Fantastic 4

Oh me oh my. I really wanted this to be good. I went in willing to forgive a lot and just go with what they wanted to do. Then for most of the first half I was willing to accept the backstory leading up to how the team got their powers. Miles Teller played a convincing Reed Richards, Kate Mara did admirable as Sue Storm, Michael B. Jordan did well as Johnny Storm, and Jamie Bell did what he could with Ben Grimm. Then there’s Toby Kebbell as Victor Von Doom who is just okay. Acting wise, I have nothing really I can hold against these actors with the material that was provided to them. As for the actual story, it felt way too rushed. As mentioned, the lead up to how they formed the team was enough; but once they get their powers it just falls so hard that I couldn’t forgive anything they attempted. I want to say that the biggest enemy working against them was time. The first hour was the buildup and the last 30 minutes or so was gaining their powers, “learning” about them, and the fight. If this was extended by another 40 minutes or so to flesh out details it would have been decent. By the end of it I ripped into most details, including the one’s I was willing to forgive. One of the biggest one’s for me was their lack of control over their powers and their reliance on the suits. Instead of Johnny saying “Flame on!” and snapping his fingers or whichever to go on, they had him have a switch or something on his suit that did it for him. This made it so that without the suit on he would always be on fire and he could never live without it on. Maybe they would have figured a way around this in the sequel but I doubt there will be one at this point. Then there’s Doom; the man that was supposed to be one of the most formidable villains in the Marvel world reduced to nothing. His powers were devastating yes, but his costume, his purpose, his overall demeanor was just not Doctor Doom. Then the darkness of the movie, the lack of humor, the supposed conflict between Josh Trank and the studio are all other problems.  I could go on a further extended review, but I’ll leave it at the mercy of Marvel to buy out the rights so that their first family will be back where they belong.