The New Mutants

This potentially interesting horror comic-book film turned out to be such an eviscerated nothing. The New Mutants would like to lean on the characters, but the creators are virtually uninvolved with them. They'd like to differentiate themselves from other X-Men movies by setting them in the horror genre, but the scary scenes are more or less stripped down here. And while it looks pretty nice and the bunch of heroes are quite likeable despite their shallowness, it's not enough for a good movie. After years of waiting, a film that does practically nothing to impress has arrived in the cinemas. (2020-08-28)

The name you're looking for is I Am Number Four. This was, in fact, a similar high school debauchery that was made for the sole purpose of groping the potential for creating a new young adult franchise and was transparent about it all the way through. With films like The New Mutants, you almost tend to personify the film medium due to how naturally resistant it can be to these attempts to simply monetize it purely, without any further ambition or ability. Perhaps only unloaded sadists who will groan at the way actors struggle with their accents and ultimately their roles might find some satisfaction. However, the discomfort of watching it is far more pervasive. Witnessing the discomfort of everyone involved in a film of only six actors is rather comparable to being the only one to attend the birthday party of an unpopular classmate. (2020-11-24)

The New Mutants is labeled as a horror, sci-fi and action film, but after screening it, I have to conclude that almost none of the genre levels work as I would have liked and expected. The trailer had more of a scary and action atmosphere than the film itself, which is really a shame because there was a lot of potential and a touch of otherness to the other pieces from the X-Men universe. The characters and their abilities are interesting on the one hand, but somewhat threadbare, so that you don’t really feel compelled to root for them at all – the only character I was at least a little bit interested in was Illyana (and Lockheed and her demonic “smiley faces”). Even the proven hospital setting didn't work as well as it could or should have. My expectations were simply too high for The New Mutants. (2020-09-02)

I did not exactly like this movie! Where are the X-Men, horror, a supposedly strongly romantic narrative, and also, suspense? Well, all this is supposed to be there, although I did not really find any. It is a rather unscary horror movie! The X-Men appear in this although it feels more like they belong to a TV show than a movie because the characters do not really have enough screen time, so it does not really work. The romantic narrative is not really very believable, there was too little chemistry, and it felt like it was just tacked onto the screenplay. Towards the end - maybe - there is a little suspense... So, I stand by the fact that this was a flop of a movie. I am not going to watch it again and there is no need for a sequel... 3/10 (2020-09-08)

What should be appreciated is the attempt at genre-bending, however if you're going for a horror spectacle (and the trailers are very misleading in this regard), you'll be disappointed. Not that there aren't horror themes, it’s just that the whole thing comes across as completely mediocre without a shred of invention. The story and the comedic concept itself may be fine, but the film tempts you with something that ultimately falls woefully short of the 50% mark. As such, this attempt at an X-Men horror crossover got stuck somewhere in the middle of its journey. A great idea in brutally mediocre execution. (2020-09-08)