New Mutants, the (actual) final X-Men movie in the Fox run of superhero flicks, is finally (FINALLY) available to a wide audience. After numerous delays even before the pandemic and then a gasping-for-air theatrical when screens opened, it’s hit digital rental so I gave it a watch. I wasn’t expecting much after three+ years of delays so I was pleasantly surprised. Not overwhelmed… but just a little whelmed.

New Mutants is about five young people with mutant superpowers who are being prepped/treated/groomed by a doctor in her surprisingly empty medical facility. Each character has his or her own psychic scars which begin to manifest themselves throughout the hospital…. almost like it was a “your worst fears” type horror movie. Huh. Anyhow… can our intrepid group of youngsters fight off the existential threats? Can they escape the hospital alive? Guess you gotta watch to find out… or just guess because you’re probably right. This ain’t Shakespeare.

Here’s the thing, this movie is serving two masters. As a superhero film, it’s too focused on being a scary movie (and having a limited budget). As a scary movie, it’s too focused on being about superpowered kids to really ratchet up any of the scares. So it’s not really quite good enough for either genre…. but what it turns out to be is a better “Youth in Revolt/Inmates vs. the System” type movie… no it ain’t threatening One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest but it turns out it’s not so bad at trying. It gets enough of the job done that I became invested (somewhat) in these crazy kids and that was enough to forgive the humdrum scares.

The acting is generally good (except for some dodgy accents) and it better be because I think the movie has six or seven actors in it total. But that small scale was itself kind of interesting. The movie isn’t about saving the world and there is a knock down drag out fight (of sorts) but that’s for the soul of a person, not the fate of humanity. I kind of liked that narrowed scope, especially when the film is trying to be a different kind of superhero flick.

I don’t think this will convert many and I imagine some X-Men fans will find something to hate on (me? I have no idea who the New Mutants are so smooth sailing on the adaptation front for me). But I think there’s a touch more to the movie than I certainly expected and if you like Vs. the System / Asylum type movies (or you just have to see all the X-Men movies), I think it’s worth a look. At least it’s better than Dark Phoenix!

Score: 81