LoginBack in 2015, I saw a huge cardboard display for the new Fantastic Four movie, and I thought, “Oh no, is this gonna be one of those movies where it’s coated in that ugly desaturated earth and metal tones?” So, I didn’t watch it because I wasn’t into Marvel movies in general, but it might be a critical success regardless. However, this movie describing the origins of the team, which includes Mr. Fantastic (Miles Teller), Invisible Girl (Kate Mara), Human Torch (Michael B. Jordan) and Thing (Jamie Bell), and their plot to defeat the evil Dr. Doom (Toby Kebell) had been critically thrashed, warranting a 5% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Well, after seeing this, part of me can see why, but on the other hand, on the other perspective, it’s not exactly worthy of a low rating. The story splits into two segments: Reed Richards building the dimensional transporter and the four superheroes fighting Von Doom. Although the story takes itself way too seriously, most of the movie is shot in the dark, and the most of the action happens in the background, Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four is competent on visual effects, the musical score by Marco Beltrami and Philip Glass, and the performances by Teller, Mara, Jordan and Bell. Most of the faults in the movie come from producer and co-writer Simon Kinberg, who wanted to capitalize on the success on The Avengers and X-Men and make a realistic version of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s story. His obsession with dimming the lights and desaturating every scene makes a chunk of the movie unwatchable and drab. On top of everything else, Trank tweeted that he wanted to be faithful to the source material except with a body count, resulting in a drastic tug of war game between him and Marvel. Despite the messy storyline and blatant studio intervention, Fantastic Four wasn’t a good movie, but I’m glad I saw it.
(2 ½ Black Hole Sky Portals out of 5)
Fantastic Four Reviews
Fantastic Four review
Posted : 3 years, 11 months ago on 12 June 2020 07:11
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Fantastic Four review
Posted : 7 years, 1 month ago on 24 March 2017 05:18
I remember seeing the trailer when I saw the avengers: age of ultron and I personally knew it was gonna suck and I was right
the big problem with this movie is that it takes itself too seriously. there's no humor, there's no cheesiness, there's no nothing. this movie is also ashamed of itself and can't bring together the fact the these characters are going to be the fantastic four. nobody is even called by their codenames (except a hint to doom at the end). at the last scene in the movie, the "hero's" are like:
the thing: this is fantastic.
mr. fantastic: what did you say?
the thing: I said this is fantastic.
mr. fantastic: guys, I got it. you ready? the-
and then the movie cuts off and ends because it's an embarrassment.
this is also a "marvel" movie without a Stan Lee cameo and a post credits scene. I MEAN, WHAT THE HELL!!!! the second biggest problem with this movie is it's boring as f*ck because none of the characters are likable and none of the dialogue works. the even f*ck up doctor doom and how he's trying to destroy the world. THAT'S NOT HIS MOTIVATIONS IN THE F*CKING COMICS!!!!
it's an atrocious disaster with no redeeming quality's.
the big problem with this movie is that it takes itself too seriously. there's no humor, there's no cheesiness, there's no nothing. this movie is also ashamed of itself and can't bring together the fact the these characters are going to be the fantastic four. nobody is even called by their codenames (except a hint to doom at the end). at the last scene in the movie, the "hero's" are like:
the thing: this is fantastic.
mr. fantastic: what did you say?
the thing: I said this is fantastic.
mr. fantastic: guys, I got it. you ready? the-
and then the movie cuts off and ends because it's an embarrassment.
this is also a "marvel" movie without a Stan Lee cameo and a post credits scene. I MEAN, WHAT THE HELL!!!! the second biggest problem with this movie is it's boring as f*ck because none of the characters are likable and none of the dialogue works. the even f*ck up doctor doom and how he's trying to destroy the world. THAT'S NOT HIS MOTIVATIONS IN THE F*CKING COMICS!!!!
it's an atrocious disaster with no redeeming quality's.
