Is Two And A Half Years Later Still “New”? - The New Mutants (2020…Kinda)

For a film that was originally due to be released Friday 13th IN APRIL 2018, it feels somewhat painful writing about The New Mutants nearly three years later.

And yeah, I’ve specifically waited until a Friday 13th to write and publish this; it seems kind of right, no?

Do you know what doesn’t seem right for this film though? The absolute clusterfuck that is its release.

Partly due to Covid-19 (booo), partly due to production and branding, I still can’t actually tell if this film has been released properly. Well, it has been released: I made the point of catching it in the cinema in those handful of weeks when the cinemas were open, but I specifically wanted to hold off on writing about it until other people would have watched.

For a film that, based on the time-frame of its release, should have been a part of 20th Century Fox’s world of X-Men/Fantastic Four (it was even due for release before X-Men: Dark Phoenix, a film that felt like it somewhat gave up on things, knowing of the upcoming “death”/rebrand of the franchise), The New Mutants entered this uncomfortable branding battlefield wherein it is unclear who made it, who owns it and who is marketing it. In fact, the marketing is being done terribly, if at all: for a film that aimed for that spooky Friday 13th original release, it is now Friday 13th (of November, 2020) and a quick search suggests that the film is out now, due for release next Friday, maybe January of 2021, maybe never, or all of the above. With the knowledge that all things Marvel (and 20th Century Fox) have now moved over to Disney (or, maybe, gone back to?), I even contacted Disney here in Ireland to see if they would or could clarify a release date.

Guess who didn’t get an answer, and still can’t find a consistent answer, no matter how much homework he does?

That said, for a film with a messy release, about messy characters who are stuck in messy lives, it feels somewhat appropriate for it to live through such a mess of a release.

I should stress this before I go any deeper though.

I FUCKING LOVE THIS FILM.

But, as with my rant above, such love comes from a very messy place, one that goes deep into the Fox world of the X-Men wherein they both are, and aren’t, part of a larger universe. It’s a similarly messy place that reminds me of the 1996 TV-movie/pilot for Generation X, a film that, in retrospect, I have no idea how or why I got to see. Logic tells me I either caught it on TV (somehow) or ended up renting it on VHS, with my memory of a camp, silly, not particularly good movie…but one with heart, that wasn’t afraid to go to dark places and touch on things that felt warm and welcoming to me. While I haven’t watched it in a very long time, I also have memories of Generation X touching on important matters like body image, and the associated threats and horror of the same, things we haven’t really seen in the newer wave of superhero releases with their shirtless, hairless men

It seems somewhat fitting that The New Mutants does something similar in terms of my love and appeal, in that it is a about a lot more than just heroes. But, I am writing this finding it near impossible to comment on the quality of such a film in its own right without comparing to its other mutant and superhero brethren.

Family is actually a very important part of The New Mutants, and in amongst its failings (which will be coming later, don’t worry) the film goes out of its way to challenge and embrace the feelings and meanings of family, whether that is genetic, chosen or built. Within the world of the X-Men, I have always read family as an inclusive and accepting power in the world: while the later X-Men films have moved towards flirtations with the heroic and grander narratives, The New Mutants takes place in a world where its mutants are Other, beings that the world sees as threatening, that the world goes out of its way to omit.

And, in doing so, all these mutants need and want is to form their own circle of trust, their own family.

The New Mutants plays well with this sense of family because it goes out of its way to destroy the family structure within its opening moments, as Dani Moonstar (Blu Hunt) is woken by her father while their residence is under some un-shown storm-like threat. The film does not go into detail on with the threat or the destruction: instead, Dani gets knocked out, only to wake up tied to a hospital bed, being treated by Dr. Cecilia Reyes (Alica Braga)who tells her that she is the only survivor of the event, that she is a mutant and Reyes’ job is to find out what Dani can do, how she can control it and what the future might hold for her.

This is one of the film’s largest flaws, but a flaw that is somewhat fitting and feels right for the film and the characters within. In a basic world of story-telling, the writer (and the narrative) are expected to show-not-tell, but with both Reyes’ and this narrative beat, we are told rather than shown, with most of the film’s releases of information coming through simple, welcoming conversation, sometimes in a group counselling sessions. In an intimate, thought provoking narrative about mental health, loss and well-being, The New Mutants actually works well because of this.

However, in a world of superhero films with fancy mind-blowing set-pieces that are all about the showing-not-telling, The New Mutants feels like it belongs either on the TV screen or at least two decades ago - perhaps, like Generation X, it is both.

