Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

The New Mutants Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 20, 2020

The New Mutants purports to be the (supposed) last film in the now multitudinous X-Men franchise. In that regard, and given the fact that in at least one of the graphic novel forebears to this film the so-called “new mutants” were part of the Xavier Institute, and further given the fact that Professor X himself was memorably portrayed by Sir Patrick Stewart, it might be argued that this outing could just have easily been titled X-Men: The Next Generation. That hopefully obvious joking aside, however, The New Mutants is arguably lacking any actor of Stewart’s gravitas, and it is undeniably lacking Stewart himself. The allusion to Star Trek: The Next Generation is perhaps doubly inapt in that the Roddenberry "sequel" was deemed by many to be at least as good if not better than the original Star Trek, while The New Mutants is probably not going to be seen as a high watermark in the X-Men franchise by very many, if any at all. This is a kind of sad way for the venerable series to peter out, and, yes, I'm sure there are some fans of the franchise asking, "Wasn't X-Men: Dark Phoenix 4K sad enough?". But the fact that this film sat on the shelf for years and was reportedly pretty drastically retooled along the way might suggest that even the powers that be at 20th Century (which was probably still 20th Century Fox when the film was in production) knew they had a less than riveting outing on their hands.

There are some kind of interesting parallels between X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants, including alumnae from Game of Thrones (Sophie Tucker in terms of X-Men: Dark Phoenix and Maisie Williams in terms of this film), as well as a female-centric plot that might seem to subvert an assumed target demographic of males. As several of the creative staff get into in some of the supplements included on the 1080 disc included in this package, there was a conscious attempt to not just forge a story focused on women, but to blend a more tradition X-Men ambience with a kind of proto-horror aspect, in this case a "worst fear dream" element that seems willfully ripped (slashed?) from the screenplay pages of A Nightmare on Elm Street .

The story begins with an Cheyenne tribe member named Dani Moonstar (Blu Hunt), who is awakened by her panicked father because something is attacking their reservation. Suffice it to say that disaster ensues, which is followed by a completely unexplained segue that finds Dani handcuffed to a hospital bed in a facility being run by Dr. Cecilia Reyes (Alice Braga). There's absolutely no reason given as to why Dani should be so shackled (there's at least an implication that Reyes wants to keep her from harming herself, but it's not very well developed), especially since Reyes almost immediately removes the handcuffs, lets Dani knows she's the only survivor of a "tornado" (right), and, just for good measure, that Dani is a mutant who will be staying at the hospital until Reyes can make sure Dani is in control of her powers, which are still in a nascent stage.

It turns out that Dani is only one of a quintet of young mutants being held at the facility. Also there is Rahne Sinclair (Maisie Williams), a shapeshifter whose ability to morph into a wolf is not so subtly linked to her lesbianism, in that both are elements that make Rahne feel like an outcast and morally bankrupt; Sam Guthrie (Charlie Heaton), a kid who can accelerate himself to supersonic speeds, but who has a hard time "landing" afterwards, leading to him suffering all sorts of supposedly comic injuries; Roberto da Costa (Henry Zaga), a kind of quasi-Human Torch who is the very model of a modern Latin Lover; and Ilyana Rasputin (Anya Taylor-Joy), a Russian (wasn't her name a giveaway?) whose arm can transform into a sword and who carries around a kind of dragon like hand puppet named Lockheed.

Suffice it to say that among the not very surprising developments are the fact that the facility is not a hospital in the traditional sense, and that Reyes' motives are far from pure. Also playing into the story is a burgeoning romantic relationship between Rahne and Dani, which may be the most provocative element for some, despite how discursively it's generally handled. The timeworn trope of seeming nemeses learning to work together as a team to overcome a common enemy is of course a central part of the tale, with the entire film seeming to be a set up for yet another sequel. The fact that this entry is more or less limited to one location and only has a few smatterings of special effects wonderment may make this seem like the low rent cousin to more fully funded X-Men films. But even given that ambience, there is a recurrent level of underdeveloped ideas and lack of logic that undermines the X-Men aspect and probably completely defeats any horror aspect.

The New Mutants Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The New Mutants is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista and 20th Century with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The IMDb lists the Panavision Millennium DXL as the camera of choice, with the DI being finished at 4K. The lack of consistent special effects in this film may be a slight detriment to some expecting another X-Men x-travaganza (sorry), but if seemingly more "mundane" a lot of the time, the imagery in this presentation is consistently sharp and well defined for the most part. The opening tornado scenes suffers from a lack of shadow detail, and the CGI "snow" isn't particularly believable, but once things move on to the more practical sets of the hospital, fine detail improves markedly in everything from textures of fabrics to even things like background wallpaper or grimy metallic surfaces on the doors of cells. As with the opening sequence, some uses of CGI aren't overly sharp and may work against any "fear factor". There are some interesting grading choices, including some arguably rote uses of deeper blue tones, but there are also some more unusual almost greenish or teal hues added which surprisingly don't detrimentally affect fine detail levels most of the time.

The New Mutants Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While the 4K UHD presentation of this film offers a nicely rendered Dolby Atmos track, I really don't think there's much if anything to complain about with regard to this disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track. While the showiest moments here are arguably the bookending sequences, with the opening tornado and the closing showdown with the Demon Bear, there is rather well designed surround activity even in what amounts to the prison of the hospital. There's some nice directionality offered with regard to things like voices emanating from nearby cells to the clang of the automatic doors closing and locking. Both the Demon Bear and some of the other nightmares that occur offer moments of panning effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional subtitles in several languages are available.

The New Mutants Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 10:52)


• Origins & Influences (1080p; 7:27) offers several interviews, including Josh Boone, Knate Lee and original Demon Bear Saga artist Bill Sienkiewicz.


• Meet the New Mutants (1080p; 7:16) offers introductions to both the main characters as well as the performers playing them.


• Audio Commentary features Josh Boone and Bill Sienkiewicz.


• Theatrical Trailers (1080p; 4:23)

There is also an insert containing a digital code.

The New Mutants Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In his review of the film, my colleague Brian Orndorf likened this outing to a television pilot, and there is a kind of rote, formulaic quality to this enterprise that is very small screen like. The emphasis on female characters may appeal to some, but there is so much left unexplained and so much else that never really makes great sense that the film never really amounts to anything other than a kind of doleful coda to a once mighty franchise. Technical merits are solid for those who are considering a purchase.