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An average movie
Posted : 8 years, 3 months ago on 10 February 2016 10:44
Like anyone else, I heard that this movie was pretty terrible but I was still eager to check it out to make up my own mind. Well, at the end of the day, I have to say that it does deserve its bad reputation. Was it really bad from the start or was it actually ruined by the studio? I guess we'll never know, apparently, Josh Trank's version was about 50 minutes longer but I have my doubts that something longer would have worked better. Anyway, there is no doubt that this cut didn't work at all. Indeed, even though it was just about 90 minutes long, it took them maybe 1 hour to introduce the characters, to get them to build their machine and finally to have them get their superpowers. Than, in the final act, it was just a big rush to have them face one of the most underdeveloped villains you'll ever see in a super-hero feature. In the mean time, you can start counting the number of plot-holes coming by (why is Reed a shy nerd before the transformation and a confident hero afterwards? How can they breath in the other dimension without a space suite? Why do they think that going back to this other dimension might solve anything?). The most pathetic thing was probably the now infamous wig used by Kate Mara during the re-shoots. I mean, come on, even the color of this wig wasn't right. Above all, the whole thing was simply so damned boring. Anyway, to conclude, I think my rating might be rather generous here as they even managed to deliver something even more underwhelming than the previous Fantastic Four movies which was a result nobody really expected.
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Fails as both a comic book film and a blockbuster
Posted : 8 years, 4 months ago on 1 January 2016 04:52
"We are not gods, just people. And we are stronger together than we are apart."
It should surprise absolutely nobody to learn that 2015's Fantastic Four is garbage. The movie polluted multiplexes after months of bad press, with rumours about endless reshoots and battles between the creative team and the studio, to the point that director Josh Trank swiftly disowned the final cut. Fantastic Four attempts to spawn a new cinematic franchise for the Marvel brand after previous failures, this time shedding colour and all sense of fun for a darker, grittier incarnation, striving for a fresh take to distinguish itself in the superhero marketplace. Unfortunately, Fantastic Four was only produced because Twentieth Century Fox is engaged in a stubborn dick-measuring contest with Marvel Studios, and wants to retain as many comic book characters as possible. In other words, the motivation behind this cinematic travesty is similar to the thought process that led to the horrendous, now-defunct The Amazing Spider-Man series. As an adaptation of the comics, Fantastic Four is a dismal failure, with Trank himself having discouraged the actors from picking up a comic book since he cared so little about fidelity to the source. And as a superhero blockbuster, this is still a pile of crap, lacking a clear vision and identity, let down by terrible scripting, terrible acting, terrible humour, ugly visuals and terrible pacing.
As children, Reed Richards (Miles Teller) and his pal Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell) begin work on a teleportation device that could revolutionise science, with the pair eventually displaying their innovation at a school science fair. Although their demonstration is far from perfect, Reed and Ben gain the attention of scientist Dr. Storm (Reg E. Cathey) and his adopted daughter Sue (Kate Mara), who believe that the teenagers may have cracked inter-dimensional travel. Invited to study and perfect his device with proper resources and funding, Reed jumps at the chance to help to construct inter-dimensional teleportation pods, joined by the unstable Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell), while Storm also brings in his rebellious son Johnny (Michael B. Jordan). With the project about to be turned over to NASA, Reed wants his team to be the first to test the pods, convincing Ben to tag along as well. But an accident occurs in the alien realm known as "Planet Zero" during the experiment, irreversibly changing the team.
Fantastic Four actually plays out a lot like an unofficial follow-up to Trank's 2012 directorial debut Chronicle, even rehashing the same basic story of arrogant teens inadvertently gaining superhero abilities through alien technology. After the lab accident, the movie randomly jumps ahead to find Reed, Ben, Sue and Johnny being held at an underground military bunker, and after one halfway interesting body horror sequence of the characters coming to grips with their powers, the movie randomly jumps ahead another full year, finding the protagonists conscripted as covert ops soldiers while they search for a cure. The transition is as baffling as it sounds, and it feels like a solid half-hour of content is missing. This bizarre structure could be forgiven to an extent if it was an excuse to jump straight into the action, but we aren't that lucky. Instead, the characters just spend their time moping, setting up crises of conscience so that they don't have to go anywhere that might be potentially too expensive for the budget.
