It's been 8 years since the 3rd attempt at making a Fantastic Four film, which left such a bad taste in the mouth of movie goers. Josh Trank and this new, young cast bring us back to the universe of the team. Was it too soon? That doesn't seem to be the case. Almost everything about this film tells us that they tried to separate themselves from the previous films, and I think they succeed when it comes to that. Let's take a look at differences.
New Director- Josh Trank brings us a new, grittier feel of the team we know and love. If you go into the theater expecting a fun, superhero blockbuster, then this movie will disappoint you. Trank gives us a different perspective of the team, starting them barely out of high school. From there, we take a journey into the race for successful inter-dimensional travel, and the emotional conflicts that go with it. For better or for worse, that is the main concept of the movie. Trank takes us through the lives of each and how they must intertwine to face each obstacle that lies ahead of them. Unfortunately, as soon as things start going downhill for our characters, the pace of the movie takes the same route.
New Cast- The new Fantastic Four: Miles Teller (Mr. Fantastic), Kate Mara (Invisible Woman), Michael B. Jordan (The Human Torch), and Jamie Bell (The Thing). - Miles Teller is a strong lead. As ridiculous as the script got at a few points, this kid can act his way around it, and make me buy the scene. They put a new take on the character as the boy genius, who still has a lot to learn. We see this knowledge appropriately define who he is as the movie progresses. - Kate Mara is a refreshing site to see after Jessica Alba's version of the character. this universe, she is a young scientist-to-be, that is smart. We actually see and hear her intellect. And thank you to the writers for having none of those stupid "invisible woman naked in the streets" moments. - Michael B. Jordan. This is the guy to watch in the movie industry. Every time he hit the screen, all eyes were on him. He took a poorly written scene, that coincidentally puts him with the rest of our team-to-be (earlier in the movie), and makes me believe it. - Moving on to the The Thing himself, Jamie Bell. As Ben Grimm, he has a close relationship with Reed. Their differences are astronomical, and yet it works. He was clearly not the focus of the movie, but had one of the most clear character arks. The one thing i didn't like was kind of like the Hulk in Avengers. The Hulk had trouble controlling his powers, but then conveniently could when it was needed. The problem I had here was less physical and more emotional. He spent a year hating Reed, and then all was forgiven without much effort. The script just didn't work in his favor for that part of it, but his performance was still good. - Toby Kebbell as Doctor Doom. As Victor, he was a good addition to the cast. Now real quick. When it comes to movie portrayals of characters, I am a strong believer that the writers of the movies can do what they want. It is their story. Their portrayal. If you are looking for the character from the comics, this is far from it. In the movie, he is terrifying, powerful, and mad. And though it may sound the same, its not. Just see it for your self. And when i say terrifying, I am saying to not bring your 5 year olds to this movie. They may have nightmares. It's a quick scene, but still. Doom is different, but I enjoyed it.
New Story- Keeping this part nice and short to avoid spoilers, it was interesting to say the least. As I said earlier, this is not your everyday comic book movie. This is more of a sci-fi thriller, that seemingly has hints of horror and action. The story starts out well, showing us who these characters are, and how they come to be who we know and love. The issue here, is that they built up some suspense and drama as we try to figure out what is going to become of our heroes, and I feel like it cops out from there. They would give us some tense scenes, and they would be too short. Then more poor dialogue would drag on for too long. It was kind of a tease to say the least. That same pattern would take us to the end of the film.
Conclusion: Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, and their team really stood apart from the Tim Story Fantastic Four films. It was a different genre. Better cast. And there was no Mr. Fantastic dance sequence. The movie had pacing issues, and the script had quite a few weak points.
Great start. Shaky middle. Decent ending. 6.5/10
New Director- Josh Trank brings us a new, grittier feel of the team we know and love. If you go into the theater expecting a fun, superhero blockbuster, then this movie will disappoint you. Trank gives us a different perspective of the team, starting them barely out of high school. From there, we take a journey into the race for successful inter-dimensional travel, and the emotional conflicts that go with it. For better or for worse, that is the main concept of the movie. Trank takes us through the lives of each and how they must intertwine to face each obstacle that lies ahead of them. Unfortunately, as soon as things start going downhill for our characters, the pace of the movie takes the same route.
New Cast- The new Fantastic Four: Miles Teller (Mr. Fantastic), Kate Mara (Invisible Woman), Michael B. Jordan (The Human Torch), and Jamie Bell (The Thing). - Miles Teller is a strong lead. As ridiculous as the script got at a few points, this kid can act his way around it, and make me buy the scene. They put a new take on the character as the boy genius, who still has a lot to learn. We see this knowledge appropriately define who he is as the movie progresses. - Kate Mara is a refreshing site to see after Jessica Alba's version of the character. this universe, she is a young scientist-to-be, that is smart. We actually see and hear her intellect. And thank you to the writers for having none of those stupid "invisible woman naked in the streets" moments. - Michael B. Jordan. This is the guy to watch in the movie industry. Every time he hit the screen, all eyes were on him. He took a poorly written scene, that coincidentally puts him with the rest of our team-to-be (earlier in the movie), and makes me believe it. - Moving on to the The Thing himself, Jamie Bell. As Ben Grimm, he has a close relationship with Reed. Their differences are astronomical, and yet it works. He was clearly not the focus of the movie, but had one of the most clear character arks. The one thing i didn't like was kind of like the Hulk in Avengers. The Hulk had trouble controlling his powers, but then conveniently could when it was needed. The problem I had here was less physical and more emotional. He spent a year hating Reed, and then all was forgiven without much effort. The script just didn't work in his favor for that part of it, but his performance was still good. - Toby Kebbell as Doctor Doom. As Victor, he was a good addition to the cast. Now real quick. When it comes to movie portrayals of characters, I am a strong believer that the writers of the movies can do what they want. It is their story. Their portrayal. If you are looking for the character from the comics, this is far from it. In the movie, he is terrifying, powerful, and mad. And though it may sound the same, its not. Just see it for your self. And when i say terrifying, I am saying to not bring your 5 year olds to this movie. They may have nightmares. It's a quick scene, but still. Doom is different, but I enjoyed it.
New Story- Keeping this part nice and short to avoid spoilers, it was interesting to say the least. As I said earlier, this is not your everyday comic book movie. This is more of a sci-fi thriller, that seemingly has hints of horror and action. The story starts out well, showing us who these characters are, and how they come to be who we know and love. The issue here, is that they built up some suspense and drama as we try to figure out what is going to become of our heroes, and I feel like it cops out from there. They would give us some tense scenes, and they would be too short. Then more poor dialogue would drag on for too long. It was kind of a tease to say the least. That same pattern would take us to the end of the film.
Conclusion: Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, and their team really stood apart from the Tim Story Fantastic Four films. It was a different genre. Better cast. And there was no Mr. Fantastic dance sequence. The movie had pacing issues, and the script had quite a few weak points.
Great start. Shaky middle. Decent ending. 6.5/10