Dark Phoenix

This is what happens when you continue a franchise after you’ve apparently run out of viable ideas. Box-office performance will be the final determining factor, but DARK PHOENIX marks an indifferent big-screen swan song for the mutant superheroes.

The seventh film, not counting spinoffs, in the nearly 20-year-old series feels uninspired considering how high the bar has been raised in the oversaturated market for comic-book adaptations in the past decade.

The latest take on the comic’s “Dark Phoenix Saga” first explored in X-MEN: THE LAST STAND takes place primarily in 1992, and functions as an origin story for Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), showing how she acquired her telekinetic powers from a wayward solar flare.

Rebelling against her mentor, Professor X (James McAvoy), she flees to her hometown after a tragic accident exposes secrets about her past. As Jean comes to terms with her abilities, she reluctantly seeks guidance from her X-Men colleagues including Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Cyclops (Tye Sheridan).

With their alliance suffering from internal disarray, the X-Men must contend with a shapeshifting alien queen (Jessica Chastain) trying to harness Jean’s powers for evil.

These heroes are no longer fresh — even with a younger cast once the franchise shifted into “prequel” mode a couple of installments back — and neither is their quest for acceptance as outsiders in a human world, which has been an underlying theme throughout.

There’s plenty of technical prowess on display, and a variety of ultraviolent combat sequences to showcase everyone’s superpowers amid an impressive array of visual effects. What’s missing is the dramatic texture of the Marvel source material.

Yet the screenplay by rookie director Simon Kinberg, who has been a regular producer on earlier X-Men projects, feels behind the curve compared to genre predecessors, as it recycles old ideas and indulges in silly narrative tangents. The film admirably has a progressive agenda in mind, but doesn’t do much to advance it.

As Raven complains to Professor X about the disproportionate representation in their moniker: “The women are always saving the men around here. You might want to consider changing the name to the X-Women.”

Devoted fans might not agree with that suggestion, although this beleaguered effort suffers from the type of wooden dialogue and phoned-in performances that suggest a new direction might be in order. Dark Phoenix never rises above the mediocre.

Rated PG-13, 113 minutes.