The day was July 5th, 2005. I was with my Dad and brother, and we were about to see the Jessica Alba-starring, Fantastic Four. We walk inside the theatre, a nice theatre may I add, a bit small, but it will make due. At this time in my life, I had never seen, or heard, of anything Fantastic Four related, and when the film ended, I found it to be quite great. However, this was ten years ago, and I was only seven years old.
When Fox announced their Fantastic Four reboot, I was quite excited. I was one of those people pushing for Jon Hamm to be cast as Reed Richards, and Charlize Theron as Susan Storm. So, it was safe to say, when I heard Michael B. Jordan was cast as The Human Torch, and Alison Williams for testing for the role of Susan, I was a little surprised to say the least. However, when I found out about the final cast (including Miles Teller and Jamie Bell) I was very, very interested in the film.
Now, on this site, and the internet in general, I have noticed that essays go unnoticed, but rather, lists are put on a pedestal, so, instead of being original and unique, I’m just going to do what works, so without further ado, here are ten reasons why we should all be excited for the Josh Trank directed film, The Fantastic Four.
10. Vaughn: The Saviour
Matthew Vaughn, the genius behind X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass and Stardust. When Matthew Vaughn was announced to direct the X-Men reboot, remake, reinterpretation, prequel, re-quel? We will call it that, a re-quel. Anyway, when he was announced to direct First Class, most people were quite against it. He had not really done much, and Kick-Ass was quite underrated, and only became the cult-hit it is, years later. I have noticed that people have almost forgotten that Vaughn is actually producing this film. Yes, the man who has given us First Class, Kick-Ass and the brilliant, Days Of Future Past, is again producing a Fox-superhero film. With positive word-of-mouth surrounding his latest film, Kingsman: The Secret Service, it seems like the upcoming reboot will, again, be another hit for Vaughn.
9. The Property Is Dying, But This Film May Change That
You may be a huge Fantastic Four fan, and that is actually awesome. But, there is no denying that the property is at an all-time low. According to comic book sales, Marvel’s first family was not even in the top 100-selling comic books of last year! That sucks. So, instead of doing what, obviously does not work, and making a film similar to the comic books, that are not selling, Fox decided to take the concept, splice it up a bit and give us something new. Like Fox’s reboot of the X-Men franchise, with 2011’s First Class, it took the concept of the founding of the X-Men, and spliced it up and made it more exciting and unique for a modern audience. As the Fantastic Four property is slowly dying, I think this is the perfect opportunity for Fox to test out this interesting take on Marvel’s most famous family.
8. The Incredibles
One of the few things that people can complain about is this film’s cast. Whether it is Michael B. Jordan or Toby Kebbell, the cast is exactly what it should be: fantastic. I first saw Michael B. Jordan in Chronicle in 2012, and since then, I have seen him in the under appreciated romantic-comedy That Awkward Moment, co-starring Mr. Fantastic himself, Miles Teller, and the indie-darling, Fruitvale Station. Jordan deserved, at the very least, an Oscar nomination for his role in that film, however, he was snubbed that year alongside the likes of Tom Hanks. Despite not being in as many successful films as her co-stars, Kate Mara, who will portray Susan Storm, is one of the more exciting castings in the film. Her role in House Of Cards was a really interesting role and earned her an Emmy nomination.
Another brilliant addition to the film’s cast is BAFTA nominated actor, Jamie Bell. The Englishman who will bring Ben Grimm to the big screen has always been an actor of extraordinary talent, whether it was his early days in Billy Elliot or his recent turn in the action film, Snowpiercer alongside Chris Evans. The main baddie of the picture, Doctor Doom, played by Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Toby Kebbell is also a fantastic addition to the film, as he showed last year, he has what it takes to play a very unique and scary villain, something I have been longing from Doom in recent memory.
