Fantastic Four (2015)

[caracas1914]

Final gross for weekend: $26.2 M.

Didnt even secure top spot despite opening in over 3900 theatres

Ouch.

[Demented Daisy]

Just got back from seeing it.  Wasn't that bad.  I don't understand what so many people are up in arms about.

 

I would have liked to see an additional 30 minutes or so of the team learning how to use their powers, but that's about it.  I was fine with the battle at the end.  (In the interest of full disclosure, I hated the Iron Man/Hulk battle in AoU.  Took way too damn long and was completely pointless.)

 

Also in the interest of full disclosure, I'm one of those people that doesn't mind when movies deviate from the source material, especially comic book movies.  Too many stories, too many authors.  Give me a decent story, decently filmed, and I generally leave happy.

 

*shrug*  I really don't get why people are tearing their hair out, foaming at the mouth, and rending their garments over this movie.

[Captain Carrot]

I don't think there are many people who expect an FF movie to stick too close to any one story line. But they do expect the characters to be the same as they are in the source material. and from what I've read in reviews that isn't the case here.

"It's Clobbering Time" an expression that Ben Grimm got from his brother beating him up, and The Thing and Human Torch killing people for the army

isn't just deviating from the source material, it's ignoring it entirely.

 

Also I have to wonder if anyone told the suits at Fox that Ultimate Fantastic Four was canceled due to bad sales before they decided to use it for their movie.

[Demented Daisy]

Again, those things don't bother me.  I got the impression that the Thing was not a mercenary for the military.  More like he was joining the front lines to save American lives because he's not as vulnerable as they are.  *shrug*  It's a matter of perception.

[Kromm]

It depends on the KIND of plot deviation.

 

Anything that takes away from the specific set of relationships and well established personalities of the four members is nonsense (as I said, "Ultimate FF" was guilty of this too--so even the comics have made this mistake). 

 

There's really nothing to FF without those relationships. It's not about their powers, because frankly in many cases their powers are freaking boring.  You can STRETCH?  Really?  Heck, a lot of FF stories only have a panel where Reed stretches once just to reach some tool on a high shelf, just to remind us he's superpowered.  And The Thing, while visually potent, really just smashes things. Fire is also visually interesting, but really since they only use it to show flying most of the time, with the rare occasional tossed fireball, it's certainly not about that with Johnny. And invisibility?  Rarely used to its full level of cleverness--although Sue's powerset eventually became the most interesting of the group when they added her forcefields later on.

 

This is not a diss of FF. Because the point is that the powers don't much matter. What matters is Johnny pranking Ben. Ben bellowing at Johnny but never in a million years actually hurting him. Sue mothering Johnny in a careful but seemingly casual way. Reed being a bit of a distant father figure occasionally, the big ol' square, but discreetly always keeping an eye on the others.  Reed having guilt over Ben's fate. Sue being the only one Ben will listen to sometimes.  Reed often underestimating Sue, and Sue loving him but having some hidden resentment of that. Ben being grumpy, but with absolutely no true malice or darkness in his soul (in fact, the extended stories made it clear he's one of the most social people in the Marvel Universe--always having poker parties, being buddies with tons of other Marvel heroes, etc.). Johnny being a hothead, a prankster, but in some ways still an innocent. Reed bordering on arrogance with his application of Science (like a twin to Tony Stark, except not making weapons), but his family yanking him back from totally being subsumed by that (sometimes barely). 

 

All of those subtle personality and relationship cues the actual comic spent years fleshing out.  That laid out in a very basic action adventure framework (and one that keeps them in close proximity to each other too--it sounds like this movie doesn't do that) is an FF story.  The specific details can vary tons within that.

