"The New Mutants" ends the X-Men franchise with a unique, albeit average, horror-infused finale.

On Friday, October 13th, 2017, I watched the first official trailer for “The New Mutants,” and I was blown away by the trailer’s tone, eerie atmosphere, and mysterious plot. For an upcoming superhero movie, I had never imagined to become so excited by supernatural forces attacking five reluctant young heroes in a seemingly ghoulish hospital. But after a trailer that displayed a film that was more character driven and personal than most films in the “X-Men” series, and what would soon become the first comic book movie in the horror genre, I was already anticipating what a unique and enjoyable experience this movie would be, and I was counting down the days till I could see it on opening weekend.

That countdown would eventually grow to a grand total of 1,050 days.

After changes in the X-Men series’ release schedule, last minute reshoots ordered by studio executives, Fox getting bought out by Disney, and a worldwide pandemic hitting a week before one of its more recent release dates, “The New Mutants” was delayed multiple times, and has been dubbed by many as a “cursed film”; one that would remain on the shelf of Disney’s library, never to see the light of day after so many setbacks and pushes. But now, despite being a spin-off in a now dead film series that is soon to be rebooted, Disney has decided to release it in theaters during the same pandemic that pushed it back even further.

And I am sad to say that the end result is not as good as I anticipated.

Following five young mutants being held in a “hospital” to regulate and control their mutant powers, their therapy and medicine soon turns hostile when their darkest fears come back to haunt—and attack—them, and they must fight for their lives against supernatural forces and an evil company that wants to weaponize them.

While the film is said to be a part of both the horror and superhero genres, it doesn’t fully commit to either. The monsters and eerie settings do add to the pressure and anxiety that the young mutants go through while being trapped in the hospital, but never reach being true, authentic horror, and the end result is a mix of jump scares, slightly haunting visuals, and a ghostly score that attempts—but ultimately fails—to come off as anything scary. On the more positive side, the film does feel reminiscent of the better X-Men films in terms of action, character motivation, and visuals. Going back to the roots of what the X-Men comics were created for, this group of reluctant, superpowered teens feels like the metaphors for racism, sexuality, and beliefs that the original comics were meant to be, without feeling cliche or stale. And while the superpowers are not fully revealed until the final battle—and used sparingly—they are very unique and creative, and it was a joy to see these characters’ abilities fully realized on the big screen.

By far the best part of this movie is the two performances by Anya Taylor-Joy and Maisie Williams as Ilyana Rasputin aka Magik, and Rahne Sinclair aka Wolfsbane, respectively. Taylor-Joy takes the badass, mean girl role and dials it up to eleven, and her fun and comedic performance is elevated with the better part of the script and the most impressive visual effects in the movie. Williams also shines as a shy, kind hearted Scottish-girl who is struggling with her faith and her mutant abilities—along with her newfound sexuality—and how to come to terms with all three. Their powers are also the most visually interesting, as Magik teleports between dimensions and hospital corridors, and Wolfsbane elevates the horror elements of the film with her Werewolf abilities.

But the core problem of this film that is quite possibly the root of all the others is its extremely short runtime. The film clocks in at just under 1 hour and 40 minutes (and that's including credits), which for a superhero-horror movie that is introducing its entire team of 5 heroes and the supernatural forces they have to fight, is way too short. Besides Taylor-Joy and Williams, none of the characters feel fleshed out enough and are lacking motivation for the audience to care about them. The action scenes, horror moments, and final battle also feel very rushed and somewhat forced. While they are fun and enjoyable to watch, they happen without much context and with little screen time to boost their watchability. The movie is never boring, but it feels like it is going too fast to be a solid story, and as a result, it lacks depth. My friend that I was lucky enough to see this movie with said that the ending happened with the snap of her fingers, and by the films end she didn’t care for 4 of the 6 main characters.

In another world or in an alternate timeline, this movie could have been better: reshoots were ordered (and as I can now see, for a good reason) but ultimately never came to fruition. There was also supposed to be two planned sequels that were going to touch upon Alien and Demonic horror elements, and if this movie was the first in a trilogy, it would probably be elevated to a much higher standard. But as a standalone movie, it feels somewhat unnecessary and empty. It doesn’t add much to the X-Men series besides an interesting concept and some cool visuals.

With that being said, I did not hate this movie. I actually am looking forward to watching it again, adding it to my collection, and owning it on Blu-Ray to look at the “behind-the-scenes” featurettes and rewatch the final battle in all its visual flair.

This movie is something I like to call an “airplane movie.” As the name suggests, this is a movie that if you find on your airplane TV screen for free, or possibly find it for cheap on streaming during a rainy day inside, it is worth your time if you with to turn your brain off and enjoy something simple and easygoing that doesn’t try to be the best movie ever.

Conclusion: After years of delays, “The New Mutants” dropped in theaters with a resounding “meh”; with an extra half hour and a better script, this could have been something special, but now it will probably end up being a long forgotten addition to a beloved film series, and will most likely be remembered more for its troubled release then its end result.

Conclusion: 6/10 — not bad, but nothing to go crazy over either.

Due to contractual obligations, “The New Mutants” is now playing in theaters where they are open, but I highly recommend waiting for its at-home release. This is not a movie worth risking your life over.