Mutants and Superpowers and Demon Bears, Oh My!
The smell of the buttery popcorn. The blast of noise hitting your ears from the surround sound. The larger than life look of the big screen. The chills that run through you at any epic moment or scene as you grip the arms of the seat, almost feeling like this is a once in a lifetime experience. Did you miss the movie theater? I definitely did.
Things have been pretty crazy since COVID-19 hit. With shops and restaurants being temporarily closed, some even being shut down from loss of money, and adding to that, the stress of essential workers and those on the frontline needed to continue working, it’s safe to say change in the world has definitely been bigger than any of us could have imagined. But now with many places slowly opening up again, movie theaters included, many are still extremely hesitant about going out. I can say for sure though, that the Regal Stonefield & IMAX theater located in Charlottesville, which is now currently open every day from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., definitely has that under control. Going back I was, of course, a bit nervous, but it’s almost like the longer I stayed after I stepped through the doors, those worries just faded away.
All the employees had gloves and masks on. It’s a strict rule that all guests must have on a mask when inside the theater (unless you’re eating popcorn or drinking soda). Once you buy a ticket, two seats on both sides of you are sectioned off so no one can buy a seat next to you, every other row is closed off so you have even more distance from others who want to enjoy the movie and be safe just as you do, and after every showing, the seats are all sanitized and the theater is cleaned down. So being back again, I felt very safe. I’m a regular moviegoer, so returning for the first time in more than five months was pretty big for me. And to celebrate this momentous occasion, what movie did I choose to see? The New Mutants.
This film hasn’t been getting the greatest buzz to say the least, from both critics and moviegoers alike, with one quote from Amon Warmann of Empire saying, “Despite a game cast, The New Mutants’ horror elements aren’t very scary and as a superhero movie it fails to truly excite. A disappointing finale to Fox’s X-Men franchise.”
For me though, it was 100% exactly what I had hoped for. For one thing, there’s a pretty large chunk of the film where not a lot of big action happens. It’s mainly characters interacting with each other. Most people would say something like that is boring but I didn’t think so because I found all the characters and their back and forth dialogue really enjoyable and investing. It’s not until later on that the horror element kicks in, but that was completely fine because this being a superhero horror movie, I wasn’t expecting an action-every-minute X-Men film.
To sum this movie up, it pretty much felt like The Breakfast Club with mutant superpowers, and I loved it. Each of the characters and the actors/actresses portraying them, Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Henry Zaga, Blu Hunt, Charlie Heaton, Alice Braga, they were all great and I loved each of them and how well they handled the characters.
The relationship between Rahne and Dani, played respectively by Williams and Hunt, was one of the strongest points of the film and was one of the biggest emotional pulls of the story. The chemistry between the two actresses is fantastic, and each time they were on screen together were some of the best moments of the film. But of course, the scene stealer of the whole film has gotta be Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin/Magik. She has that snarky John Bender kinda attitude, since we’re comparing this to The Breakfast Club in a way, and I loved every second she brought that sarcastic personality on-screen, especially when she had so many of the best lines, for example, “Lions, tigers and bears, oh my. Right, Lockheed?” With that “don’t take nothing from nobody” personality but with heart, Anya Taylor-Joy was just awesome as this character and I loved her so much.
The “villains” of the film, Smiling Man and Demon Bear, were super cool too. I’ve read a New Mutants comic here or there, but aside from just hearing about them, these characters were pretty much new to me. They just made the movie even more awesome though, and the equally awesome CGI and special effects helped that greatly. I’m not sure where all these characters are gonna go since this is technically the last of the X-Men series under the 20th Century Fox brand (or 20th Century Studios now, I guess), but even if it is just a single movie, it was just as amazing as I hoped it would be during these almost 3 years of waiting. I couldn’t think of a more perfect film to really get me back into going to the movies again. I give The New Mutants an A+.
