I think it’s time for a resurgence of “Generation X” back to television. Back in the nineties FOX Television in the US aired weekly television movies of the genre variety hoping for a big television show to hit the airwaves. One of them was “Generation X.” Suffice it to say, though the announcement was never official, if the hip comic series was a hit television movie, we may have seen a hit television series very soon. Among the myriad problems of the TV movie is what almost all of FOX dramas suffered from: It’s incredibly murky.
I think the executives at FOX confused murky with adult, and “Generation X” is unnecessarily murky and muddy. You assume a movie about a new young generation of mutants that stem from the “X-Men” mold would be bright, adventurous, and fun, but “Generation X” fails to entertain on every level. It’s self serious, unfocused, and often times can’t seem to turn its attempts at humor in to fodder for giggles. Even gags with the mutant Skin and his stretching arms become a dull poorly staged stunt that wouldn’t arouse interest in even the most forgiving Marvel fan.
Writer Eric Blakeney never seems to understand how to channel the source material to become entertaining science fiction fodder. And what’s worse is that the budget is limited, so the mutants and their powers are mostly just hinted at throughout the film, with sporadic bursts during battle. Even Banshee’s screech, which provides a fun moment, is brief and absolutely abrupt, and he’s basically reduced to window dressing. Matt Frewer is even wasted as a lame variation of Freddy Krueger who has a master plan for the dream realm and is just nothing but wasted potential.
If you’re going to adapt a comic book, at least tackle a notable villain that can pose a challenge for the heroes of the piece, and Tresh fails to be menacing, powerful, or memorable. All things considered, “Generation X” isn’t as bad as many remember. With better writers and a more harrowing antagonist, the movie could have turned in to a respectable series. It was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Only four years later the “X-Men” movie made box-office gold, it’s a shame we couldn’t have seen an interesting younger take on the live action film. There’s still potential there that should be mined.