Fantastic 4: Stuck Between Indie and Blockbuster

The Fantastic 4 is a group of four people gifted with amazing abilities. Reed Richards, his wife Sue Storm, her brother Johnny Storm and Reed's best friend Ben Grimm. Depending on their origin story they receive their powers on a trip to space or an alternate dimension. The group then uses their abilities to attempt something good in the world while not being ostracized for their abilities. It's 2015 and the film series has received a much needed reboot but is it fantastic.

The short answer is no, it's not fantastic. That being said, in no way did it deserve the bashing and dragging it garnered from critics. It's a good movie, it's not fantastic, but it is good. The problem is there seem to be a few misconceptions about what people expected. First, let's look at who the Fantastic 4 actually are. People have been complaining about Johnny being black since Michael B. Jordan was announced as being part of the cast because Johnny is white in the comics. I don't think they actually read the comics because they would have realized that The Fantastic 4 aren't superheroes, they're adventurers. The Fantastic 4 are more known for exploring alternate earths, dimensions and planets than they are fighting super villains. Expecting a wall to wall action flick from the Fantastic 4 is the first mistake people made. With that being said Fantastic 4 is good Fantastic 4 film, and a really bad superhero film.

First thing is first, this was an origin story. It wasn't about the Fantastic 4 saving the world from some interstellar threat. It was about developing the characters, and they succeeded with that. All of the characters were well developed with their motivations clearly laid on the table. Reed has always had a passion for science and wanted to visit other dimensions. Sue wants to make her adopted father Franklin happy. Ben has never been the smartest kid in the world but he's always excited to see what Reed creates even when he doesn't understand it. Johnny is a thrill seeker who has a great ability for building but finds science boring. Franklin Richards wants to entrust the future to a younger generation that won't make the same mistakes his did. That being said the film did make some mistakes.

The director, Josh Trank, isn't known for movies with huge budgets over $100 million. Instead he's known for small indie films. The most expensive being Chronicle with a budget of $12 Million. In fact, it's the only one with a budget over a million dollars. That being said, Josh Trank isn't a bad director. The problem seems to be too much meddling from Fox. The first three fourths of the movie were great. The ending seems to be forced in so that Fox could fit in the large fight scene that superhero movies have come to be known for. Josh Trank created a magnificent adventurer movie only to have a fight tacked on. It actually seemed that Dr. Doom would not appear at all and that would have been smart. He wasn't needed in the plot.

The film follows Reed as he moves through school eventually landing in the Baxter Foundation after being discovered by Franklin. There he works alongside Sue and Victor Von Doom. Eventually Johnny is caught racing after a crash and Franklin brings him into the fold where he's shown to be able to build anything as long as he has a blueprint. After the machine is built Johnny, Reed and Victor decide to take it to the other dimension on a test. Reed calls Ben because he wants him to be there and Ben reluctantly agrees. The four of them go to an alternate dimension where Victor attempts to collect a sample of a green material only to fall in. After a failed attempt to save him Reed, Ben and Johnny are pulled back from Sue who discovered their trip. The machine explodes giving the four of them their abilities.

They're held captive by the military after the initial explosion. Reed escapes and spends a year running from the government. Sue attempts to gain control of her abilities while helping to recreate the machine that would take them to the other world. Johnny gains control of his powers and is intent on joining Ben on military attack missions. When Reed is captured the government is finally able to finish the machine and send a team to the other dimension. There they find Victor and bring him back. That's where things go down hill.

First, Doom's appearance wasn't actually bad when you consider why he looked the way he did. He had not created a suit of armor with science and sorcery. He had spent a year encased in a strange energy with no civilization on a dying world with no humans. There's no reason he should have had some clean armor. Doom randomly starts killing people wanting destroy the world because humans didn't care about it telling them the Victor they know is dead.

The team is forced to fight him. Initially they try solo but realize they need each other to beat him. Afterwards the team is given sanctuary by the military in the new Franklin Foundation where they christen themselves the Fantastic 4. Here's the problem, the conclusion was forced and took maybe twenty minutes. You can tell that these twenty minutes were the rewrites and reshoots the studios wanted. They wanted that fight scene that obviously wasn't going to be in there. Doom was going back to the alternate dimension then suddenly decides to destroy the Earth. You can tell the studio was interfering at that point.

Until that point it had been a movie about the team exploring an alternate world, gaining their powers and learning to control them while searching for a way to explore more. It was a Fantastic 4 movie. It was about exploration with science fiction elements, things the Fantastic 4 are known for. Then Fox crammed that final sequence in. Honestly, it was the most straight forward film adaptation of a comic book that stayed true to the source material until that point. It may sound like I'm just spouting conspiracy theories about Fox forcing that random Doom battle in but Josh Trank even tweeted about it and quickly deleted it. Fox ruined this movie. Their problem is they won't actually let directors direct.

Fantastic 4 isn't a bad movie. If it had been left in it's original form it probably would have been an 8/10. All of the actors are great in their roles. Sue is adopted but older than Johnny and there's love there but also tension because while Sue is designing teleporters he's building race cars. Johnny doesn't feel supported by his father, simple younger sibling in the shadow dynamic. Reed and Ben need each other because Reed is pretty much clueless in all walks of life except science.

We know Sue and Reed get together so they don't bother trying force a love story in like most comic book films seem to need now. The most we get is some flirting from Reed and Victor only for her to reject them both. Reed and Victor don't really like each other but they respect and need each other. Victor does however get along with Johnny because he's more relaxed than the others. Ben always supports Reed but as he becomes more reckless with his actions he starts to become hesitant.

Sadly Fox seemed like they were out to destroy the film it's probably a 5 or 6 out of 10. Maybe even a 7. Fantastic 4 also gets a lot of criticism that it doesn't deserve. If you read the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes (seriously why do people trust these) they're all complaining there wasn't enough action with one person calling it "all foreplay and no orgasm." Have you never read a Fantastic 4 comic? Taking on galactic threats isn't exactly their thing and when it is, it's with science not fists. Another calls it "an indie film that can't play with the big dogs of Marvel." I wouldn't want every film to be like Marvel's. They spend more time on random battles that often mean nothing to the plot, force in a romance even when it makes no sense, make some cheesy jokes to show they aren't as serious as DC.

Fantastic 4 isn't a bad superhero film, but it's probably the best Fantastic 4 film. It's an indie film that wants to be a blockbuster. It's an adventure film that wants to be a superhero film. Like the X-Men and Spider-Man films before it also suffers from Disney (Marvel's parent company) not rolling out the red carpet. Keeping merchandise to a minimum which Fox doesn't have the rights for as well as keeping the characters on the sidelines in the comics. Disney trying to sabotage other studios sales' is another issue. Go see the film. You won't leave upset that you wasted your time unless you believe only Marvel can make these films or you were already in a bad move. The worst you can really say about the film is "meh."

You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet
Follow @OriginalKingD