When it comes to movies based on comic book superheroes, Fantastic Four Movie Review is at the top of the heap. It’s colorful, slick, commercial and fun. It also features a terrific young cast and director who are eager to impress. Unfortunately they’re working with a script that never rises above mediocre. The special effects are adequate, but far from spectacular.
The Story
The story centers around the young version of the superhero team. High school science prodigy Reed Richards (Miles Teller) and his rough-around-the-edges buddy Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell) enter their local science fair and impress Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey), a professor at the Baxter Institute in Manhattan. He invites them to come work on a teleportation device, which they do, becoming part of a larger research project with patterns-expert Sue Storm (Kate Mara) and gearhead Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan). Things go wrong during the transfer process and they are dramatically transformed. Afterwards they try to revert back to normal but their bodies can’t handle it. They then discover that the device has opened a portal into another dimension and they are dragged into it, where they meet other strange creatures like The Human Torch (Jonathan Pryce) and Dr. Doom (Toby Kebbell).
The Plot
Fantastic Four is at its best when it focuses on the relationship between the team members. They’re all misfits who rely on each other for support and survival, which gives them something to bond over. They also have to learn how to use their powers together and to respect each other’s differences. Unfortunately, the look movie film tries to balance all of these themes with action sequences that aren’t all that exciting or interesting.
Review
There’s a jingoistic vibe to the movie that seems to stem from the sixties nostalgia that is so prevalent in Hollywood these days. It’s obvious in the way that they use the four main characters’ names and their backgrounds to imply a sense of American identity, with Reed and Ben being the “good” guys while Victor, the bad guy, is a generic foreigner. The same can be seen with the way they use Johnny’s sexist slurs and his desire to plant an American flag in his house, as well as a more subtle theme of the cult of personality that is so popular in the current political climate.
The movie does feature some positive messages about family, calling, self-sacrifice and teamwork. Families can talk about the popularity of these types of movies and why some stand out more than others. They can also discuss the kind of violence shown, including The Human Torch’s devil-may-care approach to fighting and The Thing’s PTSD from childhood domestic abuse.
Conclusion
While this Fantastic Four may not be the best superhero film ever made, it’s certainly a lot better than Roger Corman’s straight-to-video version from 1994. The new film does provide plenty of eye candy and doesn’t have a problem raising a few eyebrows, but it can leave viewers wanting more, particularly in terms of character development and a more engaging story.
