178 - Wrong

 So, the super hero movie marathon goes from one of the best super hero movies last week (Fantastic 4; Rise of the Silver Surfer) to one of, if not the, very worst superhero movies. 

And both are about the same heroes... ho-hum.

This is the 2105 Fantastic Four reboot - or as it is styled "Fant4stic". 

Okay. 

Right. 

Where do I start? 

My memory of this film, having on seen it the once in the cinema back in the day, was that it was, frankly, rubbish. Despite this, I went in to it with an open mind. To be fair to it, the movie starts off well, with a short sequence with Reed and Ben as very young kids which is rather fun, as Reed tries out his "teleporter" for the first time.

We flip forward a few years, and they're teenagers. This is a younger Fantastic Four than normal, but it does seem to to work. In fact, at the start of the movie I was thinking maybe I'd got things wrong about the film. I soon had that notion beaten out of me... As soon as the four get their powers the whole movie seems to fall apart. From that moment on, everything is just wrong about the movie.

The tone of the thing is all over the place, and there's none of the humour and wit you usually get with the FF. And the movie is just so dark, both in its tone and literally in the look of the thing. The four barely get to use their powers and spend far more time (when powered) apart than together. The whole thing just seems wrong. 

One of the things that the movie has received criticism for is making Johnny Storm black; to me the only people who think that's a bad idea can be described using one word. Racist. To my mind, the mistake they made was not also making Sue Storm black as well. 'Cos then they have to contrive a new backstory for the pair where Sue's been adopted. It just doesn't work. I can't help but think the studio wimped out by making this decision. 

And none of the main five cast (the four and Doom) nail the roles anything like as well as their counterparts in the preceding two films. Whether that's direction or script, I don't know (I suspect a bit from column A, a bit from column B...) I know Michael B Jordan is definitely capable of a lot better; I mean, he's great in Black Panther, and absolutely shines in the Creed films. He deserved better here.

Heck, the whole cast deserved better. 

The climax of the film - such as it is - seems to be over in the blink of an eye. The big FF V Doom fight is just getting going when it ends. And. Oh. Is that it? 

I mean, it is just so disappointing, and it's no wonder there were no more films with this cast. It's just... rubbish.  

I understand there were many behind the scenes issues during the production of the film, with extensive reshoots - including much of the climax, which would explain why it's so rushed and nonsensical, and boom... over in moments. I can't help but wonder what the original cut would have been like? My gut feeling is that the tone would still have been the same, wrong, but might at least have been a bit more cohesive. 

Still, with Disney buying Fox it now means there'll be another iteration of the FF - likely late 2023 or early 2024. Let's hope their version is closer to the previous two FF films than this one. There is some talk that John Krasinski and Emily Blunt may be Reed and Sue... could be interesting. But at least we know that this next FF film won't just be a one or two and done gig; these characters will be throughout the MCU for years to come and get the chance to shine, in the way Ioan Gruffud and so should have...

And, incidentally; Fant4stic had no Stan Lee cameo.

'Nuff said...

171 - Surfing

 So, the next of the super-hero movies is Fantastic Four; Rise of the Silver Surfer. 

This is a movie that isn't that popular, and I just don't get why. Its clearly learnt lessons from the first film, and manages to get pretty much everything right. 

What we have here is a movie that absolutely captures the flavour if its source material, and is just a damn fine fine and fun movie. It's a movie that doesn't have an ounce of flab in it at all; it gets in there, tells its story, and gets out...

And the threat here is a much greater one than the last movie; we're talking end of the world stuff here. I guess that's where we get to the one big flaw; the depiction of Galactus. He should be this huge giant of a figure towering over everyone. Instead he's a dust cloud. 

Now, I know this is apparently how Galactus is depicted in the Ultmate range of comics... still a bit naff, though. Couldn't they have had proper Galactus in the middle of the cloud, manipulating it, controlling it? That would have been more satisfying. 

But, really, that's the only proper negative thing about the film as otherwise it's a damn fine movie. The core cast playing the four are absolutely spot on, and there is real chemistry between them. The script is witty, and has some great gags; I love the power swapping sequences. They're handled really well. 

And we do get a proper threat to defeat in this movie; even though in the end it's the Surfer who saves the day, rather than the Four. But that doesn't really matter, as the movie is as much his as it is theirs. 

It really is a shame they weren't able to make more movies in this series, as there were plans for at least one more with this cast. I'd have liked to have seen what they would have come up with... could Franklin have made his debut? That would have been good...

164 - Fantasic

 So, on to the Fantastic Four films, and I should state from the off I really rate this cast; I reckon the four main principals here - Ioan Gruffud, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, and Jessica Alba as Mr Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Thing, and Human Torch - are just wonderfully cast. They absolutely nail their roles. In fact, I would go so far as to say - and I know this will be sacrilegious to some - that I think Chris Evans is a better Johnny Storm than Steve Rogers...

It does start off well, as the four of them (five, counting Doom) find their powers beginning to manifest, and to come to terms with them. This comes to a head in the scene on the bridge, where they start to come together as a team (which, ironically, works better than the climax of the film). You just can't help but smile as Johnny embraces his new found fame. It just feels right. 

There is a lot to love about this film, as there are many great moments, some great characterisation, and witty one liners in the script. The main flaw here is that the main threat in the film, Dr Doom, is just a bit, well... underwhelming. He doesn't seem to have any great plan, any great motivations... other than getting back at Reed and co. What he's planning on doing after that is rather unclear. Well, it's not even mentioned. 

That's a bit of a shame, as had that side of things been a bit better developed it would have been overall a better film. That is not to say it's a bad film; but it is a movie of moments (as mentioned before) rather than a great storyline. 

I guess as a foundation to build on it works, and that will become apparent when we get to the next film...