Not only that, Trank and company don’t use the extra time to deepen the character’s relationships or find interesting ways to explore the Fantastic Four in a “realistic setting,” as the presumed intention is. Two thirds of the film’s runtime is devoted to an origin story that the most novice comic book fan will be aware of.

In theory, there’s nothing wrong with this approach, but in practice it is dreadfully dull. This plot is a variation on the basic origin story of the Fantastic Four, darkening the tone, upping the sci-fi factor, and lowering the ages of the characters to presumably appeal to the Young Adult demographic. When they return, the government wants to use them as weapons, but they only want to reverse the changes and return to their normal lives. However, while there, things go wrong when Victor is apparently killed and Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben (whom Reed inexplicably brought along for the ride) are gifted with bizarre superpowers. Working alongside Victor, Sue, and Johnny, Reed completes the machine and uses it to explore another dimension that exists parallel to Earth. Jordan), as well as the brilliant young scientist Victor von Doom (Toby Kebbell). There he meets Professor Storm’s two children, Sue (Kate Mara) and Johnny (Michael B. Cathey) of the Baxter Institute, a government-run organization that develops young science prodigies, to go to work on a larger one. After creating a rudimentary teleportation device in his garage with his best friend, Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell), Reed is recruited by Professor Franklin Storm (Reg E. In Trank’s film, Reed isn’t a world famous scientist with white-streaked hair, but instead an eager young man with a knack for science.

It’s a cinematic half-birth devoid of fun or personality, despite the young talent involved.īased on the iconic Marvel comic book, Fantastic Four tells the story of Reed Richards (Miles Teller) and his unconventional family of superheroes.

All that matters is that Fantastic Four is dead-on-arrival. Whether this is the result of behind-the-scenes chaos generated by clashes between director Josh Trank and Twentieth Century Fox or whether the film was a misguided take on a beloved comic book property from the beginning, I don’t really care.

Fantastic four 3 2015