In an attempt to distance itself from the previous incarnation of Marvel's first family, this Fantastic Four is almost a David Cronenberg-esque body horror flick, sold with the same brand of dour self-seriousness that has become prevalent since Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins. It sounds interesting in theory, but the execution is downright disastrous, hampered by terrible acting and woeful scripting, while the flick also forgets to be fun. The tone is excessively grim, but there are also horrendous attempts at comedy which were presumably added during the reshoot process. The problem is, the "humorous" dialogue is so witless that the movie would be better off without it. And considering how bad the movie is as a whole, that's a huge fucking call. The script for this muck is every bit as infantile and stupid as a Transformers movie, but the gritty tone wants you to believe it's smart and thoughtful. Although it is possible to create a reflective superhero picture that's low on action, such a movie needs actual, fleshed-out thematic undercurrents and genuine smarts, two base requirements that this Fantastic Four fails to deliver.
For a movie that boasts a respectable $120 million budget, Fantastic Four is oddly lacking in scope, with the latter half of the movie mostly taking place in labs and underground sets, only leaving the dank bunker for the computer-generated Planet Zero. Reportedly, three full action sequences were excised from the movie for timing reasons, and that's a problem. Pacing is all over the shop, and though the movie is relatively short at close to 100 minutes, it feels agonisingly long, because there are no surprises as the narrative progresses and there's no sense of fun, leaving us to wait for each narrative box to be ticked. The reshoot footage is mostly obvious, with Mara sporting a blonde wig that looks seriously comical, while Teller has facial hair that appears and disappears at its own leisure. Furthermore, the quality of the special effects is curiously mixed. The digitally-created Human Torch looks decent while the Thing is convincing to an extent, but Doom looks like digital vomit, Planet Zero resembles a PS2-era game environment, and some scenes boast green screen effects that would look too phoney even in a Sharknado sequel. Visually, the film is flat, drab and far too desaturated, making it impossible to derive any enjoyment from this cinematic black hole.
No thespians on Earth could have enlivened the woeful material, but suffice it to say, the acting here is genuinely ghastly. Although Teller showed promise in The Spectacular Now and Whiplash, he's a mostly awful actor, and it's a wonder why Hollywood insists on putting this irritating ten-year-old in movies. Mara is flat and unremarkable, while Jordan is so generic that he barely registers. Bell is hopelessly wasted as the Thing, mainly because his rock monster portrayal is too dedicated to "gritty realism," denying any flashes of actual personality to come through. It's hard to like any of the central characters, to be honest; we don't buy them as family or even as friends, and it's even harder to root for them as they work to defeat the saran-wrapped abomination that's supposed to be Victor Von Doom during the climax.
Speaking of Doom, he's one of the greatest comic book villains in history, yet his depiction here is outright insulting. Randomly reappearing towards the tail end of the third act, Doom's plan is hopelessly muddled - it's unclear exactly what his endgame is beyond "destroy the Earth," and his motivation is even vaguer beyond being annoyed that he was left for dead on Planet Zero, even though he seems pretty chuffed with his new abilities. Oh, and he's lovesick for Sue and resents her interest in Reed because the script is a cliché breeding ground. The final battle should be an epic showdown that compensates for the fucking interminable build-up, but it's hampered by lack of scope, with the destruction of Earth limited to a couple of brief cutaways right as Doom begins to execute his plan. The battle is oddly unremarkable and plays out awkwardly, lacking that spark of tension to keep us on the edge of our seats. The movie should keep cutting back to Earth to show what's at stake, and perhaps even check in with established characters in peril to establish a sense of threat, but no dice. The climax is a dud.
There's no joy to Fantastic Four, which is devoid of blockbuster thrills and rich characters, with the titular team reduced to a sullen, bitter group of people lacking believable camaraderie. It doesn't even have a fucking Stan Lee cameo! And just as the film begins winding down, the team engage in a horrendously written talk about their powers and discuss what to call themselves; the film might as well have ended on a freeze frame of the cast in mid-laugh like some cheesy old television show. Fantastic Four is one of the very worst comic book movies ever produced, a travesty on the same level as Green Lantern, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. This is the golden age of superhero blockbusters, yet we're still left waiting for, and wanting, a worthwhile Fantastic Four movie. Interestingly, Fox was so hasty to make a franchise out of this property that a release date for Fantastic Four 2 was pencilled in fifteen months before this instalment even came out. Let’s just be thankful that this movie bombed and the sequel has been removed from the release calendar. We have suffered enough.
