Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four (2015) Movie Review
After recent blockbuster successes like The Avengers, X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy, it would seem like Marvel-inspired films can do no wrong, especially when it comes to superhero teams. However, the dismal 2015 release and reception of Fantastic Four has proven that even the comic book giant makes some poor decisions from time to time. Josh Trank, known for Chronicle, directs the new Fantastic Four movie, which many hoped would be an improvement to its 2005 predecessor.
The reboot chronicles some of Marvel’s earliest characters like Dr. Reed Richards, who hasn’t yet earned his professional title or signature white hair streaks and is played by Miles Teller. The film opens up with Richards as a young nerdy child, explaining his idea for a teleportation device and searching for a power converter in a junkyard run by the family of Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell). After Grimm helps him find a converter and test his makeshift device, it jumps 7 years into the future at the school science fair.
There, the two meet Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) and Sue Storm (Kate Mara) who offer Reed a scholarship at the Baxter Institute. Flashforward, Richards and Sue begin to work on the teleportation device along with Victor von Doom (Toby Kebbell) and Sue’s cocky, juvenile brother, Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan) once they are recruited after prodding from Dr. Storm.
The film then goes on for about another 15 minutes with a lackluster attempt to create a bond between the characters–minus Grimm, who is absent for most of the film–through multiple scenes of them building this teleportation device. Finally, halfway through the movie, the device is tested, transporting them to Planet Zero, a world from another dimension where a mysterious energy source gives them their powers.
All except Doom return and find themselves being held and studied in what looks like a secret, secure governmental facility. Johnny, also known as The Human Torch, is lying in flames, Sue (Invisible Woman) is fading in and out between visible and invisible, Reed is stretching his body out of his restraints and Ben has now become the hefty rockpile called “The Thing”. One might think this part of the movie is a prime opportunity to build up the characters and their bond to each other with the quintessential but nonetheless effective superhero training montage.
This is an important element in nearly every origin story. It is the time when the characters begin to realize their newfound superpowers, struggle to control them and the impact that they have on their lives and begin to realize the potential that they possess. Instead of capturing that, the film decides to forgo this vital part in place of another black screen that simply says, “1 year later Fantastic Four was the first well-known creation of legendary comic book writer Stan Lee. You would think that as the longest running Marvel superhero team, they would have a stronger representation in film. r” and jumps to the characters already using their powers. This is one of the clear wrong turns for the movie. It is almost an hour into the movie and the main characters haven’t even gotten their superpowers yet.
Once they do, they still seem to be fragmented and lack the bond and chemistry of a crime-fighting superhero team, a fact that is made obvious when they fight against Dr. Doom towards the end. Instead of working together, everyone tries to defeat him with their own powers. As you likely guess, the team needs to work together to defeat him.
One of the commonly insulting aspect are is the fact that it doesn’t stay true to its comic book roots. The movie seems to play more like a science fiction piece that has borrowed the title of a comic book. In fact, it doesn’t follow the traditional origin story or superhero team at all. For one, the characters in the film are much younger when they receive their powers, and how their powers came to be is completely altered. However, sticking to the original source material doesn’t always mean success for filmmakers. For example, the first Fantastic Four movie followed the original closely but still received much criticism from critics and audiences.
There are a number of reasons why the movie is now one of the biggest flops in Marvel comic book film history. The film was blasted by both critics and audiences. It has a mere 9 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. To give an idea of how poor the rating is, the previous version from 2005 was considered awful–and it has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 27 percent.
Its poor response from critics was reflected in theaters as well. On opening weekend, the reboot only brought in less than $26 million at the box office. Overall, it is one of the worst performing Marvel films, earning just $56 million. The movie was set for a sequel in 2017, however, Fantastic Four 2 was pulled from the release calendar by Fox.
In theory, the movie had everything necessary to continue Marvel title’s success streak. It had a talented cast, an ample budget, and top-of-the-line CGI and special effects teams. However, it lacked the glue to bring and hold all those pieces together. Instead, the storyline was riddled with holes and cracks and lacked a heart or a connection with audiences. In the end, the talents of the cast were wasted on bland characters, mediocre CGI and an overall flat story.
– Elicia Tedrow
