hen a mysterious solar flare critically damages a U.S. space shuttle in orbit, Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and his team of highly-skilled “X-Men” mutants spring into action to rescue the astronauts. During the operation, Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) sacrifices herself to save the others by absorbing the full power of the space phenomenon. Instead of perishing, however, Grey miraculously survives – and even acquires an increase in her already substantial abilities. But the X-Men’s triumph is short-lived as Jean soon realizes she can’t control the potent energy swirling within her. When the cosmic force reveals an unforgivable betrayal from one of her own family, Jean sets off down a dark path of violence and hatred that even her closest friends – including Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult), Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), Peter Maximoff (Evan Peters), Kurt Wagner (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and Scott Summers (Tye Sheridan) – may not be able to save her from.

“Are we simply what others want us to be?” The film begins with a car crash, digging into the origins of Jean Grey. Unfortunately, the spontaneous road wreck is one of the most overused introductions in cinema; and this one is no different, containing cues and clues that can be seen miles away. Doubling the disappointment is the fact that Grey’s upbringing has been investigated before; Bryan Singer’s original X-Men installments headed toward the arrival of the Phoenix alter-ego, and even though this updated storyline features the younger versions of the primary superheroes, much of the same ground is retread. Curiously enough, “Dark Phoenix’s” director, Simon Kinberg, also wrote “X-Men: The Last Stand.” That means he got to redo the same plot he scripted in 2006.

Fortunately, as with many of the franchise’s entries, historical events are interwoven into the mutants’ existences, lending a touch of reality to an otherwise wholly fantastical realm. Here, a rescue mission in space pushes subjects a little farther from home, though it provides opportunities for Nightcrawler’s exceptional teleportation effects, along with a revisitation to Quicksilver’s slow-motion lightning speed (briefer than before, yet still brimming with humor and creativity). Plenty of repetition occurs with the protagonists’ abilities, employing gimmicks that lack freshness, but the magic of misty energy particles appearing and disappearing onscreen like a squid’s inky defenses doesn’t tire as quickly.

“We changed the world so we could live in it.” As the X-Men face dissension in the ranks, political implications, clashes with mankind and alienkind (led by Jessica Chastain’s emotionless, platinum-blonde shapeshifter) alike, and Jean’s deteriorating condition, audiences are treated to reunions with much-loved iterations of classic characters. McAvoy and Fassbender (as Magneto) are the highlights, falling back into a comfortable, rivalrous chemistry that transcends the many difficulties of “Dark Phoenix’s” direct-continuation narrative (which makes it difficult to have an identity as a standalone work). Seeing these two alternate adversarial qualities with teamwork is thoroughly amusing.

Elsewhere, major events take place that reshape the X-Men collaboration, yet they feel trivial in the face of unoriginal storytelling. As Grey seems doomed to become the Dark Phoenix regardless of the timeline or age group of the shifting cast, there’s an unavoidable sense of familiar territory. As a spectacle piece, however, the action sequences are better than expected, following a superior pattern of steady escalation that welcomes grander and grander fight choreography and duels until the whopper of a climax. The complex series of face-offs and showdowns certainly deliver, utilizing stunning set pieces and spectacular destruction. Plus, the music by Hans Zimmer is a huge improvement over the last several X-Men chapters.

– The Massie Twins