Movie Review: Fantastic Four (2015)

Courtesy: Fox/Marvel

Starring Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, and Toby Kebbel
Directed by Josh Trank
Rated PG-13
My Rating: ***1/2:5

Much like the "Terminator" franchise, the Fantastic Four have had an interesting film history behind them. The first attempt to make a movie out of Marvel's first family in 1994; produced by B-movie master Roger Corman, ultimately went unreleased officially (the film, in its entirety, can be seen on YouTube for those curious). Despite a modest success of two films in the mid-2000s by Tim Story; they ultimately never reached the "Spider-Man" or "X-Men" level grosses that Fox was expecting, leading to this new film by director Josh Trank (whose low-budget film "Chronicle" was a sleeper hit in early 2012, making back its modest $3 million budget twenty times over).

Yet, despite the hype for this entry and the vitriol critics and fans have lambasted it with (the film currently holds a 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it objectively worse than the likes of "Batman and Robin" and "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace"), this version of "Fantastic Four" does mark a slight improvement over Story's duology even if it never truly lives up to its namesake.

The film begins with a young Reed Richards and Ben Grimm (Teller and Bell) trying to find the key to inter-dimensional travel; but their efforts are met with derision from the public (including a skeptical science teacher played by Dan Castellaneta, conveying qualities normally reserved for his role as Homer Simpson). Undeterred, they find a backer in the Baxter foundation; and allies in Johnny Storm (Jordan; who managed to give a calm response to less than sensitive criticism leveled against his casting) and his adoptive sister Susan (Mara). Victor Von Doom (Kebbel) is also enlisted to help perfect the portal to a barren wasteland known as Planet Zero; despite his misanthropic attitude and reputation as a cyberterrorist in his native Latveria (his introductory scene shows him playing Counter-Strike and listening to classical music; blending his comic portrayal with elements of WikiLeaks founder and rogue journalist Julian Assange with Alex de Large of "A Clockwork Orange").

Of course, the origin story proceeds as follows; with the experiment going awry and the Four getting caught in the crossfire. What begins as a sort of character study of what might happen if four college kids gain superpowers suddenly becomes a haunting and horrific thriller that; while never reaching the heights that The Dark Knight Saga or the Marvel Cinematic Universe have with comic book superheroes; manages to distinguish itself from Story's duology and craft a unique version of the Four that explores how their powers affect them as people and not just vehicles for clever dialogue or explosive action.

Even so; it's understandable where most of the criticism is coming from. Despite the script being co-written by Trank along side "X-Men" alum Simon Kinsberg (with Jeremy Slater later being brought on); the way the film treats the Four as outcasts can get a bit ridiculous at times, as can the way the side characters behave towards them (certain scenes before the cosmic storm and afterward caused unintentional laughter in the theater were this film was being shown). While not abysmally bad as its reputation might suggest; it also lacks the bigger thrills and more elaborate action setups of other dark re-imaginings of superheroes that this film is clearly trying to emulate (notable strains of "The Dark Knight," "Man of Steel;" "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and the bulk of the Marvel Cinematic Universe seem to have been cribbed by Fox for this film).

Inevitably, the Four unite despite their initial rough start in time for the climactic final battle against Doom in Planet Zero. What should have been the ideal way to closeout a summer that featured the Avengers clashing with Ultron in Eastern Europe instead cements the film as a glorified after-school special with a budget of $122 million. Each of the Four somehow have their familiar powers rendered in an even more cartoonish manner than Story's duology despite roughly 8-10 years of advances in special effects. With the combined might of Reed's elasticity, Susan's invisibility, the Human Torch's flames and the Thing's stone body whaling on Doom (whose final form appears to be a cybergoth dancer stolen from "The Matrix" trilogy); it's easily the most overstuffed way to spend 100 minutes in a long time. The CGI starts to wear so thin with each passing minute; it's comparable to a game of "Marvel VS Capcom."

While the Four and Fox remain optimistic at the film's end that they will be there to defend the earth from evil; reality is far less so. Although Fox is confident they will be able to make a planned sequel by 2017; the film has infamously made less than either of Story's films in their respective opening weekends, thus opening up talk of the rights being sold back to Marvel (the film is currently on track to lose at least $60 million of its budget). The saddest thing; however, is that the filmmakers definitely tried to make a distinct take on Marvel's original ensemble, yet ultimately failed to entertain fans of the comic or moviegoers in the way that "The Avengers" or "Guardians of the Galaxy" have; with DC looking to follow suit with the likes of "Suicide Squad" and "Justice League" in the coming years.

Even so, this take on "Fantastic Four" can definitely serve as a teaching tool to any future film versions and directors who might be interested in another reboot in the coming years. Much like Story's films have an aura of products of their time; this film may very well be used as an example of what not to do for future incarnations of the characters. Just as Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and the X-Men have undergone much revision over the past few decades of comics and film (with further re-imaginings of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Power Rangers" also on tap in the coming years); this could very well become an unintentional period piece in another 10 years or so. If that is the fate of a film which many are claiming is as bad as the Halle Berry "Catwoman" film; then so be it. It could very well represent a time where Johnny Storm is an African-American street racer; Susan listens to Portishead; Ben Grimm is an automobile junker, Reed Richards jerry-rigs a matter transporter out of old Nintendo 64 consoles; and Dr. Doom is a cyberterrorist who blacked out half of Latveria with a keyboard. While by no means fantastic, it's at least marginally better than Story's duology or "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" (which also led to that character being sold back to Marvel for the highly anticipated "Captain America: Civil War"). It's merely that for all its efforts; this new take on "Fantastic Four" still bears the failures of its prior film versions on its shoulders. It's not as bad as its critics would suggest; but it's still ultimately a superhero film with an identity crisis. With only the basic elements of the Four in play in favor of trying to emulate other superhero films; it's a film that has many ideas borrowed from prior versions of Batman; Superman, Spider-Man, and the X-Men but masters none of them. With no identity of its own (not helped by Trank now distancing himself from the film in the wake of Fox allegedly compromising his vision); it's OK, but still much less than fantastic.