Director Tim Burton’s latest film is a book adaptation, yet another in the deluge of young adult novels Hollywood has flooded us with as of late. They remain desperate in their attempts to find the next Harry Potter and shove it down our throats, but so far they continue to come up short.
The basic gist is that some children are born with special abilities. These gifted youngsters live in a special school where their headmistress teaches them to use their abilities for the greater good. A scrappy outsider named Logan Potter discovers the school, and is welcomed to their makeshift family. Professor X attempts to persuade Logan to join them. Logan doesn’t think he’s special, but over the course of the film realizes he has powers of his own.
It is later revealed that there are also bad people with special abilities. Magneto, played by Samuel L. Jackson, kidnaps Professor X and destroys the X-Mansion. Logan and the other gifted youngsters team up, each using their unique powers to rescue Professor X, defeat Magneto L. Jackson, and save the world from evil. They manage to do all this while keeping their entire, marvelous world a secret from everyday muggles.
The concepts on display here were rather amazing, things I had never seen before on film. Logan Potter truly comes into his own, as a rare example of the hero’s journey seen on film. Each team member is given their own chance to shine, and they had some rather unique and fun abilities such as the powers of fire, ice, turning into a bird, and Magneto L. Jackson’s claw hands. The climactic battle takes place atop the Statue of Liberty, where Logan Potter unsheathes his claws, casts Wingardium Leviosa on himself, and flies at Magneto L. Jackson like a deadly, razor-sharp bird of prey. Incredible!
The movie was overly long, and the first thirty minutes or so were a drag. But once all the principles were introduced, and the world-building completed, the story moved along rather briskly. It was backed up by some very good special effects. Burton is a solid director, and did a good job here as well. His trademark imagery was subdued compared to some of his other films, but you can still see his DNA in many of the shots.
Since this film was based on a book series, I know we can expect more entries in the future. Hopefully, the second story will address Logan Potter’s amnesia, and tell us where he came from, all while the gifted youngsters rewrite a post-apocalyptic future by going into the past in Logan Potter and the Days of Future Half-Blood Azkaban. I really look forward to it.
Verdict: Bad
Awesomely Shitty 
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Still going to watch it and I’m not expecting a whole lot. I mean, the book was exceptionally disappointing. It had false advertising and was supposed to be creepy and really wasn’t. It was actually pretty boring so not surprising that the movie is very much the same. Even if I do like Asa Butterfield as an actor, haven’t really been motivated to check this one out yet.
Well, I suppose it is worth watching once. Just don’t get your hopes up. Or watch X-Men instead, same thing with a better cast.