[Demented Daisy]

This is not a diss of FF. Because the point is that the powers don't much matter. What matters is Johnny pranking Ben. Ben bellowing at Johnny but never in a million years actually hurting him. Sue mothering Johnny in a careful but seemingly casual way. Reed being a bit of a distant father figure occasionally, the big ol' square, but discreetly always keeping an eye on the others.  Reed having guilt over Ben's fate. Sue being the only one Ben will listen to sometimes.  Reed often underestimating Sue, and Sue loving him but having some hidden resentment of that. Ben being grumpy, but with absolutely no true malice or darkness in his soul (in fact, the extended stories made it clear he's one of the most social people in the Marvel Universe--always having poker parties, being buddies with tons of other Marvel heroes, etc.). Johnny being a hothead, a prankster, but in some ways still an innocent. Reed bordering on arrogance with his application of Science (like a twin to Tony Stark, except not making weapons), but his family yanking him back from totally being subsumed by that (sometimes barely). 

 

All of those subtle personality and relationship cues the actual comic spent years fleshing out.  That laid out in a very basic action adventure framework (and one that keeps them in close proximity to each other too--it sounds like this movie doesn't do that) is an FF story.  The specific details can vary tons within that.

 

As you stated, the comics fleshed out those things over years.  So why should we expect them to be in a movie that only introduces the characters?  I would expect subsequent movies to explore those personality quirks and the relationships, but not the first.  I expect a basic framework for the characters in the first movie.

 

I don't understand what you mean about the bolded part.  The characters were in close proximity to each other.  After they develop their powers, Reed escapes the facility and disappears.  But he's only missing from the film for maybe 10 minutes?  They did a time jump that skipped over the training and Reed's time in hiding.

[Eegah]

I get the same feeling from this movie as the Super Mario Brothers movie: the characters are all so different from the originals that it might as well just be an original story. The difference being that we all know full well the real reason this movie was made, and Fox just looks pathetic trying to pretend there was any other reason than their pissing match with Marvel wanting their toys back.

[OakGoblinFly]

I went to see it and it wasn't as bad as some of the reviewers made it out to be.  That's not to say there weren't problems, because there were.

 

The actors were all very engaging and I enjoyed them in their roles - I feel like the director let them down.  You would see glimpses of the relationships between the characters and what this movie could have been and the BOOM - off to something else with no explanation of how they got there.

 

The pacing was off and you can definitely tell there was some behind the scenes conflict and the film suffered - the plot went from A to D, skipping over B and C - more than once I found myself going "huh, how did we get here?"

[OakGoblinFly]

There's really nothing to FF without those relationships. It's not about their powers, because frankly in many cases their powers are freaking boring.  You can STRETCH?  Really?  Heck, a lot of FF stories only have a panel where Reed stretches once just to reach some tool on a high shelf, just to remind us he's superpowered.  And The Thing, while visually potent, really just smashes things. Fire is also visually interesting, but really since they only use it to show flying most of the time, with the rare occasional tossed fireball, it's certainly not about that with Johnny. And invisibility?  Rarely used to its full level of cleverness--although Sue's powerset eventually became the most interesting of the group when they added her forcefields later on.

 

 

That's one thing that I think that this film actually did well - demonstrate the different ways each power can be used; Reed didn't just stretch, he demonstrated how he can use that ability during his fight; Johnny was shown flying as well as developing his fire balls; Thing (well you got me there, he just smashes stuff); and Sue's ability to create force fields was explored.

[caracas1914]

The FF was about family, the one thing that made them unique in the 60's when they were introduced was no friggin secret identities and being open celebrities in NYC, that at at least was something the first two movies playfully addressed.

[OakGoblinFly]

I would have liked to seen the film before it was hacked to bits in the editing room.

[Racj82]

This movies is trash. Every movie will be defended to a certain point but F this movie.

 

Yes, it had promise in the beginning that was squandered. I'm not going to pat the movie on the back for that. It still dropped the ball.

 

Fox took the movie and made a worse version of it. Studios at their best again.

 

Multiple crowd pleasing shots from the trailers gone.

 

The group dynamic sucks.

 

Almost no action to engage in.

 

Doom looks ridiculous.

 

They chose the dumbest way possible to allow them to be able to get their powers. Where is the security here?

 

People will like the movie because that happens with every movie. But, all of the reasons why people hate this movie are clearly there on screen.

