Review FANTASTIC FOUR (2015)

This so-called dark and gritty re-imagining of the

beloved Marvel property is a fantastic flop.

At the first glance, the long-awaited reboot of FANTASTIC FOUR

seems like in the good hands of Josh Trank. After all, he's an upand-coming young director whose debut in CHRONICLE (2012)
was a unique blend of found footage and superhero genres.
Then came the infamous bad buzz surrounding the production
of the movie. From casting controversy to (strangely) lastminute marketing campaign, everything about the new
FANTASTIC FOUR looks destined to be a box office fiasco-in-thewriting. Sadly, Josh Trank's version is as murky as the movie
itself.

WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?

First discovered by Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg. E. Cathey) after

Reed Richards' (Miles Teller) creation of a teleporter impresses
him at a science fair, he is immediately offered a scholarship to
study at the Baxter Institute. From there, he meets Storm's
adopted daughter Sue (Kate Mara) and her rebellious brother
Johnny (Michael B. Jordan). When Franklin has finally recruits his
former protege Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell) to be part of a
team, their goal is to design a teleporter that able to transport
them into another dimension to find new resources. Then, an
accident happens when the group decides to explore the
dimension on their own without Franklin's authorisation. Reed
ends up with a superpower that enables him to stretch his body
anywhere he wants; Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell), who is called upon
to join Reed for the ill-fated expedition, becomes a rock
creature; Johnny can burst himself into flame and able to fly;
and Sue is granted with invisible power.

THE GOOD STUFF

FANTASTIC FOUR does get off to a promising start, with Trank
and his two screenwriters Jeremy Slater and Simon Kinberg
establishing Reed Richards' fondness for science in
teleportation from his junior to teenage years at school. For a
while there, Trank's unhurried direction of introducing the four
main characters -- Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Sue Storm and
Johnny Storm -- prior to their newfound superpowers absorbed
from another dimension, is a nice character-driven setup.
Likewise, all four actors (yes, that includes the controversial
casting of Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch)
actually deliver decent performances earlier in the movie. In
fact, there's even a strong potential for a romantic subplot

involving Reed and Sue's brief flirtation during their encounter

in the library.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT(S)

Since there is nothing fantastic about this movie, I can hardly

find any scene worth remembering for.
THE BAD STUFF

While it's completely understandable that a superhero origin

story needs ample time to develop the character(s), Trank is
completely lost once the four character finally get their
superpowers. Instead of a dramatic payoff, the movie just
settles with a couple of brief montage showing The Thing
fighting the enemy for the US government and the Human
Torch destroying a drone in the sky within minutes.

Then there's Reed, who subsequently escaped from the facility

and hide somewhere in South America. I would expect there's
an ongoing story development to see Reed devising a plan to
help his friends. After all, he already has a stretching ability
that allows him to infiltrate the facility with little difficulty.
Unfortunately, Trank and his screenwriters fail to make good
use of his character and put him on the sideline. Even when
The Thing and the army eventually locates Reed's whereabouts,
their subsequent encounter is disappointingly brief. There isn't
enough heated tension between Reed and The Thing, especially
after Reed failed his promise to help him find the cure. Although
there's a fight between them, the scene is surprisingly kept to a
minimum. It would have been a great money shot if Trank
expanded the scene to show how angry The Thing can be
against the stretchy Reed Richards.

But the biggest disappointment of all is the movie takes such a

long time to introduce Doom as the Fantastic Four's main
nemesis. Doom is supposed to be an iconic villain in the
Fantastic Four universe, but Trank made a mistake of
underestimating him as a character. If that's not insulting
enough, Trank's radical approach redefining Doom's origin from
an arrogant hotshot who joins Dr. Franklin Storm to create
history for a better future to an eventual villain after obtaining
power from another dimension, is hardly intriguing. Problem is,
there isn't enough conflict or solid justification that made him
turned into an evil planning to destroy the world.

With a bigger budget than Trank used to have in CHRONICLE,

it's really baffling to see there's little effect-laden action
sequence found in this movie. The staging of the action alone is
almost devoid of creativity, let alone a satisfying amount of
elaboration. The scene involving Doom's subsequent encounter
with the Fantastic Four when they finally unite together to
defeat him, is such a letdown that the final showdown between
the Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom in Tim Story's first
FANTASTIC FOUR (2005) fares so much better by comparison.
Special effects are also shockingly dated and feels as if they are
made for a television series. For instance, the computergenerated appearance of The Thing doesn't look convincing
enough. I hate to say this, but the previous incarnation of The
Thing in the first two FANTASTIC FOUR movies looks more
groundbreaking compared to this turd. On top of that, it looks
completely off-putting witnessing the new version of The Thing
without his pants.

FINAL WORDS

Following the excruciatingly long wait after the dismal result of

2007's FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER and now
this, I don't see any prospect of a proposed sequel which
already set for a 2017 release date. The reboot itself is such a
failure that I hope Fox would revert, or at least shared the
copyright with Marvel Studios to relaunch the franchise all over
again.