3.1/10
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"Fantastic Four" (2015)
Posted : 8 years, 8 months ago on 29 August 2015 09:39
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Maybe it's just because its overwhelmingly bad press softened the blow for me, but I didn't find this nearly as bad as I was expecting. It's bad, don't get me wrong, but not horrendous. I just found it more dull than anything else.
The characters are all flat as pancakes, and even the climactic battle seems distinctly lacking in grandeur. I have to admit the humorous banter in the first half is legitimately funny (so, unlike Man of Steel, it's at least making an effort to be light-hearted), but I don't think those jokes add anything to the characters in the long run.
I also wish they wouldn't have called it simply Fantastic Four because, from what I've heard, it seems to have more in common with the Ultimate Universe versions of these characters than the ones most people are familiar with.
And, when Doctor Doom finally shows up in full form, he looks ridiculous – I just couldn't take his face seriously! And his penchant for head explosions is a horrifying and drastic tonal shift.
So, far from being the one good screen iteration this iconic team deserved, in the end it just tarnishes their reputation even more.
My rating: 35%
Maybe it's just because its overwhelmingly bad press softened the blow for me, but I didn't find this nearly as bad as I was expecting. It's bad, don't get me wrong, but not horrendous. I just found it more dull than anything else.
The characters are all flat as pancakes, and even the climactic battle seems distinctly lacking in grandeur. I have to admit the humorous banter in the first half is legitimately funny (so, unlike Man of Steel, it's at least making an effort to be light-hearted), but I don't think those jokes add anything to the characters in the long run.
I also wish they wouldn't have called it simply Fantastic Four because, from what I've heard, it seems to have more in common with the Ultimate Universe versions of these characters than the ones most people are familiar with.
And, when Doctor Doom finally shows up in full form, he looks ridiculous – I just couldn't take his face seriously! And his penchant for head explosions is a horrifying and drastic tonal shift.
So, far from being the one good screen iteration this iconic team deserved, in the end it just tarnishes their reputation even more.
My rating: 35%
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Fantastic Four review
Posted : 8 years, 9 months ago on 10 August 2015 09:19
Initial Thought: So I was actually pretty intent on watching this when it was announced. I was hopeful for it. Then the first trailer came out and it looked like it would be fine and take on a darker tone than the previous two films. Then another trailer came that had issues I was skeptical about. Now that it's out I hear pretty much constant negativity. So I decided to see for myself if it really is just an awful film or something else.
Characters/Acting: I for one was totally on board with Michael B. Jordan as Human Torch. I figured he could pull off the personality and be wicked awesome. Plus I like the whole mixed family vibe especially since mine is growing into one such family. Miles Teller is a good actor, but he does seem a bit too frat boy to be a Reed Richards type. Kate Mara is okay, but I think they could have casted many better choices. Jamie Bell as the human Ben Grimm is a fine. What isn't fine is having him also be the voice of The Thing. I don't want to hear him sounding like a young guy trapped in a large creature. It just seemed so wrong that they did that. The Doctor Doom here while played by a fairly good actor doesn't feel like him. I mean they even state in trivia that he is a mixture of a few villains. That is a big no-no! Doctor Doom should only ever be Doctor Doom or you ruin this amazing villain. The chemistry as well as the acting between the characters felt a bit awkward. They tried to add effects to make Ben Grimm sound a little bit more gruff, but it still just didn't work for me. Even his catchphrase made me groan. Doctor Doom looks absolutely dreadful.
Story: Four young outsiders teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe which alters their physical form in shocking ways. The four must learn to harness their new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy. So as we know it's yet again the origin story we all know by now. They really took the cake at making the origin story here last as long as possible. It takes pretty much half the movie until they finally get their powers. I thought that the scene where it happened was where it finally gave something interesting. Otherwise the first half felt pretty much like Stargate. There are some elements to this that are good, but it doesn't quite make up for the mediocrity of it as a whole. The Doom hallway scene was probably the coolest thing here and it didn't feel right in this movie. The fight at the end just felt like it was added to remind you that this is a comic book movie.
