Cast: Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey, and Tim Blake Nelson
Director: Josh Trank
One of the oldest Marvel franchise 'Fantastic Four' has been a fan-favourite for decades. Playing with the storyline of a much loved series was in itself a big challenge that director Josh Trank took. Thus, the reboot of 'Fantastic Four' became younger, more contemporary and yes, naive and foolish. 'Fantastic Four' stars Miles Teller as Richard Reed, Michael B.Jordan as Johnny Storm, Kate Mara as Sue Storm, Jamie Bell as Ben (The Thing) and Toby Kebbell as Victor Von Doom.
The film starts well with establishing Richard Reed as a nerdy, going to make it big scientist, and his friendship with Ben. After 15 minutes in the film you see Reed already working on his ambitious projectof 'Quantam Gate' with Baxter Foundation, a government-sponsored research institute for young prodigies. Then, you are made to believe that Sue and Victor share some previous bond, which is never revealed throughout the movie, making the dynamics between them confusing. The pace of the story is fast, perhaps the producers judged their audience to be the 'young and restless', but that 'restless audience' need a narrative too, to survive through the film, which is lacking.
The conflict between Josh Trank and Fox studios affected the film in bad light. In various media reports, Josh revealed that he planned a very different story line and climax sequence but settled for a different one in the film. Well, we hope what he says is right, because the actual climax of the film is boring, with no real action or established Marvel anxiety. The storyline too, lacks the flavour and humour of a super hero movie, making it bland in every aspect.
Sue Storm here is an adopted white child by a black family, a storyline where emotion would've played good part but well, the makers
seem to have no time for it. Michel Jorden as Johnny storm is average, but it would've been better if audience would have been given a little more about his equation with his dad and his adopted sister. The entire cast is young and you can see it in the ambitions they have, they know they are genius. To be make it contemporary the screenplay adapts everyday activities into the narrative. Richard sends selfie to Ben, and Johnny shares his first steps in the other dimension on Instagram. See what they did there?
The earlier adaptations of 'Fantastic Four' had a mature, older lot, who were intelligent, the storyline was different and the actors were above average. The new younger version lacks the Marvel spark. In order to finish story in a set time frame, the makers have rushed through it, making it incomplete and too fast to register. Reed's life after the incident is not shown properly, Ben's life after the incident is filled with action that never reaches the screen. Surprisingly the character Ben, who undergoes the most remarkable and life changing transformation remains the most under rated character throughout the film, kept alive only through the eyes of Reed.
Well, the makers are planning a sequel to this film. Let's hope the questions that were left unanswered in this one, will get the desired conclusion in the sequel. Cutting the long story short, 'Fantastic Four' is a film with rushed storyline, skipped narratives and naive treatment with no 'Marvel-ous' features. Give it a skip if you can.
Rating: 1.5/5
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