I'll be away for the week so I figured I'd get this week’s revisit out early. I'm not gonna lie, it took a bit of effort for me to sit down and stick this bastard in the player! But I had beer and the company of someone who actually liked the film(apparently there are 3 of them) so I could listen to another opinion on certain scenes.
Anyway, what’s the verdict, did I change my outlook? Well, actually...no! I still think it’s a useless movie. The thing is I was probably always going to. This film is bad (bad acting, bad script, etc.). Even if all of those things were of a higher quality, I'm not sure how much I would actually enjoy any film based on these characters. I just don't like The FF. That said, they certainly deserve better than this, and one character I do like (the villain, DR Doom) gets the worst treatment of all.
The film sticks true to the origins of Marvel's first family for the most part. It’s still a space adventure gone wrong that changes them. But along for the ride is Victor Von Doom, who gains his powers and eeeeevil disposition in the same way as the four. Of course, they decide to use their new found abilities for good, and old Victor does not. What follows is your basic coming to terms with new powers and responsibilities tale with a love triangle between Doom, Reed, and Sue thrown in, and a big final showdown. Both the biggest flaw and the biggest highlight of this is the casting. On the plus side Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis are pretty good as The Human Torch and The Thing, even though The Thing looks a bit silly in his lipless rubber suit. They do their best with what they have to work with and definitely stay true to the source characters. Then we have Jessica Alba and Joha..Jya..Rhy(sorry I should really look that up!)...the Griffiths dude. Totally miscast as the "smart" scientist couple. He's meh, with the script doing him no favors; she's just plain bad no matter how you look at it, delivering her lines with all the conviction of a wardrobe. But then, oh then we have the worst casualty of all of this. Dr Doom, one of the greatest comic book villains of all time is played by a [frick]ing abysmal Julian McMahon. He tries to play him smarmy, slimy, and scheming (a mistake in the first place). Instead comes across whiny, wimpy, and annoying. With an occasional slip into an English accent, so we know he's reeeeally bad now! Arse. The aforementioned script is also eye-rollingly bad, with no one ever saying anything worth listening to for the entirety of the film aside from a bit of humor that occasionally hits the mark between Evans and Chiklis. The action scenes are handled well enough, with half decent special effects (although Mr. Fantastic's stretchy scenes don't hold up well at all). I actually like the bridge scene when they reveal their powers and save people, becoming a team for the first time. Sure it’s cheesy and kiddie, but no FF movie was ever going to be dark. That’s not the problem with this one. Though, they could have toned it down a tad.
This film spawned a slightly better sequel featuring The Silver Surfer. There is a reboot on the way, titled(for now)
Fantastic Four Reborn. As I said before, I'm not a fan of the characters so I'm not sure I really care, but for those that are big fans, I really hope they take it just a bit more seriously and spend a bit more time on the casting couch. As I watched this, stopping occasionally to throw something at the tv, I was accused by my less grouchy companion of taking it too seriously , and that I should lighten up--it’s a kids movie after all. In one way that’s a fair point. The film could well be enjoyed by some kids, on the other hand, BALLS! My niece and nephew hate it too. There are plenty of GOOD kids’ movies. I may rethink my plans to watch
Punisher :Warzone next week, I may break the damn TV.