Dysfunctional Family

Fantastic Four (2015)

In the summer of 2005 the world was given a glimpse at what superhero movies should be. Christopher Nolan and screenwriter David S. Goyer gave the Batman franchise a dark and gritty makeover that inspired film studios to recreate that same formula. Some of that formula worked for some films and unfortunately that same formula didn’t work for other films. With threat of rights being reverted back to Marvel, 20^th Century Fox decided to take a chance on that formula with the Fantastic Four franchise, in hopes to spark a new series of movies centered on Marvel’s first family. Giving the helm to celebrated new director, Josh Trank (Chronicle), 20^th Century had nothing but high hopes, however the final product was anything but ‘fantastic’.

Giving a new twist on how the four (five including Victor von Doom (Toby Kebbell Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) young scientists receive their powers, Fantastic Four is like every other origin story that the general public is subjected to every time a studio wants to remake, redo, or introduce a superhero (brace yourselves, there are going to be a few more of these in the next couple years). So to sit here and explain what the movie is about is purely pointless. The one thing, I would like to point out is how impressed (yes, I said that while reviewing this film) I was with Trank’s idea of the origin story. I think Trank was trying to give audiences something different from what they were used to seeing from the FF. I believe that Trank was trying to build on what made Batman Begins successful, yet adding a little humor and other things that would have separated it from the rest of the superhero movies. I obviously have no idea who derailed whatever Trank was trying to do, but after watching the film all I can say is I feel really bad for this movie.

Let’s start with how bad I feel for this cast. Miles Teller (Whiplash) portrays Reed Richards, a guy just trying to make a difference in the world and subsequently is the cause of his friends being ‘changed’. Richards is a prominent character during the first half of the film, but disappears for most of the latter half. Ultimately, leaving me to wonder if Trank had some grand plan for Richards’ return or if something else was at play. Teller starts off well, but consequently becomes the weakest part of the group when he needs to be their leader.  Simply put, there is not enough of Kate Mara (The Martian) as Sue Storm. Mara’s brilliance is barely touched on and Sue almost becomes an afterthought among the others. Jamie Bell’s (Snowpiercer) Ben Grimm also becomes an afterthought. I understand that his human form was not going to be showcased much, but when he transforms Ben’s intelligence is questioned when he becomes nothing but a hammer for the military. Then there is the ‘villain’ in the film. I use quotations because Doom as a villain is in the movie for 5 mins. Literally. Doom as a friend is in the film more than anything, but that lasts for at least the first 30-40mins. I saved Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station), who plays Johnny Storm, for last for two reasons. First reason is his race. In the comics, Johnny is white and when word spread that Johnny was going to be black people were very agitated. In my opinion, his race didn’t matter. I will fully admit that as a fanboy I was upset because it didn’t follow the books. However, after watching a lot of Jordan’s movies I understood why the change was made. Plus, let’s face it us fanboys have no sense of change when it comes to the things we covet. Second reason is simply because for some odd reason Jordan is the only person/character to shine through the mess that this film became.

For any of you that may have seen Trank’s first film, Chronicle, you may understand why I feel worse for Trank. The cast will bounce back and I am sure that FOX will recoup whatever they lost from this critical and financial flop. However, Trank will never be able to get another gig without being reminded that he was the spearhead of this movie. Chronicle was an amazing twist on superhero films and rightly paved the way for Trank to get the helm of a big budget superhero film like the Fantastic Four. I can see where Trank was trying to go and it positively needed a longer run time than the 1 hour and 30 minute final product. I don’t know if Trank acted out or FOX just had him on a short leash, but whatever the case was this film could have been amazing. Maybe ego’s needed to be kept in check or Trank should have explained his vision better to Marvel or FOX, but I truly hope that Trank can get past this and find a studio that will give him the chance to tell a story he wants to tell.

My ultimate wish is that FOX puts Trank’s vision back together for the Blu-Ray and audiences are able to have an uncensored view of what the director was trying to portray to us. Do I think that will ever happen? No, no I don’t. Like I said, ego’s maybe questioned if that happened and if Trank’s true vision is better received than what FOX released than FOX will be the bad guy and there is no PR person on the planet that will let that happen. This film had SO MUCH potential that I didn’t hate the movie, I just felt sorry for it.

The Verdict: Not Worth Your Time.