Fantastic 4

It's always hard when you're deeply wishing for a film to be good, even against a lot of evidence that it isn't, and that film ends up disappointing even your lowered expectations.

I want you to take a look at the poster to the right for a moment. What do you see?

I see airbrushed Hollywood actors, in generic suits, with a generic title complete with generic number-play, in possibly the most generic (and corny) poses imaginable. I mean for God's sake, how hard is the Human Torch puffing his chest right there?!

This poster almost perfectly sums up the main problem that Fantastic 4 has: it tries way too hard. It tries too hard to be funny, it tries too hard to be dark, it tries too hard to have cool action, etc. etc. etc.

Whether you believe director Josh Trank's rants about studio involvement or not is neither here nor there. We've still managed to have some phenomenal superhero flicks with plenty of "studio involvement" and Trank needs to own up to the fact that he just didn't make all that compelling of a film. Personally, while I enjoyed Chronicle, his found footage superhero flick, for the most part, I find it vastly overrated among most whom have seen it and I would say that I even overrated it myself in my linked review (again, one of my earlier reviews).

It's all a bit of a shame too because there is so much rich potential among the heroes and the mythology of the Fantastic 4, but Hollywood just cant seem to get it right. Not one to encourage superhero monopolies here, but at this point, with several failed attempts at this franchise, I tend to agree with those who are crying for the property to be given (read: sold) back to Marvel Disney.

Sadly, some of the better effects in the film.

Interstellar II: Rediscovering Mann's Planet

You may have seen the absolute berating that Fantastic 4 has been receiving from the critics this weekend. I don't think it's nearly as bad as some of the 0/10 or 2/10 scores I've seen, but from the several reviews I read, their reasoning isn't wrong. For starters, the script, while decent for the first half, is atrocious in the second half, coming across as a slew of derivative superhero phrases and corny exposition. Hearing Reed Richards (Teller) yell "We can do this guys!" made me cringe/die a little bit on the inside. And while there are glimmers of humor throughout, it's all pretty incomparable to Marvel's (Disney) efforts almost anytime they step up to the plate. What's more is that the story and plot are dull and suffer from some really poor pacing decisions. I give it bonus points for trying to be different, with our heroes receiving their powers from space and what not, but ultimately it's a slow burn, they get their powers, the film seems to have no idea with what to do once they have their powers, and then the villain comes and goes within about 20 minutes. On top of all this you have a, you guessed it, highly generic original score, and some special effects that range from awesome (Human Torch) to atrocious (any time Sue Storm uses her flying orb).

But perhaps the most tragic aspect of Fantastic 4 is just how much talent was wasted. This cast is comprised of Miles Teller, Michael B Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, and Toby Kebbell. Some I know more than others, but I'm well enough aware to know that this cast is probably the most  talented collection of young actors this side of Days of Future Past. Each participant has the ability to play their role well, I don't doubt that, but the film does them no favors, especially the more it goes on. There was a moment, as Dr. Doom was exploding heads against walls left and right (you read that correctly) that I thought we might actually have another strong villain from Kebbell (you'll remember he played Koba in the excellent Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), but much like everything else in the film, he is instantly forgettable.

I'd recommend they fly straight into it...

I don't believe that Fantastic 4 is as much a travesty as Terminator Genisys (mother f**ker, I spelled it wrong again!) mainly because it doesn't bring an entire franchise to its knees with it. That aside, it's still a massively failed experiment for everyone behind the scenes and it left me disappointed even past my low expectations. This is a film that, flat out, SHOULD have been better based on source material and the insane amount of acting talent alone.

It's been said in pretty much every review thus far, but that doesn't mean it's any less of a correct description:

Fantastic, this film is not.

CONS:

• The script decreases in quality over the course of the film until the point where nearly every character is either delivering exposition in drab ways or yelling cheesy lines
• Studio involvement or not, Trank's direction is not felt or seen here
• Horrendous pacing
• Mundane heroes and villain...far cry from the source material
• Generic original score
• Often sports some wonky special effects
• So-so humor
• Wait, there was action in this film?

PROS:

• This cast is talented and they try their hardest to not go down with the ship. Thankfully, I think they'll all be ok
• Moments of identity are found throughout in some fun exchanges between characters
• Some of the special effects are sweet
• I give it bonus points for trying to do the superpowers-from-space thing. It's unique

Rath's Review Score: 4.5/10