Movie Impressions: Fantastic Four (2015)

Right, a third theatrical attempt and fourth overall attempt (gotta love the 60's version) to make a Fantastic Four movie work. From what I have heard, every single one of these attempts was made in order for FOX to retain the movie right to the property. So already this has started on the back foot. After which came a smorgasbord of backlash and other problems of which Mr Sunday Movies even prepared a whole list of them. Though, after seeing Chroncicle, I was confident in Josh Trank's direction that even through all the studio hodgepodge some good might come out. I guess I was wrong. 

Since childhood, Reed Richards has a wish to be the first person to crack teleportation but inadvertently cracks inter-dimensional travel. But an ill-timed accident gives him, his best friend Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm and her adopted sister Susan Storm as well as Victor Von Doom(yes not Domshev anymore) radical powers. Hence they are taken into government custody to be trained and used as weapons. It is up to them to team up together to either fix themselves or to use their powers for something greater.

The first thing you might notice is where is the space and solar rays, well this origin story follows the Ultimate Fantastic Four version. Personally I prefer the original space travel origins however, this does add a new sci-fi element to the mix. I also appreciate the filmmakers going for a sci-fi horror vibe which the Fantastic Four has in its reception of their powers as something horrific rather than awesome at first. Mind you this version has some great concepts going for it here such as it actually took time to explore and set-up a conflict in the friendship between Richards and Grimm (even though it ignores development since), and also the Four being used as weapons of the government, which can prove to be the catalyst for their public image, of which the comics are renowned for.

However, the story is too rushed for any of these set-ups to ever come to fruition since it decides to skip parts of the second-act which could be used to show them getting used to their powers and you know, actual development. Which also points me to say that we live in a post-Avengers world where we have already seen more than 4 superheroes sharing the screen with each of them having their moments and arcs. Yet, this doesn't take the effort to show us character growth, or team dynamics, in a Fantastic Four movie. As a result, the movie starts to become drab very fast. One often gets the sense that the movie wants to skip story to reach to the climax as fast as possible. The only problem is that the entire third act is criminally abrupt and anti-climactic.

Anyhow this movie actually has good acting talent behind it with Miles Teller(fresh from Whiplash fame) as Reed Richards, Kate Mara as Susan Storm , Michael B.Jordan as Johnny Storm and Ian Bell as Ben Grimm. You can see their performances trying to come out like a butterfly out of a cocoon but the script (or at least the story we ended up with) doesn't want to explore these characters so it also hinders their performances. One of the truly tragic cases here is Tony Kebbel as Victor Von Doom, Of course he isn't the megalomaniac King of Latveria (even though the movie refers the place) I actually kinda was liking the enigmatic personality he seemed to be. But oh no! we have to make him Doom in under 99 mins, so just slap on a motive of which we couldn't find traces anywhere before, give him a crappy look, vague powers and fight!

Oh, and by the way, the fighting is dismal. Since the movie never took the time to build-up to something or to make us root for the characters, we don't care for any of the 5 mins of action the movie gives us. To add insult to injury, the special effects do not seem up to par where the simulation effects on Johnny Storm doesn't even look like realistic fire at times. And they under- utilised Reed Richards stretching powers where the most creative use there was him changes his facial muscles to hide his real face. That is cool on paper but the effects botch it up bad. There is also a production rumour surrounding a special effects guy being fired without the knowledge of Trank. Though I must say I really liked the sound effect they used for Susan Storm's forcefields. 

In closing, It seems that this iteration is one of those cases of self-fulling prophecies and an utter production disaster. It is such a spaghetti we don't even know who exactly to blame for this, both FOX and Trank have made good superhero movies with the X-Men franchise and Chronicle respectively. Although if I be honest, I am ready to forgive all of this, and ignore this film to the best of my ability. Just please FOX make a good sequel to this. There is actual potential in here, in its sci-fi premise, to explore other dimensions and finally to see the Fantastic Four become the great public heroes they are. Till then, I would suggest any aspiring filmmaker or screenwriter to watch this movie as it does highlight how improper development and pacing can break your movie.