Les 4 Fantastiques

Fantastic Four started catching my eye in the casting stage. Seemingly not giving a damn about the source material, it was refreshing to see those kind of balls especially from Marvel. While I welcome Michael B. Jordan as The Human Torch, I wish I could say the same thing about the rest of the film. Fantastic Four is merely a reboot that loses its steam after the first act. Coming in at just over an hour and a half, the film is a rushed piece of reject summer movie drab. The characters are paper thin and about 10 years too young for their respective roles. The visual effects are far from stunning, especially The Thing, whose transformation into the ghastly beast is something closer to a PS2 game than an actual film with a $100 million price tag. Miles Teller proves here that his performance in Whiplash is truly a fluke. As Mr. Fantastic, he struggles to sound like he knows what he is talking about. Perhaps a little more rehearsal time and a little less focus on that cheap looking silver streak in his hair could have benefited him. Kate Mara as Susan Storm is about as idiotic as it can get. Mara is a great actress, there's no other way about it but Kate Mara as Susan Storm is terrible and borderline embarrassing. The biggest shock here in this film is where all the controversy started...Michael B. Jordan as The Human Torch. Jordan's ability to be a badass likable gear head is insanely good. He's the best part of this film by far. If there is anyone that could single handedly carry this film on their back, it is him. The film overall is too dark for Fantastic Four and too shallow for Marvel which leaves it drifting somewhere between ridiculous and not necessary...and at times, both. If there's any movie to see this summer, I can assure you, Fantastic Four is NOT it.

Unfortunately for everyone involved and especially the audience, the creators of this reboot had no idea what the F4 stand for, or what their stories should be about. This is rather dark, without charm or humor and totally ruins one of the greatest villains of Marvel comics. sure, the special effects are decent and there is potential for a somewhat good film here or there but the stereotypes and lack of an intriguing plot entirely ruin any chance of a redeeming movie experience. Very disappointing.

I was waiting for something to happen and then the movie was over.

I went into this movie with hope and optimism and not put off by the negative light shone towards it. An hour and 40 minutes later, I left feeling empty and unsatisfied. Comic book films are supposed to make you feel inspired, but not this one.

So what is wrong with it? One word – chemistry. In any superhero team/ensemble there should be great character interactions and a feeling that these guys can effectively make a team, never mind a ''fantastic'' team. The best team movies all have characters playing off each other as in the Avengers and X-Men.  However, there is zero chemistry between any of the F4. We see an attempt at some early romance between Reed and Sue which doesn't go anywhere. Johnny Storm is billed as a genius but troubled kid however we never see why he has a high IQ, he is just shifted in to make up the numbers. We never see him form any sustainable bond with any of the others. Ben Grimm also appears as an outsider, brought in with little sense to the project to fill the final slot. The chemistry between the original F4 (2005) was MUCH better whereas here they feel like 4 individuals.

 

The climatic battle takes place in the most boring environment that you can imagine. It is over within 10 minutes, with not much ingenuity to overcome a half decent attempt at Dr Doom, who at first seems very intimidating. This film will be quickly forgotten and the question isn't whether a sequel will be made or whether it will cross over with X-Men, but is the original Fantastic 4 film a better watch than this depressing, dull comic book movie. Final score 5.5/10

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this movie at all. I was a huge skeptic when the first trailer came out thinking it would be another FF movie chock full of cheesy one-liners and cartoony humor. In that respect, I was way off. Josh Trank's Fantastic Four is grounded in relative realism, showing what would likely happen if people did in fact crack inter-dimensional travel and brought back superpowers. It has a darker tone than the other movies and is a wildly different experience because of it. The characters are more relatable, their situations are more believable, and for a good part of the movie, it actually feels like you're watching the true Fantastic Four origin story unfold.

I can't blame Trank for the discrepancies I have with the movie because he is not at fault. Apparently the producers demanded reshoots which rear their ugly head about 20 minutes from the end. It turns from this relatively dark, stylish superhero drama to an overblown one-liner infested CGI-fest. Mind you, I was still pulling for the heroes the entire time, but the moments following, preceding and including the final confrontation are so forcefully rushed and haphazardly put together it completely disconnects you from what the first hour of the movie set-up. The climax is generic and lackluster, and the believable shaky chemistry the characters shared in the beginning of the movie becomes incredibly forced and awkward. The shift is so drastic it's as if they Frankenstein'd two separate movies together, making for one extremely disjointed watching experience.

Miles Teller and the rest of the cast have the benefit of being immensely likable. They worked well together and had palpable chemistry for a good chunk of the movie. Even Doom was fine. Once I got past the fact that it wasn't the comic book's adaptation of "Doctor Doom" and took him at face value as a sci-fi villain, I thought he worked wonders and actually posed a genuine threat to humanity. The CGI as a whole is great - a few moments will leave you scratching your head as in "was that really necessary?" but for the most part, the alternate dimension looks fantastic and the few fight scenes there are (literally only two or three) are executed well.

Again, these are simply hints of what the movie could've been. It's obvious Trank had a vision with this world, and it's a damn shame that we won't be able to see it in full effect. What we're left with is a promising set-up and a complete mess of a third act with potential bleeding out right up until the final frames. Fantastic Four is more realistic and immersive than the other two adaptations, but unfortunately not as fun as either. What we're left with is an exercise in "what could have been" and another superhero movie with promising aspects that simply did not click.