FANTASTIC FOUR MOVIE REVIEW

In 2005 a movie came out called Batman Begins.  It was a very good film, but by the title and trailers it was easy to see that this was not going to be another typical Batman movie.  It was obviously going to be an in-depth film about the origin of Batman.  The first problem with Fantastic Four is that it is predominately that same type of film although it was marketed as being a straight comic book movie.  This movie is about how the Fantastic Four became the Fantastic Four.  If you are expecting to see the typical super heroes fighting the bad guys film, you’re not going to get very much of that at all. 

 

                Like I said before, this is an origin story, almost exclusively.  This is about the genius Reed Richards and how he develops the teleportation machine that leads to the members of the Fantastic Four acquiring their powers.  Reed along with Sue and Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm, and Victor Von Doom build the machine that transports them into another dimension.  When they come back however, there are complications. 

                This movie actually had some potential.  Aside from an incredibly stupid opening sequence, the first act is not that bad.  The characters are actually established well and I was getting a little bit invested in the outcome.  It’s not until the second act that things start to go awry.  And when it starts to come apart, it really comes apart fast. 

 

                One thing this film had going for it from the very beginning was a very good cast.  Miles Teller (Whiplash) and Kate Mara (127 Hours) had good performances in the film despite serious problems.  Michael B. Jordan (Chronicle) has been very good in the past but, with the hideous dialogue he was given in this film, he never had a chance.  The director of this film is Josh Trank (Chronicle).  He has done good work before but it is hard to say how much of this mess is his fault.  He sent out a Tweet recently basically washing his hands of the film.  That is never a good sign.  In Trank’s defense, it appears to me to be a classic case of studio meddling.  I believe the studio had one idea for the film and Trank had another.  What we ended up getting was a jumbled combination of both. 

                One thing you don’t expect to have in a big budget film today is bad effects.  However, that is exactly what this movie gave us.  The CGI effects look like something out of Son of the Mask.  Doctor Doom’s appearance would be laughable if it wasn’t appalling.   He looks plastic.  Even the green screen effects, which is pretty old technology, looks absolutely horrible.  All of the scenes that are done in the alternate dimension just take you completely out of the film because the green screen is so obvious.  There is absolutely no excuse for this in a film that had this much money behind it in 2015.  It is nothing but laziness out of the filmmakers and an obvious lack of concern for their paying customers. 

 

                To say that this movie fell apart in the third act is an understatement.  This could honestly be the worst third act I have ever seen in a movie.  It’s fast, cheap, and makes no attempt at accomplishing anything substantial.  The final fight scene is a joke.  The distinct lack of effort was very apparent here. 

                As bad as this film is, and it is VERY bad, these filmmakers actually had the audacity to set up a sequel and, dare I say, a franchise.  They actually think we want to see more of this.  Hopefully this movie will perform poorly enough to keep that from happening.  What I’m saying is, this movie is truly terrible and does not deserve your money nor one more word from me.  The Movie Man gives it 1 out of 5 stars.               

Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like.  https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel