Review: A Fantastic Flop!

Jordan Samuel Jordan Samuel
Author
August 6th, 2015

Content Editor, Film Critic and Writer for ComiConverse.com, the Founder and co-host of the official Nerdcast Network Podcast

Review: A Fantastic Flop!
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Review of: Fantastic Four
Price:
Fantastic Flop

Reviewed by:
Rating:
1
On August 6, 2015
Last modified:April 20, 2016

Summary:

A disaster from start to finish, that spits on the source material in every way possible

Review of: Fantastic Four
Price:
Fantastic Flop

Reviewed by:
Rating:

1
On August 6, 2015
Last modified:April 20, 2016

Summary:

A disaster from start to finish, that spits on the source material in every way possible

The Fantastic Four is finally here and we have all the angles covered for you with our ComiConverse review!

I think that we can all agree that Marvel's first ever team in comics, The Fantastic Four, have not had the best time in Hollywood; with their first few outings feeling like dated comedy pieces. Fast forward to 2015 and 20th Century Fox have brought back the team with a potentially slick and interesting reboot.

But does it succeed? ComiConverse is here to give you our in-depth review on this Josh Trank-directed flick.

I am the biggest fan of the Fantastic Four comics, because the characters feel like real people to me (with awesome powers). Even though they weren't the best-written books in the world, they just felt so grounded and original with an appealing family dynamic.

Fantastic-Four-Trailer-Photo-Team-Shot

Credit: 20th Century FOX

The latest Fantastic Four, a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel's original and longest-running superhero team, centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend - turned enemy.

This new iteration is heavily based upon the Ultimate Fantastic Four comics, with the genius Reed Richards and Ben Grimm being best friends from childhood. Then Reed discovers dimensional travel and is inducted into the gifted youth program at the Baxter Building.

There, he works for Victor von Doom, a troubled young genius, Sue Storm another gifted scientist and Johnny Storm, the hothead chosen to crack inter-dimensional travel. Their shared ambition is that they really want be the first people to step into an alien world in another dimension.

This is the biggest disappointment with the film, because the characters deserve more than this in terms of their shared story. The comics version of this narrative tied them all together in effective ways, but on the big screen it fails to deliver the necessary chemistry.

fantastic-four-dr-doom

Credit: 20th Century FOX

The first half of the movie sets up the origin for these characters, which works for the most part, but in the end it it rushes to shove too much information down our throats.  The lesson here was, perhaps, that the movie's producers knew they were erring by truing to re-tell the group's origin story and were just trying to give it lip-service.

I did like the brother and sister dynamic between Sue and Johnny.

Doom, on the other hand, felt like the most cliche character in film history, with his motivation coming across as just plain lazy. Its disappointing, because the character is so badass in the comics, and for some reason that quality is absent for half of the film.

Reed and Ben feel very realistic on the big screen, but this script makes their relationship feel worthless in the end with them always fighting and then getting back together. It seems an effort to appeal to a teen audience used to the angst of such relationships; however, it doesn't help in building up the Fantastic Four team.

I want to say that Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell work really well together again, but the common mistake is this story is that the plot never allows any development on the idea of family – which was so relevant in the original comics.

Verdict

two-new-fantastic-four-stills-released-368863

Credit: 20th Century FOX

If you are looking forward to seeing something this weekend, Fantastic Four is not a film for the true comics fan. There is so much wasted potential when it comes to the direction and story-telling and these miscues make the reboot feel unnecessary and a wasted opportunity to present something new and compelling.

You can skip this outing and just wait for Deadpool to hopefully bring back some trust to the storytelling abilities of 20th Century Fox.

I am sorry, but this franchise needs some major cleaning-up, because FOX has not done justice towards these poor fellas at the moment. Marvel Studios needs to come and get their first family back, before more damage is added into the mix, so this film might actually be a blessing in disguise.

What is your opinion on Fantastic Four Have you seen it yet? Let us know bellow and follow ComiConverse for all your future reviews!

Jordan Samuel is a Contributor to ComiConverse. Follow him on Twitter @JordanESamuel

Fantastic Four

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Fantastic Flop

A disaster from start to finish, that spits on the source material in every way possible

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