​FILMS

Fantastic four

2015 review number 116:

Fantastic Four: (Science fiction/Action/Adventure): 47 out of 100: Hollywood must be running out of ideas when they must reboot a franchise that began in 2005. The original Fantastic Four is a masterpiece compared to this version. At least that film had some decent action scenes; this one has the Fantastic Four collaborating in only one extended scene. Marvel Comics is usually dependable for providing ingenious ideas for filmmakers but this reboot takes too long to set up the exposition then indulges in soap opera dialogue once the action takes place.

 

As this is an origins story, we see Reed Richards and Ben Grimm meet up at school. They both have inquisitive minds and conduct science experiments. Eight or nine years later, they display their scientific model at a science fair. Reed (Miles Teller) and Ben (Jamie Bell) believe they have invented a contraption that can teleport them to an alternate universe and dimension. At the fair, a military employee, Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) sees the potential of their device in the sense that it can be used to combat America's enemies. They are invited to military headquarters to improve their design, and are assisted by Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell), Sue Storm (Kate Mara), the adopted daughter of Dr. Storm, and Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan), the son of Dr. Storm. Their lives are changed when their visit to the alternate universe results in their physical transformations and they must band together to save Earth from impending doom.

 

This is how to produce an inferior superhero movie (spoilers ahead):

Step 1: Have the characters engage in dialogue that could have been written by a juvenile. Here is an example when Johnny talks to his father. "I'm an adult. I can make my own decisions now." Reminds me more of soap opera.

 

Step 2: Introduce the chief villain over three quarters in to the film. He is not even a convincing, menacing baddie at that!

 

Step 3: Spend nearly half the movie setting up the story with top-heavy dialogue and exposition. It's not until the 45 minute mark when the characters undergo their physical transformation. It's around the one hour mark when they become 'superheroes'.

 

Step 4: Have the Fantastic Four fight together only in one extended scene towards the end of the film. IMDB has been generous in describing the genre as action.

 

Step 5: Make sure the end has come about all of a sudden. It seems like the screenwriters have run out of ideas and the film ends before you know it. This is where an extra 20-30 minutes would have added more depth to an origins story.

 

Step 6: Make it so serious for this type of film that there's only a few laughs. Ant-Man showed how it could be done.

 

There are a few positives to trawl through. The sound effects are amazing and reverberate in the cinema. Although the visual effects are of the CGI variety, they are commendable. Finally, the production design allows the movie to have some visual appeal.

 

If you want to see Fantastic Four, make sure it is the 2005 version and not this one. That was only an average superhero movie but at least it had some action. Perhaps the Fantastic Four was not meant to be a movie. Will Hollywood ever learn?

 

Starring Miles Teller, Michael B.Jordan, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell

(100 minutes)

Parental advice: Violence

Additional scene during or after credits: No

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuV4BCYv-YY (Movie trailer)

(Reviewed on Wednesday 12th August, 2015)

 

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