The reviews are (sort of) in for the long-awaited The New Mutants. Shot all the way back in 2017, the movie suffered various delays due to big-screen clashes and the Disney-Fox merger. Now that Josh Boone's movie has finally made its way to cinemas, many U.S. based critics are opting not to review the movie due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
According to The A.V. Club, the reason is that Disney hasn’t provided screening links or safe-screening options. However, there are cinemas open in other parts of the world – including France, Canada, and the U.K. – which has led to reviews of the New Mutants emerging online. Our own review (we're based in the U.K., where wearing a mask in cinemas is mandatory and coronavirus is under more control) will be on the way, once we're able to get tickets (it opens a week later here).
For the meantime, we've rounded up all reviews that are currently available on Fox's teenage mutant horror – and the verdict is mixed, to say the least. Check out The New Mutants reviews below.
The Hollywood Reporter managed to see The New Mutants in Paris, where wearing masks in cinemas is mandatory. But don’t get excited, writer Jordan Mintzer called the movie “an eye-rolling case of déjà vu.”
The review reads: “Generic and, at its best, straining to be heartfelt… making vague references to the X-Men franchise but attempting to stand on its own. Unfortunately, it rarely does.” The saving grace appears to be the movie’s trio of female heroes – Maisie Williams’ Wolfsbane, Blu Hunt’s Dani, and Anya Taylor-Joy’s Magik – as THR adds: “The film’s trio of young and tough female leads manages to give your typically male-dominated genre something of a feminine twist.”
Travis Hopson of PunchDrunkCritics writes: “Boone gets the balance all wrong; the scares aren’t nearly impactful enough and the teen bonding waylaid by embarrassingly clunky dialogue.” But, like the Hollywood Reporter, Hopson makes special mention of the performances of the young cast: “The cast are all good enough they would warrant being brought back, especially Taylor-Joy. Perhaps, when Marvel decides to reboot The New Mutants, as they inevitably will, they’ll ask her to pick up the sword again.”
Meanwhile, in Canada, Barry Hertz at The Globe and Mail notes, “It is difficult to pinpoint exactly where Boone goes wrong, because there are just so many options to choose from.” Yikes.
It’s not all bad though, Fandango’s Erik Davis shared on Twitter, “Gotta say, I dug New Mutants.” Davis said the movie was “...smaller, more intimate, a bit nuts. Anya Taylor-Joy’s Magik is the stand-out for me, but the film’s heart is all Rahne and Dani.”
He added, “This is a psychological thriller that spits fire & is quite the head trip.” As it stands – and with little to go off – it seems the Fox X-Men’s swan-song is dividing opinion. However, the wait to hear the final verdict on the last entry in Fox's X-Men Saga may be a bit longer as certain parts of the world still await to see the movie.
The New Mutants was never meant to be the finale of course; before Fox got a new executive and merged with Disney, the movie was meant to launch a trilogy that would see the Inferno saga brought to life. 12DOVE talked to director Josh Boone to learn more about the lost trilogy plans.
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