EF Reviews FANTASTIC FOUR: Was It Really That Bad? Is It Worth A look?

Trailer

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TL:DR: The weekend has passed, the film has released and as the fandom predicted, if not maintained, this film would end up failing--it pretty much did. 2.0 out of 5.0 | Passable / Somewhat OK. 

I’ve never been a real big fan of the Fantastic Four comic books. I originally grew up on Superman and Batman until I discovered Spider-Man at four years old. When I ventured into Marvel comics, Captain America was among my favorites; eventually leading me to Wolverine, The X-Men, The Avengers and Thor. Boy did I love Thor! Fantastic Four never truly resounded with me. Even though I have collected their comics and I’ve enjoyed some of their grandiose spectacles in story-telling. I’ve never truly enjoyed these characters. I did not expect much from this film and knew there were going to be a variety of pains in terms of its casting, origin, and storyline choices. Do I care that a black Human Torch was cast? No. I’m not invested in these characters like other purist comic book fans. So perhaps I had a very different set of eyes watching this film. For me I only enjoyed the Fantastic Four comics as they pertained to cosmic scenarios and the introduction of amazing new characters. Beyond that I only recently began to enjoy some of their exploits. Brought about by a nerdout moment connection between Hank Pym and Reed Richards in the last animated series the Fantastic Four had in 2006, Worlds Greatest Heroes. 

When watching this film, and I sat for it twice, in a press screening and again this past weekend during it’s premiere--I didn’t have my usual comic book geek mentality, versus my objective mainstream and commercially viable mentality, at odds with each other. I was not at all invested in the viewing so I had no reservations or qualms about the casting or the back story. I was able to enjoy the film as a simple character piece. It’s not really a comic book movie to be completely honest with what I felt. It felt more like a character dialogue in a long science fiction prologue. Fantastic Four had, at various moments, a similar flavor as the 80’s Matthew Broderick film, War Games. I was entertained, not necessarily moved, but I didn’t feel like I was wasting my time. It’s a completely different take on the Fantastic Four origin story and it felt odd if not more interesting, but still very foreign. Perhaps because short of FF #4, where Reed and Sue get married and FF #557, where the Anti-Galactus Armor was showcased, I have never really cared very much at all for the story. So this story, as ridiculous as it was, somehow still had more adolescent curiosity to backup how stupid the scenario really is. Because of this curiosity factor, specifically with teenagers, kids if you prefer the term, may appeal to a very young crowd that perhaps has no knowledge of this comic book franchise. 

The pacing is quite possibly the biggest problem. The origin story, the connection to the characters, and the meta-story premise in the film was definitely a large slice of the films run-time cake. There were too many references to the same event and it felt awkwardly strange how all of the characters generally connected to each other. A loose connection that would not lead to a large amount of comradery. Even if some of their individual characteristics seemed to work well in a bubble, it wasn’t always completely plausible in the film. All of the cliché’s between these characters were still present as was the overarching lover triangle, if you could call it that, between Sue Storm, Reed and Victor. There was no real explanation for the forceful connections between the project and Ben Grimm outside of a general “I’m not going without you!” statement by Reed that was not necessarily evident prior to the state of plot twist that called for a 4th person to travel through the stories main plot device. Which was odd and forced. It could have easily been Sue in the 4th spot. Even if the argument can be given that she would have protested. It was not completely evident that she would have. Only in revelation and discovery after the fact. Instead of allowing Ben Grimm to also be a part of the story; effectively, he was relegated to just a simpleton who was somewhat smart relative to his association to Richards. A point In the plot that simply fell apart just to make his background awkwardly more tragic and broken to allow for the belief he'd play the role he did in the film. When the plot finally opens up to the issues of these characters' powers the storyline moves into military territory and the weaponization of said powers. Reed and Sue seemingly had little control over these powers…if not more for the former. Who as a plot device created his own suit to help him control his bodies stability. However at the end of the film they both seemingly had solid control over their abilities. So much so that Reed was able to effectively fight Doom who was an absolute juggernaut. Causing a massive plot hole in terms of what was possible. “All of a sudden my powers work!” because reasons…murica! This would not have been so blunt had they been a team. Had they been together coordinating before. But instead it was hodgepodge idealogy, hopes and partially broken dreams. Yet in the story, Doom was turned into an amazingly powerful being. That only led to suspension of disbelief breaking down when being faced by these four. It was almost as hopeless as when in the previous incarnation of these characters they faced a nearly god-like Silver Surfer.

The general premise is quite odd. Extreme stretches of scientific fiction. Instead of considering the possibility of teleporting to another planet the obvious answer was a completely new dimension. That was sarcasm. Even though this was awkward at best, it does play toward the usual style of the older comics. Because that’s the one thing Fantastic Four did really well…they connected the Cosmic Universe to the Terrestrial stories of the Marvel world. Here they tried to do it very haphazardly. In terms of where they were going, this was a pure origin story that the studio felt necessary it needed to tell and the very short climax was the reward at the end of sitting through a forced re-imagined origin story. But even understanding this…it simply took too long to get to the point. The writing fell apart at the end of the film to give way for very bad one-liners for the sake of giving homage to what likely was thought we (the audience and fans) expected. I remember sitting through Man of Steel (relax DC fans…relax!) and hoping at some point that Zod would yell out “Kneel before Zod!” – Not once was I ever hoping to hear “It’s Clobbering time!” uttered by the Thing...