 

in regards to people attacking Fox, I learned this recently -

 

Fox never owned the rights to begin with. A lot of misinformation on the internet and public perception certainly give that image that Fox owning the rights. But that has been in the hands of the German based production company Constantin Film since the 80s. They need a company like Fox to put forward the finances to keep making movies in order to not let the rights revert back to Marvel. In return Constantin Film more than happy gives Fox creative control over the movie(s). Of course this all with a good share of the loot.

Marvel wants the FF property "tainted" forcing Fox to walk away from it, leaving Constantin Film high and dry looking for a new partner who'll probably be reluctant since the franchise isn't as profitable as some of Marvels other heroes.

[Kromm]

This movies is trash. Every movie will be defended to a certain point but F this movie.

 

Yes, it had promise in the beginning that was squandered. I'm not going to pat the movie on the back for that. It still dropped the ball.

 

Fox took the movie and made a worse version of it. Studios at their best again.

 

Multiple crowd pleasing shots from the trailers gone.

 

The group dynamic sucks.

 

Almost no action to engage in.

 

Doom looks ridiculous.

 

They chose the dumbest way possible to allow them to be able to get their powers. Where is the security here?

 

People will like the movie because that happens with every movie. But, all of the reasons why people hate this movie are clearly there on screen.

 

in regards to people attacking Fox, I learned this recently -

 

Fox never owned the rights to begin with. A lot of misinformation on the internet and public perception certainly give that image that Fox owning the rights. But that has been in the hands of the German based production company Constantin Film since the 80s. They need a company like Fox to put forward the finances to keep making movies in order to not let the rights revert back to Marvel. In return Constantin Film more than happy gives Fox creative control over the movie(s). Of course this all with a good share of the loot.

Marvel wants the FF property "tainted" forcing Fox to walk away from it, leaving Constantin Film high and dry looking for a new partner who'll probably be reluctant since the franchise isn't as profitable as some of Marvels other heroes.

I'm puzzled. If you think there's some masterplan by Marvel to get the rights back, how ever would they accomplish this? They have zero ability to affect what goes into those films. What Marvel wants is irrelevant.

[OakGoblinFly]

I'm puzzled. If you think there's some masterplan by Marvel to get the rights back, how ever would they accomplish this? They have zero ability to affect what goes into those films. What Marvel wants is irrelevant.

 

 

Maybe Marvel has infiltrated Fox a la Hydra?

[Fukui San]

I haven't watched any of the FF files, but I find it puzzling that they could botch things so much.  A world famous family of celebrity as superheroes?  Is that not relevant to today?  Two of the top 5 or so Marvel Villains in Doom and Galactus?  (Magneto, Kingpin, and maaaybe Hobgoblin would be up there too)  They turn them into a doofus and a swarm of bees?  WTF? 

 

My five minute pitch for a FF movie:

 

• Cold open, an established, veteran Fantastic Four save New York from a giant mole monster. Their origin has been done. It's time to move on.
• An Entertainment Tonight type segment shows the team's image as a tight knit celebrity family with superpowers.
• When the cameras are off and they're behind closed doors, we see that the team is rife with resentments. Reed and Sue marital issues. Ben and Johnny love triangle, etc.
• Doctor Doom arrives, takes them apart physically and psychologically in search of blah blah MacGuffin. Maybe something to do with Franklin.
• They tease breaking up, come back together. Iconic shot of four hands together.
• They beat Doctor Doom. Everyone's happy. The end. 
• Post credits we see a shot of earth with Silver Surfer's surfboard lowering into the screen.

[Eegah]

I've now reached a point similar to what I had with the Last Airbender film, where I can't even hate the movie that much. The word is fully out about how much it sucks, any others won't make any money because of that and the studio knows it, so literally the only thing it can do at this point is draw more attention to the original stories as people who have never checked them out will start wondering what’s in there to get this upset about.

[Matt K]

My five minute pitch for a FF movie:

 

See now I would save Doom for a second movie or a third.  If the first has to be an origin story then I think Doom is best left out of it.  He doesn't really work so tied in.  He's at his best as the benevolent dictator who's both Reed's equal and has a grudge against him/them (which is better developed outside them all getting powers).  Although I do wonder if Doom being in every movie is a rights issue.

