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Fantastic Four(2015)  poster

CAST
JAMIE BELL
MICHAEL B. JORDAN
KATE MARA
MILES TELLER
REG E. CATHEY
CHET HANKS
EVAN HANNEMANN
OWEN JUDGE
TOBY KEBBELL
TIM BLAKE NELSON

BASED ON CHARACTERS CREATED BY
JACK KIRBY
STAN LEE

SCREENPLAY BY
SIMON KINBERG
JEREMY SLATER
JOSH TRANK

PRODUCED BY
GREGORY GOODMAN
SIMON KINBERG
ROBERT KULZER
HUTCH PARKER
MATTHEW VAUGHN

DIRECTED BY
JOSH TRANK

GENRE
ACTION
ADVENTURE
SCIENCE FICTION

RATED
AUS:M
UK:12A
USA:PG-13

RUNNING TIME
100 MIN

FANTASTIC FOUR (2015)

Although starring an exciting assemblage of young talent and directed by a burgeoning and skilled filmmaker in Josh Trank, Fantastic Four fails to live up to the high bar set by other superhero movies, with whatever potential it had undone by clumsy storytelling.

For an example on how far the superhero movie has evolved, one only has to look at the many attempts at adapting "The Fantastic Four" comic book to the screen. From its sincere yet embarrassing 1994 Roger Corman adaptation (never officially released) to the 2005 and 2007 (respectively) Tim Story directed releases, visual effects and other filmmaking techniques have improved in leaps and bounds.

Yet vital to the success of any comic book adaptation is how those whiz-bang visuals combine with story and character, and in that regard the secret in how to adapt one of Marvel Comic’s first and most beloved comic books continues to be a tough one to crack.

This latest Fantastic Four adaptation stars the super talented Miles Teller as Reed Richards, a science prodigy whose ground breaking experiments draws the interest of Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey), who recruits Richards to help build an inter-dimensional teleportation vessel with the purpose of fostering resources from a mysterious planet.

Along with Dr. Storm’s equally brilliant children Sue (Kate Mara) and Johnny (Michael B. Jordan), the extremely intelligent yet troubled Viktor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell), and Reed’s best friend Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell), the group achieve their goal of inter-dimensional travel yet with a price when their mission turns to tragedy, leaving all of them altered both physically and psychologically into advanced super beings.  

So follows the very familiar superhero formula where characters with newly gifted superpowers must figure out what to do with their powers, for “with great power…” yadda yadda.

Fantastic Four begins rather brilliantly, with this newly structured origin story scripted by Trank (Chronicle), Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past) and Jeremy Slater (The Lazurus Effect) investing a healthy amount of time to understand who these characters are as people long before they are reintroduced as superheroes.

However somewhere along the way Trank loses his handle on how to frame and guide their journey. While he successfully establishes a down to Earth tone (or as down to Earth as it can get in a superhero movie), he fails to provide the adequate stakes needed to care about these characters, their dilemma, and what potential threat or salvation their powers can bring to the planet.

Throughout it is never felt that these characters and their story are a part of any kind of living, breathing world. So insular the settings that the majority of the film takes place in (whether it be a laboratory or underground bunker), that any relationship with any person or thing outside of these restricted confines is non-existent. Which asks the question: how can we expect to care whether any of these characters will save or destroy their world, when it doesn't even feel like they are a part of their world?

The films strength is in its casting. Miles Teller provides the right amount of charming awkwardness and introverted emotional complexity. Great too is Michael B. Jordan, who brings attitude and spunk yet never comes across as annoying.

Kate Mara and Jamie Bell are fine if not a little subdued in their roles, as is Toby Kebell although he is much more memorable prior to becoming a superhuman tin can, proving once again that while the villainous character of Dr. Doom may be comic book royalty, on screen he is a joke.

Rumours and reports had been rife about the displeasure 20th Century Fox had about Josh Trank’s adaptation of this treasured comic book property, and it does feel like the Fantastic Four is a film that has been caught in a tug of war between the vision of its filmmaker and the vision of its studio.

It is a shame. With this era of high calibre movie adaptation of comic book properties, one would hope that a gifted director such as Trank could have delivered the film to finally solve that unanswerable riddle: How can one make a good movie out of one of the first and most adored comic book properties? Sadly for Trank and the legion of Fantastic Four fans this reboot has not figured that riddle out.

 

**

 

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