THE NEW MUTANTS -- Not Your Daddy's X-MEN

Review by Dan Skip Allen

20th Century Fox owned the rights to the X-Men since 2000. Since then, theatergoers have gotten two different incarnations of the X-Men: one led by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen respectively, and another headed by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. The past twenty years have offered some good X-Men films and some bad. The New Mutants is on the side of the former — maybe even very good. But the thing that should be clear is these aren't your daddy's X-Men.

Danielle "Dani" Moonstar (Blu Hunt) is woken by her father, carrying her out into some nearby woods. Behind them is the sound of a roar, snow falling, and a trail of destruction being left in their wake. Before you know it, she wakes up in a room strapped to a bed. She doesn't know how she got there. Doctor Cecilia Reyes (Alice Braga) comes in and releases her and explains what's going on. She then introduced her to the rest of the patients in her care (Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Maisie Williams, and Henry Zaga).

Josh Boone (to this point best-known for The Fault in Our Stars) is no stranger to teen dramas. This is his first foray into comic book movies, though. With Knate Lee he adapted the popular demon bear storyline from The New Mutants comics, written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz, for his first shot at these young mutants. This story is widely considered the most popular and acclaimed story of these characters. It was their introduction to Marvel Comics. The movie pretty much adapts the story from the comics to a tee. This story deals with a lot of inner demons that these characters have to deal with, but also how they deal with each other.

Maisie Williams, Henry Zaga, Blu Hunt, Charlie Heaton and Anya Taylor-Joy in “The New Mutants.”

Personal demons are a subject that a lot of movies deal with. Because the people watching these films can relate to the demons the characters are dealing with, such as alcoholism or drug abuse. This was the perfect story to adapt first to the first New Mutants movie. Each character in the film has to come to terms with his or her own past and move forward. Not until they do that can they exercise their demons. On a personal level, I can relate to what these kids are going through because I have had to do the same in my life. It wasn't easy! Boone has made a film quite a few people can relate even though it's set in the world of comic books

The New Mutants was delayed three different times since it was made. Even the actors who portrayed the main characters have all aged enough to become adults. They were kids when they started shooting this film. With the whole Disney/Fox merger last year and the COVID-19 pandemic this year put this movie on the back burner at Disney. Finally, the film has arrived in theaters two years after it was supposed to be released in theaters. And The New Mutants was worth the wait. It has a great story with terrific acting all-around and direction from Boone. Along with the script, the visual effects, and score were all first-rate. This film is going to make a lot of people happy because it is really a very good adaptation that pays homage to the source material.

The New Mutants is now playing in theaters.

Rating: 4/5