My feeling is that what Caracas says, part of the DNA of FF is that family dynamic and that they're not traditional super heroes.  To add to that the other things that kind of makes the FF is that at their heart they are explorers.  The main problem with the movies is for some reason it's set up like a generic superhero movie.  Compare to the current Disney/Marvel movies which take the superhero stuff and adds in another genre.

Personally I think it would have been better if the movie had them exploring the Negative Zone and let the plot unfold there.  Maybe they try and help the inhabitants against the tyranny of Blastaar or Annihilus.  But the focus should be on the wonder of exploration.  Think the Stargate Movie with Daniel marveling over this civilization and trying to communicate.  FF isn't necessarily campy or corney but it should be fun.  Hell even shooting it like a found footage movie by way of Man vs Wild or something could work.

Wrapping this up, my pitch would be the first movie would be Negative Zone with a tease of Galactus at the end.  If you need Dr Doom, I'd save it for having him in another movie helping to stop Galactus.  That way he can still be a dictator but as one of the smartest people in the world, you kind of need his help.

 

ETA: Just to add, I hope if they end up rebooting this again they just skip the origins as that is the least interesting story for the FF.  Maybe just had a few newspaper headlines as part of the opening credits to set up their story (they are public celebrities) and thus differentiate from the two origins we've gotten so far. 

Edited August 10, 2015 by Matt K

[Racj82]

I'm puzzled. If you think there's some masterplan by Marvel to get the rights back, how ever would they accomplish this? They have zero ability to affect what goes into those films. What Marvel wants is irrelevant.

if marvel gets fantastic four rights back, they wanted back while the price isn't as high is what I'm saying. Not saying there is a grand plan. That's just business. There not going to fight and pay top dollar for the rights to this. The way things are going now, they won't have to.

[Raja]

Again, those things don't bother me.  I got the impression that the Thing was not a mercenary for the military.  More like he was joining the front lines to save American lives because he's not as vulnerable as they are.  *shrug*  It's a matter of perception.

The eternal question when the real world is used as a backdrop for comic book movies..why didn't Superman stop the Nazis?

[Ariah]

Say what you will, I still think the 2005 movie didi good job on establishing the relations between the characters and the cast, though less titled, was better matched.

 

I will wait for home release to watch and judge this new movie, but let me tell you - I just don't get the new Reese. Paradoxically, the actor is the thing that bothered me most initially. Also, isn't it kind of rasist to make the character who burns black? I would have made Reese black. And older. And by older I mean looking 34, which by Hollywood standards is old enough to be someone's grandpa.

[Bruinsfan]

I agree that the Tim Story movies got the emotional core family dynamic of the characters right. I may have balked at some of the elements like making Doom a smarmy wisecracking industrialist or that godawful dance scene at Reed's bachelor party, but the interactions of the main quartet all felt true to the source material.

[benteen]

I HATED wisecracking Doom.  I've said many times that I like supehero movies to be fun and have humor but NOT from Doom.  Doom isn't meant for laughs, he's meant to be deadly serious.

 

While far from perfect, I liked the first two FF movies.  Chris Evans was fantastic as The Human Torch and if his character had been in an MCU movie, he'd be one of the most popular characters in the films.  His scene in the first movie where Ben wakes up in the hospital had everyone laughing at the show I went to.

[Dandesun]

Chris Evans was pretty right on as Johnny Storm in the first two. So much so that I was really surprised when I heard he was cast as Captain America. Now? His Steve Rogers is my absolute favorite and I cannot imagine anyone else doing that role.

 

I would like to see Michael B Johnson take on the role of Johnny but I find myself feeling very very lukewarm about this movie. It's mainly because the Fantastic Four never really spoke to me in the comics. I understand their place in history, what made them special and all of that... but I've never been all that into them. I've tried, it just isn't happening.

 

What's more... I have Doom fatigue but that's more due to the comics than anything else. (Right now, Doom is God and... anyway... whatever, I'm over him.) The thing is that Doom is one of the absolute premier villains of the Marvel Universe. How is it they can get Magneto right but they continually miss the mark on Doom? Is it because they can't seem to get Reed right? Reed vs Doom is one of the major rivalries that Marvel's got going... so you have to have two guys that can carry that. Again, they've done that well with X-Men. They had Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan initially and then they got James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender... these are actors that can carry off the gravitas as well as the underlying affection (love! They're in love! We all know it!)

