teenagers are a danger both to themselves and to society as a whole, keeps a close eye on them as she struggles to teach them how to rein in their mutant abilities. When newcomer Danielle 'Dani' Moonstar (Blu Hunt) joins the other patients in the facility, strange occurrences begin to take place. The hospital's patients are plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, and their new mutant abilities--and their friendships--will be tested as they battle to try to make it out alive.

This was effectively directed by Josh Boone ("Stuck in Love." '12, "The Fault in Our Stars" '14) plus TV. Even though this filmmaker doesn't have a ton of experience, he still has the ability to extract from his actors the pathos and emotion to set the mood given the scene at hand. His "The Fault in Our Stars" was an amazingly well directed film, so I depended on that same caliber and got it. It was interesting written by Boone ("Stuck in Love." '12, "All We Had" '16, "The Pretenders" '18) plus TV and Knate Lee ("Cardboard Boxer" '16, "Kidnap" '17) plus TV. Even though it worked that Boone didn't have a ton of experience when directing, not having a ton of experience in the writing category didn't serve him as well as Lee. Mind you, it wasn't a wash--it did have certain redeeming values. Such as creating this entire film holed up in a creepy, old psychiatric hospital. With this--it definitely gave the audience a chance to get to know these young people. Where this film got bogged down was that in places, certain things couldn't have happened, and there was more than one place where the audience had to scratch their heads in how did certain characters get from one place to another, The visual effects predominantly designed by Method Studios, MPC (Moving Picture Company) and Double Negative didn't seem heavy-handed as with other films of this type, which certainly did help.

If you're a comic book film fan, or specifically an "X-Men" affictionado, this film will work for you. However if you're looking for a tighter script that follows easily, you may have to flip a coin. A little heads up: there are some graphic scenes and adult scenes that probably won't be suited for the kiddies. This could've been rated R easily.

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                                            Rated: PG-13                                       94mins.