Reyes introduces Dani to her other patients - Rahne Sinclair (Maisie Williams), a somewhat butch Scottish girl who looks like she belongs in the music video for Smells Like Teen Spirit; Sam Guthrie (Charlie Heaton), a broken-armed, shy, skinny thing whose character is barely more than a Southern-states accent; Bobby Da Costa (Henry Zaga), overly-confident rich-kid who is more ego than human; and Illyana Rasputin (Anya Taylor-Joy), a girl who has more swagger, confidence and Russian-accent than actual character.

Our five ‘new mutants’ are all broken characters, with the film suggesting that all are responsible for deaths or killings in some ways. With the number of characters and the film’s short run-rime, such characters and their scars are not worthily developed, leaving them as nothing more than beats to a narrative that goes out of its way to remind the viewer that these are broken characters who may (or may not) be somewhat dangerous, both physically and emotionally. It is a somewhat appropriate narrative to come from director Josh Boone, who previously brought The Fault In Our Stars to screens (nope, I haven’t watched it and probably never will.)

While the film toys with the events and genes that have created such broken characters, the film just doesn’t give enough time to any of those characters, leaving them to come across as nothing more than snarky teenagers who, aside from a handful of initial, snappy comments and fisticuffs, ultimately become respectful of and towards each other in a fashion that moves far too easily and quickly.

The New Mutants is a film that is aware of this, though, and that’s part of why I loved it, watching as it embraces this level of camp,: the film includes comments from the characters with reference to their own or each other’s mental health, with some such comments revealed in the characters’ shared social space while Buffy The Vampire Slayer plays on the TV. In keeping with the “this film should have been out 25 years ago” feel, I am pretty sure such imagery is made to look like our characters are watching on an old CRT TV that may be playing tapes: it is unclear whether this is meant to show the immobility in which these characters are living, or if the film is truly embracing painting itself within the late-90s/early-00s narrative that it is presenting.

In keeping with such a pre-CGI narrative, and with its focus on relationships and mental health, the film doesn’t pay much attention to its characters’ powers or abilities: sure, we get to see Sam flying around for a bit, Rahne wolfing out, and Illyana being a drastically overpowered character for such an intimate narrative. But the ways in which all their powers are shown is related to their mental health (escape, angry animalistic payback and protective shields), in the same away as the film plays with Dani’s powers, with both power and life being intensely linked.

However, with so many characters, the film is drawn in so many different directions that it gets somewhat lost because of it.

With my own writing, there are times when I have realised that there are certain characters that just don’t fit, characters that can be sacrificed, their dialogue or their narrative moved or transferred over to another character. That’s now to say that I would like to see The New Mutants with fewer characters, but with a 90 minute run-time, it does feel like there are just too many characters for such a space, especially when that space is filled with such individual traumas.

And holy fuck, are their significant traumas in this film.

Dani (and her powers) have possibly killed off her entire community. But be warned that I say “possibly”, because the film does not show such deaths, only being announced by Dr. Reyes, with the film later revealing her as the villain of sorts (while, at the same time, suggesting that mental health, or that of your friends and equals, is the true enemy.) As an aside, Reyes is working for the Essex Foundation, implying the presence and existence of Mr. Sinister, one of my favourite X-Villains with the film clearly trying to establish him for future movies. But, because of the “closure” of the franchise, I probably won’t see that least not for another few years.

Amongst the other characters, Sam killed his father and several of his mining community; Rahne got beaten and abused by a priest who, despite her faith, believed her to be demonic; Bobby’s first attempt at sex probably burned his girlfriend to death. Oh, and the film never truly delves deep into Illyana’s narrative, but strongly suggests sexual abuse as a minor.

Yes, our characters are broken and fucked up, and while the film tries to remain fun and entertaining, it is too busy trying to be both at the same time to truly be either.

With the various delays in the release of The New Mutants, there were initial suggestions that such delays were due to reshoots, either embracing or editing some side of the narrative. With that in mind, the film is a somewhat frustrating watch, existing in this middle-space that is too interested in appealing to all markets and viewers than in embracing the deeper meanings of the story that it wants to tell. In fact, the film even embraces a queer narrative in forming a relationship between Dani and Rahne, a relationship that is warm and well-delivered, but with so much else going on, feels significantly under-represented,

However, with that queer narrative and its broken, fucked up characters, The New Mutants has an amazingly powerful heart, one with far more power than it has any right to have. With such a short running time. the film is not afraid to touch on queer, on depression, on broken characters with fucked-up origins and histories, all being things that I feel are strongly missing from similar releases from the world(s) of Marvel, Disney and those previous flirtations from 20th Century Fox.

And yeah, that is why I have stated that I fucking love this film. It is not perfect and, with its failings in its production, its marketing and its release, those failings greatly outweigh its wins.

But dear god does The New Mutants feel like the X-Men-related queer-ish, horrror-ish 00s film that I really wish we had in the world 20-ish years ago.