Fantastic Four

I’m really bummed that the Fantastic Four reboot flopped. They nailed the origin story and the cast was spot on, but the film’s inconsistency, especially towards the end, really dragged it down. Up until the final battle, I was pretty happy with how the story was unfolding. It even had a surprisingly dark tone at times, and I appreciated the attempt to take a different approach than previous films. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite come together. The final showdown with Doom was just a mess of digital chaos, and it hit me then how much potential had been wasted. That said, I don’t think Fantastic Four is a total disaster. I wasn’t bored and left the theater relatively satisfied, but watching it again at home made some of the flaws more glaring and harder to ignore. Plus, why is the movie barely over an hour and a half? We’ll probably never know what the film could’ve been without the creative conflicts between Fox and Josh Trank, but I believe it could have been a solid foundation for future installments. Some elements were really well done, but as a whole, it just didn’t work and that overshadows the good parts. If this had been a pilot episode for a TV series, it wouldn’t have been so bad. But as a big-budget blockbuster with a $120 million price tag, it just can’t hold up, especially with some effects looking more like TV quality. It’s a shame the potential was squandered. (05/05/2018)

Wait, wait, wait… I must be about to write a review of a different movie because there's one thing here that doesn’t add up. This film has 43%? I’m definitely going against the crowd here, but the new Fantastic Four certainly doesn’t deserve such harsh criticism. To start, it’s important to note that this isn’t the typical formulaic superhero movie—it starts at a much slower pace, and action scenes are few and far between, but that doesn’t automatically mean the film is bad. Quite the opposite. The first half does a great job of fleshing out the individual characters and clearly shows us, the viewers, how each team member got their unique abilities. The cast seemed quite young to me; I’d probably change a few roles (especially Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm—he didn’t quite fit… Chris Evans was far more entertaining). Miles Teller as Mr. Fantastic was fun, and he handled his role well. The best character was the villain Doom, who didn’t say much, but his actions spoke volumes about him. It’s just a shame he didn’t get more screen time. The final action sequence was short but essentially to the point. Beltrami’s music complemented everything perfectly. The biggest downside of the film is probably the need for a more experienced main cast and more action. I also didn’t like the overly serious tone of the film, which sometimes undermined it (it could’ve used more fun moments). But I liked the well-told story that didn’t rush the audience, the dialogues, the music, and the villain Doom. Overall, it’s a solid three-star film, and I give it 67% (23/07/2017)

In this case, I really don't understand why they decided to start something anew here. Just so Johnny Storm can be black and the whole comic book family can be more politically correct? This is just a crazy mess, and besides, the whole film is a ridiculous construct, as if the creators were returning to the basics of comics but failed to realize it would just come off as awkward. (30/10/2015)

An old-fashioned, very good film that took a different path than the current comic book wave, which hasn't been used in a few years, and unfortunately it backfired. Most viewers probably wanted to see something else, but I enjoyed Fantastic Four without shame. In my opinion, there's actually nothing wrong with it - the viewer cares about the likeable characters, the science-boy atmosphere gradually transitions smoothly into a big adventure, the special effects are great, and the terrific music by Marc Beltrami and Philip Glass is one of the best to come out of the comic book soundtrack genre in years. It's a shame that we probably won't see any sequel(s). (24/12/2015)

I must say I was quite surprised by the pretty negative reviews this movie has been getting here. I didn’t think The Fantastic Four was any worse than the last Avengers movie. The fact that the plot is as silly as a pair of trousers with holes in them does not surprise me at all. That is essentially true about every other Marvel movie (or DC Comics, they’re pretty much the same) that is being made these days. But I do have to say that I liked the way they depicted other dimensions and planets. You can clearly see that some grumpy digital effects specialist really had a great time playing with those in this film. I didn’t have any problem with the actors, either. For instance, I’ve really enjoyed Miles Teller’s performances lately. I don’t need to point out that this movie is useless. In my opinion, any contemporary comic book movie is useless – they keep recycling the same things over and over again. A three-star review is adequate. What I got was superheroes, a beautiful and colorful digital world and an average villain who has his better moments. So, I got pretty much everything these movies are able to offer. You see, these movies hardly ever manage to deliver more than that. (27/10/2016)