That line was properly used in the beginning of the film and was homage enough. It was also utilized in a very negative manner. Not one you’d expect Ben Grimm to ever repeat because of the inherent childhood trauma behind it. However…as (partially) expected, it was used in the end of the film in a definitive moment. Very poorly and in a rushed manner. The very same way the line was used felt as rushed as it likely was forgotten to be used and added in during post-production. While this is one line—one line does not a movie ruin. There were numerous examples of this issue throughout the film and many were heavily condensed in a pile of bad one liners during the ending scenes.

The cast did their job. Honestly, from my point of view, they did a much better job than the previous cast. Micheal B. Jordan was believable as his character and instead of a hot-dog he was more of an anti-hero. He wasn’t in it for fame and glory, he was desperately trying to branch out on his own. His character was more aptly rebellious without the need for over-the-top cheese as was unfortunately seen with Chris Evans in the past. Miles Teller was very convincing as Reed Richards who is essentially a very fixated and nearly robotic character. I imagine the performance is going to be heavily criticized because he felt robotic. But that is the issue Richard struggles with. He’s fixated on everything else. His true love is Science. I thought Teller represented this character successfully. I was not at all satisfied with the vocal work of The Thing. I’m too set on the vocals we’ve heard in the past that portrayed him in much more gruff and rugged raspy tones. The voice for this exceptionally well done CGI variation did not make sense. But the visuals were exceptionally solid. Kate Mara was a very believable Sue Storm but she was not truly a fully adult and motherly variation of the same character that tries very hard to watch over her brother and is protective and convicted to her own set of rules and code of ethics. This was a more laid back Sue Storm. Likely because of the age. Reg E. Cathey was also great on camera but it was unfortunate that he be utilized in such an awkward twist of this re-imagined story. He was essentially a focal point for vengeance. Even if you don't necessarily believe the character or the awkard trolling of high school science fairs as a subplot. He didn't phone in his performance. He was believable and warm. 

One of the best parts of this film is Victor Von Doom. Although his characteristics were not very varied. He was essentially one dimensional and we only saw his humanity through minor glimpses. Forcing the audience to glean the potential for this essentially beloved character in the comic books. Which sounds like I thought the character was not very well executed…which is not true. He was exceptionally better when he underwent his transformation. Granted--a completely different variation of the origin as well but an almost infinitely more sensible situation in terms of a realistic concept for science fiction and grandiose comic characters. However, this did not feel like Doom—It felt like a completely different being altogether. It was essentially a completely different life inside of him after he literally became one with whatever force encompassed the planet they were on.

I have to say "I can't help but wonder if Josh Trank was a huge fan of Anime--Akira--to be precise." Because Doom had a set of Moments where the same scene in Akira was seemingly recreated. A scene where Tetsuo is leaving the hospital and is exploding the heads of everyone in his path. It was odd for me to connect these dots. But that is essentially what was being done. Regardless if it was just a cool scene to create or if it was directly influenced.  It did create a few issues regarding how terribly powerful and expediant Doom was going to be. But these scenes were some of the better scenes in the film. He didn't provide intense gravitas. Which is something you'd expect from Doom. Something relatively lacking throughout the film in general. But he had a solid amount of presence, ultimately not enough to save the film, but enough to make it slightly enjoyable. 

It’s an Elseworld story--whether the studio admits it or not--I look at this movie as if it was part of a projected storyline from within 20th Century Fox. I see that the X-Men franchise has undergone numerous changes effected by a timeline shift in Days of Future Past. I’ve reconciled that whatever shift existed within those film IP’s could have affected Fantastic Four. I don’t necessarily think it was a good or bad thing to do to the background of this movie. While I’ve made peace with those changes and how it sensibly caused these variations to the 616 universe. I do think that it harmed this franchise. I think the creative license of the studio, the writer’s, and the director basically ignored the comic at large and decided to tell a story that they liked. It was obvious early on when the initial cast was announced that the choice was not universally accepted. Whether or not those ideas intended to be mainstream or ethnically diverse is not necessarily understood. But all of the above may have harmed the film critically. All of this translating to low box office numbers seems to be the case. This is the first week of its release and it opened at #2 with a very low $26,200,000. Those numbers track toward a possible breakeven point for the films budget but for now it's taking a beating with a very shaky opening weekend. 

I had some enjoyment out of the film. But it took too long to get to the point. I would have preferred to see an epic tale that had more of a cosmic feel. However, this was yet another origin story. I would have preferred minor glimpes throuh flashbacks for the origin, instead of a full blown 40 minutes dedicated to that aspect of the story. While I can understand how some of the origins played out for each character. I wasn’t too impressed with the rushed pace of the meta-story at the end of the movie. It was slow to start and then it rushed through the ending and ultimately removed one of the best villains in the Marvel universe…unceremoniously I might add (at least seemingly). The film also provided no after-film, mid or post-credit teasers (of any kind) to lead us to believe that perhaps Doom was not dead--effectively letting us know...he's dead. It’s not so terrible that I’ll throw popcorn at the screen. It’s not so great that I will be going back to the theater yet again, (I’ve already viewed it twice. Once for viewing and a second for scrutiny.) Yet it is a film I’ll pick up on Blu-Ray because I’m a completist. I’d likely leave it on during a rainy day if it was on cable and I needed something in the background. But if it was on at the same time as any movie from the MCU…to be more blunt, if Green Lantern was on a normal network--with commercials--I’d likely switch to Green Lantern. We’re all aware of how good that movie turned out. If you have teenaged kids that enjoy comic book films and are not familiar with the Fantastic Four comics, perhaps they'll enjoy this film but it is not terribly packed with action and adventure. It's more of a sleeper Sci-Fi title that becomes a comic book movie near the end. 

2.0 Geeks out of 5.0 Geeks will think it is Passable and Somewhat OK.

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