The New Mutants is an original horror thriller set in an isolated hospital where a group of young mutants is being held for psychiatric monitoring. When strange occurrences begin to take place, both their new mutant abilities and their friendships will be tested as they battle to try and make it out alive.

The New Mutants Trailer:

The New Mutants Video Review:

The Good:

One thing that The New Mutants did quite well was capitalizing on its horror elements. Those smiley faced creatures in the film were definitely a great touch to scare audiences. I liked how they didn’t have to rely on cheap jump scares because the creatures themselves were eerie enough. There were other scary moments in the film like the “pool scene” that also gave this movie the necessary horror attributes that we’re accustomed to seeing in other films. I only wish we had gotten more of this in the film rather than only in the third and final act.

Probably one of the best standouts in the film will come from the character Magik. I wasn’t much impressed with Anya Taylor-Joy performance, but I did like the character more than anything. Magik’s powers were definitely intriguing and a cool sight to see on the big screen. Plus, I really liked her character’s backstory with the scary smiley face creatures. That in itself could’ve been a much more satisfying story compared to what we got.

The Bad:

I’m not a fan in some of the character development. Without going into spoilers, I’ll say that Cecilia Reyes was a disappointment. Her character felt rushed given the position she was placed in by the end of the film. The film just didn’t do a good job of revealing her motivations well enough. One minute you think she’s this, then another minute she’s acting different, and it just felt rushed.

I didn’t much care for the ending of the movie either. It felt a bit anticlimactic. There’s some interesting promise given with the characters, especially Magik, but then it feels like all the air is let out when the final resolution. The end became a bit childish in a sense where they might as well have just closed out the movie with a cheesy message about the power of friendship or whatever.

The Verdict:

The New Mutants is an uninspiring film that nails the right horror genre beats, but leaves very little to be desired. To the film’s credit, there were reports that it was supposed to be one of three films had the Disney/Fox deal not went through. Despite some interesting potential shown, The New Mutants doesn’t really leave us wanting for more. I suppose the good news is that we can finally put to rest the constant delays and close the chapter of the previous Fox regime with The New Mutants.

If there’s anyone thing to salvage from this movie may be from the character Magik who has a shot of being some use in the MCU ran by Disney. We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, I’m not sure if The New Mutants is good, or if it’s bad. All I know for sure is that this movie simply exists. I feel like this film belonged in the early 2000s when our expectations for comic book movies were so much lower. It feels pretty generic and flat without much meat for us to chew on so to speak. I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s the worst X-Men movie ever, but I would say that’s certainly on the lower levels of the franchise. (X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men: The Last Stand being at rock bottom.) Don’t feel pressured to go to the theaters to see The New Mutants in any type of a rush. Actually, if you never see it, don’t feel like you missed out on much either.

Director: Josh Boone
Writers: Josh Boone, Knate Lee
Stars: Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton

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