 

Johnny and Ben are probably a bit easier to cast when it comes down to it because they don't carry the Doom weight. With Reed and Sue, you've got to believe that they're in love and you've got to believe that Reed is this super genius that Doom is continuously intimidated and infuriated by... and also Doom may or may not have an interest in Sue (it varies.)

 

Really, I'd almost wish they just do a story with Namor first to build up Reed and Sue (and introduce Atlantis) before bringing in Latveria and Doom. If you can't get it right from jump, perhaps build it up to get to in the next installment, you know?

[benteen]

When Evans got casted as Captain America, I was concerned because I thought the Johnny Storm-type character was the only type of performance he was capable.  Needless to say, I was glad to be proven very wrong.

 

Agreed about Doom.  Doom is a great villain that Fox has consistently failed to get right while they've hit gold with Magneto.  Granted, having Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender certainly doesn't hurt.

[Kromm]

and also Doom may or may not have an interest in Sue (it varies.)

Barely. There have been a few points where he was, but mostly he's no more soft on her than any of them. Namor is the one who's constantly after her.

[benteen]

I'd love to see Namor and Atlantis is a future movie...whenever that may be.

[nobodyyoucare]

I HATED wisecracking Doom.  I've said many times that I like supehero movies to be fun and have humor but NOT from Doom.  Doom isn't meant for laughs, he's meant to be deadly serious.

 

While far from perfect, I liked the first two FF movies.  Chris Evans was fantastic as The Human Torch and if his character had been in an MCU movie, he'd be one of the most popular characters in the films.  His scene in the first movie where Ben wakes up in the hospital had everyone laughing at the show I went to.

Doom can be humorous but it is often very subtle and usually comes in the form of a threat. 

 

[JessePinkman]

It seems like it's still unclear as to who has the rights to Namor. Namor would be a great villain to add to the Marvel fold, he's arrogant in the vein of Loki but not ya know, completely insane.

 

Can I just say that I LIKED the two previous FF movies. They weren't great but they were good, passable, it was clear that the people behind it had a love for the source material even when they got the tone wrong. And Rise of the Silver Surfer was actually an improvement on the first film, unfortunately it didn't make more money. And no one can tell me that SS didn't look fucking amazing, the CGI was great and the voice actor was fantastic (no pun intended I swear).

 

When SS melds through the Chrysler building I think we were all with Johnny when he said "Oh that is cool". Because it was cool as shit! Their whole flight/fight scene would have been the definitive piece of a better movie.

[benteen]

As I understand it, Universal, Fox and Marvel all own the rights to Namor.  If Universal were smart, they'd give the right back to Marvel and try to see if they could get a small slice of the pie with it.  They can't do anything with Namor by himself.

[nobodyyoucare]

I didn't like how they made Galactus a cloud. That was an unneeded and dumb change. 

 

Josh Trank pissed off a lot of those who read his tweets about the movie and the actors clearly didn't enjoy working on his movie. Apparently the behind the scenes antics of Trank as well as stating to the actors they didn't need to do any reading on their characters made the set toxic to work on. 

[bluvelvet]

Just saw this and I didn't think it was as bad as all the reviews were making it out to be. That being said it just wasn't a very interesting movie,  it was just okay and I thought it needed more action.   I liked the beginning with the kids, and I wish I had gotten to know Ben more before he was transformed, the little I saw of the actor made me want to see more

[magicdog]

Not that animated FF has been top of the trees either

 

To this day I think the HB version from 1967 was the best animated incarnation.  Yes, it's a bit simplistic by today's writing standards, but it's far closer to the FF from the comics in terms of tone and personality.

[MarkHB]

I didn't like how they made Galactus a cloud. That was an unneeded and dumb change.

 

Cloud villains never work, whether they're named Galactus, Parallax or V'Ger.

[Jamoche]

Then there's this version from 1963...

[CMH1981]

Jamoche, you know that's not real....although it would have been awesome.  Russell "the Professor" Johnson was made to play Reed Richards, and I have to admit Elizabeth Montgomery would have made a great Susan.

