The New Mutants is a film that has been fraught with setbacks. Initially set for release all the way back in April 2018, it has been pushed back time and time again for a multitude of reasons. In light of Disney’s recent shift in release tactic for Mulan, many had resigned themselves to The New Mutants suffering a similar fate. The film will get a theatrical outing on Friday 4th September. But after all this time, has it been worth all the fuss?
Set within the X-Men universe, but without any of the stars that we know, The New Mutants sees a group of teenagers come to terms with their mutant abilities whilst locked up in a secret medical facility. After realising that the people working there might not be as helpful as they claim to be, the group band together to escape. Pitched as a horror X-Men, The New Mutants certainly does have instances of darker moments and creepy elements, but none are ever pushed or explored enough to cause any genuine sense of fright. It has plenty of Gothic aesthetics, but lacks the atmosphere. The film overall, is fine – which considering some of the recent X-Men instalments, is actually commendable – but there’s still definitely something missing.
With the exception of Anya Taylor-Joy, the cast consists of Maisie Williams of Game of Thrones, Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton, as well as Blu Hunt and Henry Zaga who had guest stints on The Originals and 13 Reasons Why respectively. Unsurprisingly, it’s Taylor-Joy as Illyana that offers the knockout performance of the film. Joy has this uncanny ability to breathe life and vigour into every role she plays, and even here when dealt with subpar source material, she manages to find the nuggets of gold and amplify them. Whilst the rest of the cast struggle to rise above the rather lean character development, Taylor-Joy shines, simultaneously portraying Illyana as bitch, broken, and brave, all at once.
Most definitely not a superhero movie, nor a horror, and not quite a teen drama, it’s difficult to fully understand exactly who The New Mutants is aimed at. Maybe the audience is simply those curious to finally see it released? It’s not quite worth all the fuss, but when it comes to X-Men universe movies, you can (and likely have) endured worse.
The New Mutants is released in UK cinemas on Friday 4th September.
The New Mutants
Summary
A film with an identity crisis, The New Mutants struggles to find its voice, but thanks to another stellar turn from Anya Taylor-Joy, there’s enough to satisfy those that venture to see it.