7. It Is Following The Source Material
I have been reading a lot about this film, and something I feel has, purposely, been unspoken of, is the fact that this film is actually following the source material. It is just not the material the “fans” you know, the ones that go out and buy the books every month, want to see. This film is obviously following the Ultimate Fantastic Four storyline, and it baffles me that people have not put two and two together. In the Ultimate series, Victor Von Doom (like the film) has a name change, the cast is younger (like the film), the four are recruited, along with Victor, by the government, and, as rumoured yesterday, Ben Grimm is the one who has a romantic relationship with Susan Storm, instead of Reed, all of which happened in the Ultimate comics.
6. Fox: " We Need You To Hope Again."
This whole film reminds me a lot of Days Of Future Past. It really does. I remember being on this site and reading all the negative comments towards the film and to see it backfire, it was quite awesome. One of the finest moments of the whole Days Of Future Past fiasco, was when Fox released the first image of Quicksilver, played by Evan Peters. Some of the comments towards the image were quite hilarious, and to see how awesome the final product turned out? It makes it even better. You cannot help but see the similarities between the first image of Quicksilver, and the first image of Doctor Doom, from this upcoming reboot.
The comments were very similar, a bunch of “Fox are shit” or “Have they learnt anything?” were very, very common. I, myself, do not listen to these comments, as time and time again, Fox prove themselves in the right, and prove silly “fans” wrong. The studio has never had a better time, seriously. Their past three X-Men films have all made well over $350 million worldwide, as well as all holding above 68% on every Marvel-defender’s favourite site, Rotten Tomatoes. With their most recent comic book movie (Kingsman: The Secret Service) being a critical success, and set to be another box office hit for the studio, one can only assume that The Fantastic Four will be more of the same.
5. The Set-Smasher
How about a bit of love for Josh Trank? The dude who single-handedly made the “handheld camera” or “found-footage” thing cool again. Think about it, we had too many terrible found-footage films, and then, boom. Chronicle comes along, and not only tells a brilliant villain story, but also enhances the possibilities of the genre. Last year, it was revealed that Trank had been given the tricky task of directing one of the many Star Wars spin-off films. Now, think about it like this: You are Disney, one of the biggest companies in the world. You have finally re-sparked the interest in the biggest franchise ever, and for one of the risky spin-offs you give it to a guy who has only made one good film? No, that is not how it works.
Disney, so obviously, has seen or at least heard great things about The Fantastic Four. There is no denying that, they would never, and I mean never, had hired Trank if any of those set rumours were legitimate, or if the film was a train-wreck. Matthew Vaughn’s recent comments about the film, have me thinking the film indeed be great and will be an incredibly leap-forward for Fox and their superhero franchises. Fox must be happy with the film, as they have issued a release date for a sequel, as well as a “untitled crossover” which many believe to be a film featuring both the X-Men and the Fantastic Four.
4. Mr. Fantastic Is Back
Originally, I was going to discuss Teller with the rest of the cast, but after seeing Whiplash once more, I decided the actor deserves his own separate paragraph. Miles Teller is one of this generation’s best actors, plain and simple. His role in The Spectacular Now was not only heartwarming, but also heartbreaking. He was in fact the best part of the recent Footloose remake, and he was one of the stand-outs in last year’s Divergent. While his comedic choices have been deemed “failures” I have found them all to be extremely enjoyable, with his recent Two Night Stand being one of my favourites of last year. While many have said he does not fit the character of Reed Richards, I disagree. This film, well at least what I am hearing from it, makes it sound like a mix between Good Will Hunting, Spider-Man and Chronicle. An interesting mix to say the least. I can totally see Teller being this young kid who wants to make a difference but is constantly looked over, perhaps for being too immature, perhaps for being too selfish.
When you look at Miles’ filmography, his characters have similar traits to that of Richards, especially Sutter Keely from The Spectacular Now. Thanks to the chock-a-block bunch of actors who will receive a nomination for their roles in film this year at the Oscars, sadly Teller will be overlooked once more. His role in Whiplash was daring and at times hard to watch, you genuinely believed Teller put himself through all that pain. I have also noticed that people call this guy a “douche-bag” I do not understand why, as from what I have seen/heard about him, he comes across as a very likeable guy. So, please, if you have not seen the guy act (or have only seen him in Divergent) please check out his roles in The Spectacular Now and Whiplash, they will change how you view this extraordinary talent.