 

So i'm curious how the movie will do this weekend.  I noticed that there has been no more talk about the film since the abysmal box office showing last weekend and FOX saying they are still going to go ahead w/the sequel...for now.

[ApathyMonger]

FOX saying they are still going to go ahead w/the sequel...for now.

 

Yeah, I doubt that will actually happen. Green Lantern 2 was definitely happening too.

 

That said, given how a lot of the problems with this movie seem to come from Trank, there's a chance a sequel could actually not suck.

[JessePinkman]

But would anyone watch it? If they want to be hardheaded and not look like they're giving in to Marvel FOX should just let the rights quietly lapse.

It looks like the movie is going to drop 69%, making about 7.9 million for the weekend.

[CMH1981]

The only way his film could make money now is if they let Trank re-edit the film into his original version from all the elements for the home media release, kinda the ultra-directors cut version.

If the film actually makes 7.9 million or more this weekend I would be shocked

[magicdog]

Then there's this version from 1963...

 

That would have been awesome!  Although I don't think William Demarest would have worked out as Ben Grimm/The Thing.  I think he would have been too old for the role, plus I doubt he would have been patient about the costume/make up application.  I keep imagining a 60s version of what happened to Buddy Ebsen in his Tin Man makeup.  The other actors (not to mention the "writers" of the imaginary episodes) definitely would have been spot on!

[Actionmage]

Saw the movie yesterday afternoon.

Likes:

* Reg E. Cathey as Franklin Richards. I thought it was good to show why Johnny was so rebellious. It's basic father-son "I don't want to do something because you're pushing so hard, Dad." If there is a sequel, that might make any potential tension between Reed and Johnny make more sense.

*The organic-adjacent Dr. Doom look.  It wasn't what I was hoping for, but it made a kind of sense and since we still know nothing else about the planet, I'm betting the cloak was as close to "soft fabric" as he had available.

*I understood Victor and liked him a little. I liked that during the "grow closer" montage, Victor was actively laughing and eating and doing things with the group, not just being a sociopath with a nominal acquaintanceship/ "lab buddy"/ rival thing with Reed. They both were obviously brilliant and they appreciated that about the other.

*Johnny stayed a gearhead and that was the initial bond between  Reed and Johnny in the lab. Reed needed Johnny's mechanical skills and Johnny was appreciated for that.

*Sue was smart/ equally brilliant, just in a different way. Also, that she wasn't going to be their dancing bear. The only reason she did as asked was to save Johnny from Ben's "trade- off."

*The stretching effects, as someone already mentioned, made body sense, in that there was musculature, even though someone droning on about bone density didn't seem to pay-off to my ears.

*The dimension-hopping! If you aren't going to space, then play with dimensions because that is another thing the comic does.

*Johnny's drag race. It was a POS! *g*

Dislikes:

*Ben Grimm appearing in name only. I don't have a problem with Jamie Bell; he seems like a fine actor. I just haven't been interested in lots of his projects. From this, though, I may try to check his future projects. Still?  Benjamin J. Grimm, Aunt Petunia's Favorite Blue-Eyed Nephew, was not allowed to be Ben Grimm in any way, shape or form ( except rocky.)  Gone was any nod to any type of athleticism. Ben in this version could have been a swimmer, a soccer player or a martial artist, as examples. After the "you belong here, buddy" speech, nothing is said until Reed makes the fateful call. Because Ben would, of course, lose touch with his supposed best friend! Naturally, Dr. Storm would never in a million years find a way to keep a good team together for this mega-bucks money-pit-esque project. A team that lasted seven years! Yes, Reed was obviously the mind, but to short-shrift the practical people seems dumb. I could have bought into Franklin being that short-sighted, but then he made room for Johnny for punishment. (Yes, the only reasons for that was a) to keep an eye on Johnny and b) Franklin knew his son had the skill to work in his lab.)