Directing/Writing: I absolutely loved Chronicle. So I was hoping that Josh Trank would end up making this good as well. Apparently this isn't the actual version Josh Trank wanted to make. It is either true or he is just trying to make himself look good. He probably knew this film was not going to do well at all. Simon Kinberg is a 50/50 writer. Sometimes his films are awesome and sometimes I wish they hadn't been made. I have only seen Lazarus Effect by Jeremy Slater and it was pretty average at best. I'm really hoping there are some things they do right here. It can't be that pathetic. Well I was wrong it really can be pretty pathetic. If there is a better version from Josh Trank I wish we could have gotten that.
Final Thought: This movie really wasn't all that long, but they stretched the origin far too much. Barely anything happens through the whole movie. This has to be definitely one of the most boring and disappointing Marvel films I have seen. At least in quite awhile. Fox really just needs to give up on this team. They haven't made an enjoyable version yet. At least the casting from the previous films were more on point. Did they really think this was going to earn sequels? It's such a shame when this could have had potential. It wasn't worth watching. I couldn't recommend it even if you are unfamiliar with the comics.
Characters/Acting: I for one was totally on board with Michael B. Jordan as Human Torch. I figured he could pull off the personality and be wicked awesome. Plus I like the whole mixed family vibe especially since mine is growing into one such family. Miles Teller is a good actor, but he does seem a bit too frat boy to be a Reed Richards type. Kate Mara is okay, but I think they could have casted many better choices. Jamie Bell as the human Ben Grimm is a fine. What isn't fine is having him also be the voice of The Thing. I don't want to hear him sounding like a young guy trapped in a large creature. It just seemed so wrong that they did that. The Doctor Doom here while played by a fairly good actor doesn't feel like him. I mean they even state in trivia that he is a mixture of a few villains. That is a big no-no! Doctor Doom should only ever be Doctor Doom or you ruin this amazing villain. The chemistry as well as the acting between the characters felt a bit awkward. They tried to add effects to make Ben Grimm sound a little bit more gruff, but it still just didn't work for me. Even his catchphrase made me groan. Doctor Doom looks absolutely dreadful.
Story: Four young outsiders teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe which alters their physical form in shocking ways. The four must learn to harness their new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy. So as we know it's yet again the origin story we all know by now. They really took the cake at making the origin story here last as long as possible. It takes pretty much half the movie until they finally get their powers. I thought that the scene where it happened was where it finally gave something interesting. Otherwise the first half felt pretty much like Stargate. There are some elements to this that are good, but it doesn't quite make up for the mediocrity of it as a whole. The Doom hallway scene was probably the coolest thing here and it didn't feel right in this movie. The fight at the end just felt like it was added to remind you that this is a comic book movie.
Directing/Writing: I absolutely loved Chronicle. So I was hoping that Josh Trank would end up making this good as well. Apparently this isn't the actual version Josh Trank wanted to make. It is either true or he is just trying to make himself look good. He probably knew this film was not going to do well at all. Simon Kinberg is a 50/50 writer. Sometimes his films are awesome and sometimes I wish they hadn't been made. I have only seen Lazarus Effect by Jeremy Slater and it was pretty average at best. I'm really hoping there are some things they do right here. It can't be that pathetic. Well I was wrong it really can be pretty pathetic. If there is a better version from Josh Trank I wish we could have gotten that.
Final Thought: This movie really wasn't all that long, but they stretched the origin far too much. Barely anything happens through the whole movie. This has to be definitely one of the most boring and disappointing Marvel films I have seen. At least in quite awhile. Fox really just needs to give up on this team. They haven't made an enjoyable version yet. At least the casting from the previous films were more on point. Did they really think this was going to earn sequels? It's such a shame when this could have had potential. It wasn't worth watching. I couldn't recommend it even if you are unfamiliar with the comics.
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