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There isn’t much to be said about this misguided reboot that
hasn’t already been said. It really is as bad as everyone has been saying. Fantastic Four fulfils every pessimistic
concern that was debated prior to its release and then some, wasting an
extremely talented cast on a script that is almost like two films that have
been shoved together – neither being anything good or worthwhile – with a
diabolical structure, poor pacing and flat dialogue. Worst of all, all the
inherent goofiness and brightness of the original comics has been surgically removed,
leaving behind a flat, humourless and dull shell of what a Fantastic Four film
should be.
All of the much advertised production chaos of the film
really shows, particularly in Josh Trank’s script which has been left a muddled
mess with questionable writing decisions and dialogue from the beginning. An
hour is spent on endless exposition as Reed Richards (Miles Teller) is
recruited from his high school science fair to crack the code to inter-dimensional
travel, assisted by the rest of the team – Sue (Kate Mara), Johnny (Michael B.
Jordan) and future villain, Victor (Toby Kebbell). Despite this lengthy period,
these characters are neither developed as individuals or as a team, despite the
noble efforts from the cast. Strenuous connections are briefly hinted at, while
flashbacks attempt to develop Reed and Ben (Jamie Bell), but these moments are
either never elaborated on or have no real relevance to the overall film. This
first act isn’t particularly awful though, it's what comes next.
When the group’s transformation finally occurs after a
freak accident at the other dimension – nothing really happens except all
structure going out the window. The gang remain locked in a facility where
their new-found powers are not explored for more than about a minute per hero,
until suddenly Victor is tacked on to play the villain and set up a final big
CGI battle that is anti-climactic, rushed and poorly thought out with some very
ropey visuals. Even the actors seem done with this film by the end of it,
making the big ‘team-up’ feel irritatingly contrived and shoehorned in since
the film hasn’t previously done any character work to justify it. The other
action amounts to about half a scene (which is actually fairly strong though
woefully short) as a result of studio meddling apparently having everything
else cut despite advertising heavily featuring one of these cut set-pieces.
As a result, this muddled and poorly executed reboot fails
at even being an enjoyable trainwreck. It is instead soul-sucking and dull, not
even providing great visuals in favour of ‘grittiness’, a laughable angle to
approach this franchise with. Ultimately this foundation of grittiness that was
pitched from the beginning is what doomed this film from the start, with what
director Trank and Fox did after only making it worse. Fantastic Four could have at least been serviceable with the talent
it has on board but at the end of the day, any glimmers of potential are
neutered by the hot mess surrounding them.
★½
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