Alternatively, in the intervening time, Ben could have been taking flying lessons, either to impress someone or to spend time with someone, and had that skill set. In this computerized age, I can see where that could be considered obsolete, but even Mercury astronauts were test pilots who had to learn how to work their on-board computers back in the 60s.  Or to even potentially tie it into their horrible trade-off, he had been accepted into the Air Force. That would have been another tie to being not-a-linebacker-but-athletic.

The biggest narrative problem I have is that Ben would have a kill count. Period. Full-effin'-stop. Surely, over the five decades of publication history, Ben has probably killed folks. The saving grace, for me, was that the on-screen count was less than fifty. I can even fanwank that as either accidental kills or no-other-way-to-handle-the- situation kills. He could have killed Reed, but didn't. Most would have said Ben had reason and probably should have. A cold-blooded killer/ so depressed he'll kill just because Ben? Not anything like the comics or other movies.

Ben was treated as an annoying after-thought, included because you couldn't make Victor the 4th. He wasn't even made to seem especially stupid or whatever in contrast to Reed. In fact, he seemed interested, he just didn't seem as obsessed as Reed. Then he disappears. Then he shows up again, but is the one grabbing the US flag. ( More on that in a minute.)  Then we are supposed to believe that Ben would allow these people to effectively quarantine him from the only people he knows in this situation? That his civilian family isn't looking for him? That there haven't been tabloid or investigative reporters trying to find the Jersey junkyard owner's missing son and that every authority besides the dog catcher is clammed up and won't talk?   That Ben is in any way ideal for black ops?  I know; "hee hee" he's an urban myth, like the Chupacabra or The Hulk or The Batman. ::rolls eyes::

* No "four hands" scene. I'm corny at points and admit that. I felt with the far-flung backgrounds, that it would play in this version. Them against everyone trying to make them pawns. But not even a hint.

*Reed would ditch all of the others, especially Ben, and would be too scared to attempt any kind of communication in the time-jump. Also, in trying to be hidden, he naturally uses to only nugget of info we know with certainty Sue knows about him. Because that shows a pattern. ::rme:: (oh, I did like that Reed figured out how to change his face. That was a raindrop of cool in the muddy puddle.)

*Victor killing everyone instead of the ones who arguably wronged him ( Harvey, yes, the guys, yes, Nameless Lab Tech # 9, no.)

*The "drunken" "claiming" of the other-dimensional planet for the USA. Really? When Thanksgiving and Columbus Day are still controversial? Have barely-around Ben,and not as drunk as the others on top of that be the one with the flag; yeah, no one will have a bad opinion of that moment.

*The group not realizing until the end of the movie that they had enough power to actually make demands, not give into them. A woman you can't hurt with conventional weapons unless you wear a bit of IR gear and have unlimited gases at your disposal, also on your person, Red Shirt Soldier Guy.  A man who is living flame and can destroy whatever you have been throwing at him, hence why you want to weaponize him. A man of living stone/earth, who is nigh-invulnerable to conventional weapons. (See Sue and gases.) Eventually adding in a man with malleable physicality, ability to look like anyone he chooses, and has an inventor's brain that never shuts off.  These are the quartet that you feel you can demand obedience from, unconditionally?  wev.

*Reed giving away Ben and Sue's game! Because the audience is too stoopid to understand an invisible punch from Ben? Because Doom grabbing his throat and making choking sounds would make Sue too proactive, what after side-lining Ben for the majority of the movie as is? STFU, "above the line" people on this movie.

*"We call this Central City." No, that would be DC's lawyers knocking on your door with a cease-and-desist order. (Though, if the actual line was The Central City ( as opposed to Blankville), then I can see that as hair-splitting of the most corporate ass-saving.)

*"It's clobberin' time!" was another character-specific trademark that was denied Ben, with him having "gotten it" from his brother.

*Stan Lee as Willie Lumpkin. Again! Stan is almost Teflon-esque; even this movie would not actually diminish him.

 

Despite my dislikes, I don't feel robbed of time or cash. I was planning on seeing it no matter the reviews. I'm unhappy that the story was such a downer from Reed's escape on, but now I know. Movie studios have mostly forgotten how to do light, hopeful fare outside of Pixar or Disney. Ant-Man was a bright spot. Maybe that movie's success will clear a path for the lighter toned stories that are getting overlooked.  This could have been the best family-oriented, action-packed PG-13 movie of the late summer.  Squandered potential always makes me feel frustrated.

