JAMES Mangold’s Oscar-nominated 2017 action thriller Logan was, strictly speaking, a heart-rending swansong for Hugh Jackman’s hirsute brawler Wolverine.
However, during its explosive final reckoning, that film opened the door to a new generation of mutants in the X-Men universe.
Josh Boone’s long delayed rites-of-passage drama slams the door shut again.
Filmed more than three years ago, The New Mutants draws inspiration from super-powered Marvel Comics characters who embark on fantastical adventures separate from Professor Xavier’s other gifted youngsters.
Alas, there is nothing remarkable about Boone’s film, which taps into the adolescent angst of his previous picture, The Fault In Our Stars, and channels those raging hormones into a hoary horror set in an abandoned hospital that yearns to replicate the chilling isolation of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining.
As a lumbering tale of things that go bump in the night, The New Mutants delivers only fitful shivers including a prolonged encounter with eyeless demons dubbed the Smiley Men, whose design suggests an unholy alliance between the Pale Man from Pan’s Labyrinth and alien arch-villain Venom.
A tidal wave of digital effects blights an overblown final act, drowning out solid performances from an ensemble cast of bright young things who deserve a better vehicle for their talents.
Cheyenne teenager Danielle Moonstar (Blu Hunt) is the sole survivor of a ferocious level-five tornado which tears through her tribe’s reservation. She wakes in hospital under the care of Dr Cecilia Reyes (Alice Braga), who reveals that 16-year-old Dani is on the cusp of discovering her ‘mutant’ powers.
Reyes firmly encourages her patient to follow a routine of one-to-one sessions and group therapy to control her psionic energy.
Dani is introduced to the doctor’s other charges: miner’s son Sam Guthrie (Charlie Heaton), who explodes with unstoppable energy, devoutly Catholic shrinking violet Rahne Sinclair (Maisie Williams), who metamorphoses into a wolf, handsome Brazilian rich kid Roberto da Costa (Henry Zaga), who becomes a fireball when he loses control of his emotions, and Russian troublemaker Illyana Rasputin (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her dragon sock puppet Lockheed.
Under close supervision, tempers flare and secrets bubble to the surface, compelling Dani to question the sincerity of Dr Reyes’ actions.
The New Mutants was intended as the opening salvo of a trilogy and establishes loose narrative tethers to X-Men mythology (Illyana is the sister of Colossus in Deadpool, the evil corporation behind the hospital program is a clear nod to Logan).
Judged on its own meagre merits, Boone’s picture works most effectively as a snapshot of teenage sexual awakening, emboldened by sweet performances from Hunt and Williams.
Once characters’ superpowers are noisily invoked, on-screen action passes in one ear and out the other without firing brain synapses or registering any pleasing memories.
THE NEW MUTANTS (15, 94 mins) Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Thriller/Horror/Romance. Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Blu Hunt, Charlie Heaton, Henry Zaga, Alice Braga, Adam Beach. Director: Josh Boone.
RATING: 5/10
