Foreword
Let me start this with establishinh my natural bias. I am more inclined to support this film as I tend to have more hope for the little guy. When I see everyone circlejerking around the MCU and blindly bashing FOX, I tend to attemp to veiw things in an opposing way to the masses. This isn't the best way to go about things, but its a natural tendency that I have. That being said, when I see almost everyone bashing this Fantastic Four film, my gut reaction is to look for the good it in it and somewhat ignore the bad, all that said, I am going to attempt to look at this film and give unbiased pros and cons.
If the Tranks Succeed then Victory Follows
Besides the fact that it was going to be a reboot, the first thing we knew about this film definitively was the director. Trank is best known, or only known to be more honest for his only film, Chronicle. Chronicle was a fine film, it wasn't perfect, but it is definitely one of the better found footage movies. I also like to think of it as a kind of spiritual sequel to Unbreakable, which I very much enjoyed. Trank has a perfect track record, but to be fair has little to no track record. Studios seem to have faith in him given he is up to direct this and a Star Wars Spin off. I guess it depends on how much faith you have in this lesser known director. I mean look at Gareth Edwards, he made a fine Godzilla film after only having Monsters. Monsters::Godzilla as Chronicle::Fantastic Four, I think thats a fair comparison. I guess it all depends on how much you trust Disney (which a lot of you do more than you should) and how much you like Chronicle.
RATING: TRANK THE TANK!
Write or Wrong?
The writing of this film has been passed around the table. First we had Michael Green, then Jeremy Slater, then Seth Graham Smith to polish, and now Kinberg to co write. Now its not uncommon for scripts to get passed around from writer to writer, but what they have written can inform us what Fox is going for. Green wrote for Green Lantern (2011), which isn't good but if Gugenheim can pull out then I'm sure this guy could to, but he is off the project so that point is moot. Slater has written nothing. Grahame-Smith has written a couple good books, but he also has writing credits on Abe Linclon: Vampire Slayer (AL:VH) and Dark Shadows, ouch. Lastly we have Kinberg, the most known out of any of these guys. Last Stand, Jumper, Sherlock Holmes,AL:VH, and Days of Future Past. He has his hits and his misses, but at least it isnt as spotty as David Goyer.
RATING: Not Goyer
Produce This!
Look, I am going to be honest here, I am not entirely sure what producers do, but I know the movies they produce have some consitency in quality, I am no going to pretend like I know what I'm talking about and I'm just going to tell you which ones are probably garbage. We have Kinberg, Matthew Vaughn and Gregory Goodman acting as producers. I've pretty much covered Kinberg, his producer credits are just as hit-and-miss-y. Vaughn on the other hand, is a great director and kind of babysits Fox productions for some reason. I haven't seen Layer Cake, but Stardust, Harry Brown, Kick-Ass, The Debt were all fine films. Tack on his directing and writing credits on First Class and DOFP and we have someone geuninely, inargueably above-par working on this film. As for Gregory Goodman, its just all bad, except First Class, its all bad.
RATING: Have any of you seen Aeonflux? It's... It's not good.
Slow Down Guys it's Not a(bout) Race
Ugh, thats all you can say in regards to the casting, is that because it's bad? Not really, but it's more due to the flaming element in the room. You hear Johnny Storm say those classic words "Flame On!" He means he is going to burst into flames and fly around, its not an invitation to start a flame war. Obviously the most controversial part of this whole movie is casting Michael B. Jordan as Human Torch. I mean MBJ is from california, how is supposed to accurately represent a character that has been protrayed as a New Yorker for over 50 years. This is all a matter of preferance and personal opinion. I think it's fair to say that personality wise, he is perfect for the role. That being said I understand some people's issues with the casting. All I am going to say on the matter is that things aren't so "black and white," and you can't assume people are racist for wanting Johnny to be white in the same way people fine with change can still be "true" FF fans. As for the rest of the casting I think most people are okay with Kate Mara as Sue Storm, but Miles Teller and Jaime Bell are two differant stories. Jaime Bell was obviously chosen for his motion capture work? Since seeing that large stand in, I am not entirely sure, but I don't see Ben Grimm realy needing to be a brute as human seeing as that is a rather small part of his story. Also Jaime Bell looks a lot more like a scientist or astronaut than Micheal Chiklis (who was perfect though). Miles Teller, Miles Teller, Miles Teller, you are an actor that's for sure. You look a little like young Reed, and thats about all I can say for you.
Rating:I couldn't get a cast like this if I broke my Arm!
An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
Toby Kebell, or as I like to call him Koba Tebyll? Kobe Bytall?. Toby Kebell is easily most remembered from this year's tribute to apes riding horses through the streets of san francisco, Planet of the Planet of the Apes. He protrayed the sinistor Koba, an evil kickass ape with a grudge. Toby isnt a specifically well known actor, but he's supposedly good. I have been very interested to see his take on Victor Von Doom, but damn. Now this Doctor Doom costume means nothing. It's pretty creepy, and reminds me of the creepy vibe from the Sentinels in DOFP. It could easily be a stand in, it could be pre rendered, it could look better in the lighting style, and in the end it's the preformance and writing that count not the costume (see Quick Silver). The proimise of Doombots keeps me holding out hope that this is isn't the Doom we will see, but I wouldn't be suprised either way given it's obviously taking cues from Ultimate Fantastic Four.
Rating: Dr Whoom?
Final Rating: I Guess we will have to just watch the movie and find out
In all Reality, does it matter if this film is garbage or not? I mean if it is then so what? Right? I think it'll be good, you think otherwise, but why are we getting so upset over either side. I think we should at least give it a shot instead of condemning it, but we should also remain skeptical.
Stay tuned for my thesis for a fantastic four universe in which Reed Richards purposefully erases himself from existance