3. “It’s Clobberin’ Time.”
One of the recent rumours that has captivated me, was the rumour regarding the story’s focus on Ben Grimm/The Thing. The Thing has always been one of my favourite characters. He’s relatable, heartbreaking and scared. In the comic books, he was deemed a “monster” by the press and the public, something we sort of saw adapted in the 2005 film. But I think, thanks to Trank and the writer, Simon Kinberg, The Thing in this film will be very, very deep. Jamie Bell will portray the character, and if Tintin was anything to go by, we can expect a pretty awesome motion-capture performance from the guy. But my focus is not on that, it is on the Susan Storm/Ben Grimm relationship. I think this is a part of the film that needs to be focused on.
In the Ultimate comics, this relationship was so different because it created a really interesting motif, or theme. The idea that, behind a scarred man, lies a humble and amazing individual. Ben hides behind these rocks, and it is very similar to Disney’s Beauty And The Beast. Susan however, is invisible, something Ben, at this point, would rather be. I think there is something so Shakespearian about that, that it really captures my attention. The Thing is a broken character, he was used for comedic effect in the old films, and rarely, had heartwarming moments (the scene in Rise Of The Silver Surfer in which Johnny and Ben are at a pub being one of them). I also really, really want to see The Thing yell, at the top of his lungs, “It’s clobberin’ time.” I do not know why, but something tells me that will be the most kick-ass moment of 2015, in fact, I bet, the moment The Thing says that, everyone in the theatre will cheer, I know I will.
2. A Villain’s Story
When I first heard that Doctor Doom was going to be the villain in this Fantastic Four film, I was a little disappointed. I mean, where is the love for Namor or Annihilus, two great Fantastic Four villains. But, eventually, after I heard of the casting of Toby Kebbell, I became victim, and said alright, alright, alright. Something that interests me about this film is that it seems like Doom will be as important to this film as is say, Reed or Johnny. The film’s synopsis says, in it’s final lines, “… [The team] must work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.” Now, from this, we can assume that Doom is that “former friend.” This is something that I find interesting, if Chronicle was anything to go by, Trank has a brilliant act for telling the villain’s side. Trank also is able to tell a convincing villain story, that actually makes the audience feel and care about the villain, as much, or even more so, than the heroes. This is something the original Fantastic Four films were defiantly missing. Kebbell has proved that he can portray a villain who is understandable, which interestingly was an ape in last year’s Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes. So, playing a human, one would assume, would be a little bit easier, considering he is one.
1. It Is The F*cking Fantastic Four
My last point is quite colloquial, the absolute reason why you, and your friends, and your Mother and your Father, and your Grandmother and so on, should be excited for this film is because it is “The f*cking Fantastic Four.” They are so damn cool, they are a family who fight crime, and this film will just own that. I mean think about it, you have a guy who stretches who is also one of the smartest dudes ever, you have a walking rock, a girl who goes invisible and has a number of other abilities, and you have the smart-ass, fire-ball known as Johnny Storm. I mean, I understand that on this site we often joke around and say certain films will be terrible so Marvel can get the rights back, but for once, why not just be happy.
Why not go to the theatres, bring your friends, and your Grandmother, buy the over-priced 3D glasses, slap ‘em on and watch the damn movie? I am not a Sony-fan, or a Marvel-fan, or a Fox-fan, I am a comic book movie-fan. I watch them all, not because I want to, but because I owe to these characters for helping me. And if you think, for one damn second, that you will “boycott” this film because you love the characters? Then, frankly, you are as much a Fantastic Four fan as their a Chelsea fan, glory-hunters. So, in short, go out, watch the film, embrace it. Because before you know it, you will be old, and boring, and you will not like these films anymore, and that is the sad-truth. Instead of ending on a depressing note, I will throw in a quote from my favourite Fantastic Four comic book, enjoy:
“Memories are only good when they're shared with people. People who understand what makes those memories special.” - Ben Grimm.