[beetnemesis]

Just saw this today in the theaters. It was complete trash and bombed so badly. Worse yet is that the director of this hot mess REFUSES to take any blame for this movie's complete and utter failure.

[BooBear]

I just saw this on HBO. I really liked it. Disclaimers... I don't like the Fantastic Four in the comics so this was imho an improvement.  If I had one complaint it would be that the movie seemed to spend too little time showing us how they figured out their powers enough so they could fight as a team.  Also the actress that played Sue Storm was as flat as ever... but it was enjoyable.

[absnow54]

I caught this on HBO last night too, and am really curious about the movie that ended up on the cutting room floor, because this movie was just so soulless. It took them an hour to get their powers in a 90 minute movie. The dialogue was cringeworthingly clunky. The FF movies of the 00's may not have been good, but at least they were fun. What a waste of an otherwise decent cast.

[revbfc]

This was maddeningly dull.  Problem is that I like all the actors a lot so I was just feeling bad for all the talented people who worked their asses off on a project that at best bored me.

[Impish Dragon]

We watched on HBO too.  This movie had potential but there were too many wrong choices made.  I also think all the characters were miscast. 

[Perfect Xero]

On 8/24/2015 at 3:48 PM, Actionmage said:

*"We call this Central City." No, that would be DC's lawyers knocking on your door with a cease-and-desist order. (Though, if the actual line was The Central City ( as opposed to Blankville), then I can see that as hair-splitting of the most corporate ass-saving.)

Central City was actually the original home city of the Fantastic Four in the earliest comics before they switched over to being based in New York.

It was probably the one thing in the movie meant to play to hardcore FF fans.

[AimingforYoko]

Fantastic Four 2 is possible.

Prediction: No, it's not. Please give up Fox, so we can get Silver Surfer into Infinity War.

[Bruinsfan]

That news is from the writer and presumed ghost director (after Trank was shitcanned) of the first movie, so I'm crossing my fingers that it's wishful thinking or an attempt to save face with the studio. Unlike the recent DC debacle that at least profited a half billion dollars or so, this movie was raked over the coals by critics and public opinion AND put the studio high eight figures or low nine in the red. No one is going to look at that combo of results and decide a sequel needs to be greenlit.

[OakGoblinFly]

On 5/10/2016 at 8:14 PM, Impish Dragon said:

We watched on HBO too.  This movie had potential but there were too many wrong choices made.  I also think all the characters were miscast. 

I like the cast and thought they were good choices; unfortunately horrible writing, poor direction, and wonky editing really made it impossible for them to make a good movie.  I would have liked to seen what this cast could have done if the film were crafted by Kevin Feige's group.

[rmontro]

I grew up a huge Fantastic Four fan.  Back in the '60s, the FF was Marvel's best selling comic book for a time.  The biggest happenings and innovations passed through their pages.  The FF was the book that Stan Lee wrote that touched off his incredible burst of creativity, and started the Marvel revolution in comic books.  It was once known as Marvel's flagship comic and used to bear the banner "World's Greatest Comic Magazine".  Its importance in comics history cannot be overstated.

For those reasons, I can't tell you how sad it makes me to see what has happened with the movie versions of the Fantastic Four.  In fact, since Marvel has now cancelled the comic book, I can't even read their adventures any more.  The movies have killed the whole concept.

This latest version takes a lot of its inspiration from the "Ultimate Fantastic Four" books, which recast them as young, teen geniuses working for a think tank.  That was a horrible idea, because the one thing that set the Fantastic Four apart was that it was a family, and the age differences were a big part of that.  Reed was the older father figure, his friend Ben who was the same age played a kind of defacto uncle, Reed's younger wife, and her kid brother Johnny.  Making them all the same age destroys that contrast and the basic relationships.

It's painful to see this once glorious franchise languish while others are flourishing.  I have no faith in Fox at all to do the Fantastic Four justice, they've proven that.  I would like to see it go back to Marvel, I don't care how.  They may not get it right either, but its the best chance it has.