The New Mutants - A Review

 

Last night HBO broadcast The New Mutants. I thought it worth a look but nearly turned it off when the opening logo fest told me this was part of the Marvel Universe. I have nothing against Marvel and am a fan of Stan Lee no matter what the lunatics in the world say about him and his attitudes from a long time ago. But the truth is, I’m not really a fan of most of those movies.

I hung in there and have to wonder what possessed me. It isn’t a very good movie. I found nothing to really like about the characters and confess I must have missed something somewhere. I don’t know why the one New Mutant, Dani Moonstar, woke up in what looked like a mental hospital. I don’t know how she got there or what was chasing her when she was injured in the very beginning of the movie. I don’t know how those running the hospital knew where she was or that she needed to be rescued when she was injured, if hospital is the right word. I found my attention wandering frequently because this all was just plain boring.

If I understood what passed as a plot, this was a place where the mutants were gathered as they moved from childhood to adulthood and they began to develop their powers. It was clear that Dani Moonstar didn’t know a thing about this or that she was some sort of mutant. She didn’t know what her power might be and we were all waiting for it to manifest itself… sort of… I really didn’t care.

Back in 2005 there was a nice little movie, Sky High, that sort of dealt with the same sort of “problem.” That is, the youngsters developing their superpowers. While the movie had a tongue-in-cheek flavor to it, it was also clear that the cast was having some fun, as was the audience. There was an actual plot and story and a bunch of “big” names like Kurt Russell, Kelly Preston, Bruce Campbell, Cloris Leachman and Dave Foley in what might be considered the supporting cast. There was character development, some interesting special effects, and clever dialogue. When we come to The New Mutants, none of that was there.

Of the two films, Sky High is the big winner. I’ve watched it a couple of times. The New Mutants, I wish I could erase from my brain. It wasn’t so bad that it’s good. It was just bad. Give it a pass and hope those involved refrain from making a movie ever again. And if you really want to see a movie about mutants gaining their powers, check out Sky High instead.