"Fantastic Four (2015)" Review

The Fantastic Four have had a rocky history to say the least. They have already had 3 movies, the latest of which being the 2007 sequel "Rise of the Silver Surfer," infamous for turning one of Marvel's best villains into a cloud. To make matters worse, none of these movies have received universal critical acclaim. You would think that Fox would realise that audiences would not be excited to see yet another movie featuring Marvel's First Family and thus would attempt to enter into a shared partnership with Marvel Studios to have this team appear alongside the Avengers and the like, much like Sony recently did with Spider-Man. Apparently not. The studio instead decided to have a third crack at bringing the Fantastic Four to the silver screen, hiring a talented cast and director Josh Trank, most known for his work on found footage film "Chronicle." Match that with modern effects, and this would seem like a recipe for success. Unfortunately, Fant4stic (which is how the film was stupidly marketed) is plagued by just as many, if not more, problems as its predecessors, producing arguably the worst superhero film since "Batman and Robin."

First of all, I have to give Fox credit for at least trying to do something different to what has come before. Rather than have the team go into space and be transformed by cosmic radiation, the writers have opted to have the group be studying teleportation and dimensional travel. However, when they reach "Planet Zero," they are genetically modified after having contact with the new materials and elements there. This leads onto undoubtedly the most emotionally effecting sequence of the film, where the writers explore the potential horrors of becoming a superhero, particularly through The Thing. If only the writers had not waited until over halfway through a movie that barely clocks in at over 90 minutes to actually give them their powers. The plot is an utter mess from start to finish, suffering especially from poor pacing. Case in point, the movie spends an hour setting up unlikable main characters, leaving them with only one sequence with the entire Fantastic Four in the finale.

The writing of the movie has been a point of extreme criticism, and for good reason. The whole movie is a completely joyless affair, refusing to embrace the undeniable silliness of its premise. The very few potential laughs that the movie has to offer are showcased in the trailers released online. It is painfully obvious that Fox sought to create a darker version of the characters, which has only resulted in a lack of humour. However, it is not only here that the writing falls flat. The characters are downright annoying and it left me longing for what little characterisation was given in previous iterations. However, the complete absence of any team dynamic is the killer. Some characters have very little, if any, interactions (I could swear that the Thing and the Invisible Woman do not share any dialogue at all).

The worst written, most poorly developed character is not one of the main four, however. That honour goes to the main villain of the flick: Doctor Doom. The legendary supervoltage first appeared 53 years ago in the comics and since then has committed thousands of evil acts and come into conflict with almost every hero in the Marvel Universe. However, the only thing this Doctor Doom is guilty of is inconsistency and boring the audience. The character appears at the beginning of the movie before disappearing entirely for an hour only to return in the terrible third act. The character of Doom is given very little motivation besides one throwaway line close to the beginning. His powers are the main point of concern though, with having the ability to manipulate matter one second, the ability to shape the earth to his will the next.

I mentioned before that the cast of the movie is talented. Miles Teller who became famous from last year's Whiplash, Toby Kebbell from "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes", and Billy Elliot himself playing the Thing. However, they are completely wasted. Credit where credits due, some cast members are trying to make their lines work in the film, such as Teller. He does pull off the role of an extremely clever scientist well. The same applies to Reg E. Cathey, who plays Franklin Storm. However, the rest of the cast is evidently aware that they are in a terrible movie, and thus do not put any effort into their performances. In fairness, the writing team has made the characters so one dimensional that it would be impossible for anyone to deliver a truly outstanding performance.

One of the crucial aspects that the modern blockbuster has to achieve is creating a visual spectacle. Fortunately, Fant4stic at least achieves this. Although it can look strange during the (few) fast-paced action sequences, the characters in action look as realistic as it can, especially the Thing, something essential given the decision to make the Thing completely computer-generated rather than use a ridiculous rubber suit. 

However, visual effects and a talented cast cannot save a movie. Let down by a dreadful script, a dull storyline and an absolute lack of comedy, Fant4stic is one of the biggest movie disappointments in recent memory to me. It may be time now for Fox to stop trying to make Fantastic Four movies and I hope that the poor box office performance will prove that. As a superhero movie fan, I am sad to say that Fantastic Four is nothing more than a fantastic bore.

Pros

• Visually good
• Some members of the cast (like Miles Teller) actually trying....

Cons

• ....but others are not
• Lack of a team dynamic
• Doctor Doom
• Noticeable absence of action sequences
• Humourless 
• Pacing

Rating: 2/10

Original Release Date: 6th August, 2015

Directed by Josh Trank

Starring: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey, Tim Blake Nelson