The new Marvel film The New Mutants is out today for anyone brave enough to venture to the cinema. The studio has kept this film close to the vest, and we’re just now starting to see early reviews for the movie, which was originally slated to be released on April 13, 2020.

(The film got delayed, because, well, the world kinda fell apart there for a few months there. It remains so, but apparently they’re releasing it all the same.)

The film is directed by Josh Boone, who previously helmed the teen weeper The Fault in Our Stars. This film takes the X-Men universe into the horror direction, with a plot based on five teens who are held captive in a secret facility and must fight their way out.

Before we dive in to the reviews, we should note that many outlets, including RogerEbert.com, IndieWire, and the Boston Globe refused to review the film because they weren’t sent advanced screeners and didn’t feel comfortable seeing the film in a theater during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For those critics that did see the film, the early reviews are … not great. Rotten Tomatoes currently has the film at a 20% critic score and 58% audience score, which is a good old fashioned stinker if I’ve ever seen one.

Some excerpts:

Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail

Hertz writes “It is difficult to pinpoint exactly where Boone goes wrong, because there are just so many options to choose from,” in his 1.5 star review.

Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter

Mintzer gives kudos to the film’s female leads in his review, but ultimately writes that the film is “generic” and that “director Josh Boone’s adaptation of the Marvel spin-off comic series is a Marvel movie spinoff in its own right, making vague references to the X-Men franchise but attempting to stand on its own. Unfortunately it rarely does.”

Travis Hopson of Punch Drunk Critics

In his 2.5 star review, Hopson gives credit for a “serviceable superhero horror story” that unfortunately gets bogged down by “embarrassingly clunky dialogue.”

Hope Madden of Maddwolf

In a review delightfully titled “The Kids Are Not Alright,” Madden writes that “New Mutants is a film trying too hard to cash in on proven youth market formulas, but the concoction fizzles. It doesn’t really work as an angsty romance, misses the mark as a horror movie and never for a minute feels like a superhero flick.”