I will admit I haven't seen the new Fantastic Four Reboot, or as I call it FanFOURstic. Really that's how its look with the number four in the middle. But I had no reason to see this movie because i was turned off by it from the start. All the fear I had about this movie was right in place, and never did I have a doubt this was a bigger giant disaster than Colossus. You don't even have to see the movie to know its bad. Few film goers are saying its ok as far as summer films go, however that dose not say much. Some say third time is the charm for everything because some events happen in threes. The Fantastic Four reboot starting Miles Teller and Michael B Jordan was an over seas flop loosing the box office throne to Mission Impossible, and coming in the short with just 26.2 million. It was one of the lowest openings ever for a super hero film. Hell that is also the lowest opening for such a film ever in history and for all good reasons. And this isn't the first time The Fantastic Four has had a big screen outing and has failed. Which begs the question what is it about Fantastic Four, The Hulk, and The Punisher that don't translate to cinema.
All franchises I just mentioned has two or three outings for the big screen. Not all comic book characters are meant for the big screen, however sometimes its just the choice of directors and casting and above all the studios. The problem we are facing today with most super hero movies is that the studios are getting way too much control. This was the problem with 2006's Spiderman 3 when Sam Rami was forced by the studios to have Venom be in the story arc when he just wanted to focus on Harry Osborne and The Sandman. You can tell from the minuet The Amazing Spiderman 2 started that it was bunch of different ideas thrown around by Sonny who just could not make up their bloody minds even down to Emma Stones (Gwen Stacy) hairstyle. But what is about Fantastic Four that doesn't work, and can it work as a movie. Punisher is a hard character to relate to not to mention translate into cinema due to the fact he just goes in and shoots people which is not politely correct.
Fantastic Four has a double entrée of science fiction, and super hero action which can prove to be challenging. I think that's why Green Lantern is difficult to translate into a movie f.or that reason alone. In 1978 when Superman: The Movie was the first big blockbuster super hero picture it was at the time just that. The only super hero movie that was fresh in public memory's were Saturday serials, b movies, and The 1968 Adam West Batman movie. It wasn't like today when a super hero picture would come out and many would follow. Like after The Dark Knight Rises, Man of Steel followed a year later. Every comic strip character imaginable was suggested to The Salkind producers and director Richard Donner, and all were turned down and for good reason. Back in those days the timing just wasn't right. Richard Donner took the budget out of control for the ground breaking effects in Superman: The Movie which caused him to be fired and budget cut back for further sequels. It would take another twelve years for the next DC cash cow to spread his wings on the big screen, and some said it wasn't all that perfect. Flawed in many ways Batman 1989 was not as perfect as the first Superman Movie. Flash forward another twelve years later and whole other Super hero cash cow hits the big screen or crawls. Spiderman was a blockbuster successes, however few successful super hero flicks apart from X2 followed.
Rodger Corman who is know to specialize in B movies, and has been a mentor to directors like Steven Spielberg took a stab at turning the first family of superheroes into a motion picture. Marvel did everything in its power to not have this movie released at it worked. The live action Fantastic Four became a myth among super hero fans much like The Star Wars Christmas special, and lost Superman IV footage. But if Hollywood could have just looked at this and learned history would not have to keep repeating itself. Ever since 1961 when Fantastic Four was brought to pencil by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko it always been one of most beloved titles of all time. But with their own number 4 not being their charm when it comes to lights and camera its often hard to believe Fantastic Four was a game changing comic. An important mile stone it will always be but not with the cameras rolling.
Here we go into the age of disappointing super hero movies ranging from Daredevil, Hulk, LXG, Cat Woman, and finally 2005's Fantastic Four. A year after Pixar's The Incredibles another super hero family burst onto the scene. Fantastic Four was a bit un called for in 2005 given we already had Batman Begins. Jessica Alba as beautiful as she is was a horrible choice for Sue Storm because her character doesn't need to be super sexy. The Thing was suppose to look a lot bigger, and the make up wasn't bad, however extra CGI could have made him look better. The 2005 Fantastic Four suffered from cheesy special effects, horrible script writing, and bad casting. Fantastic Four in 2005 was a big disappointment. A sequel was made following up on 2005s F4, however it didn't rewrite the right and wrongs of the first. Hell it was just wrong all together, and didn't bother to write anything.
Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver surfer came was the nail in the coffin for barber shop director Tim Story's super hero franchise. The major disappointments were Colossus being a giant gas cloud, and Silver Surfer just being a dick. But how do you make 2005's Fantastic Four look good. Its simple you reboot the franchise with cheesier special effects and more terrible casting choices.
I mean what can I say about the reboot that hasn't been said. Reid Richards is a young twenty something along with his bride to be. Johnny Storm is adopted, and The Thing looks even worse in CGI. They also got rid of their classic blue costumes, and from what I heard they didn't go by name Fantastic Four. Four just isn't a charm for Fantastic Four, and I think it was because of Fox being involved instead of Marvel leading to these ridiculous decisions. So what is the future given that the comic series has been cancelled due to this movie being made. Marvel should have done what they did in 1994 with the Rodger Corman b flick, and have it not be released in theaters. I just don't think Marvel has that much power over Fox.
The problems that were displayed on the FanFOURstic set are going to talked about for years to come. Josh Trank was a huge ego trip, coming in late, hiding in tents, being stoned day after day. Trank also treated his cast poorly and I can only imagine this being like a high school dram production. There was also almost communication on set, the actor probably new nothing about their characters and the world they lived in. There were reshoots prior to the films release. Not to beat a dead horse here but I do agree with Trank that the studio is the blame. More to the point when a director behaves badly toward his studio and his crew things are not going to turn out well.
The film didn't fulfill director Josh Tanks vision, again given much pressure by studios. Lots of props and set pieces were removed during filming just to save money.
The film is getting panned by movie critics and even Josh Trank him self was certain of the films failure via a tweet on twitter. That post on twitter was said to cost the film money at the box office. I personally given the fact many studios and directors try to go the Christopher Nolan approach, am not a fan of Batman Begins and never was. The Dark Knight was a mater piece don't get me wrong. It was always disappointed with Batman Begins because it just didn't feel like a Batman movie it just felt like a normal movie. The Batman Begins/Dark Knight formula of making super hero's live a dark gritty world is becoming very cliché. This formula is I think is killing the spirit of a lot of comic book movies. And again why did they have to make The Fantastic Four so young? It works for Johnny Storm but it doesn't work for Sue and Reid. The Fantastic Four is one of most influential comic book characters ever created despite their powers really are not that interesting. There are talks of a sequel, however why make a sequel to a movie nobody asked for. And more to the point why make a sequel no body even wants just so they can count their loses.
Marvel can take pieces of turds of turn them into golden. Giving we are living in the golden age of super hero film making they have been making child hood dreams come true. Marvel movies are giving audiences what fans what they have only dreamed of. The heroics we see in movies like The Avengers, Captain America and Guardians of The Galaxy reflects the same dreams presented from movies like Star Wars: IV A New Hope, and the first Superman movie. They put their audiences of color where dreams become reality. Comic book movies need to be free from studios like Sonny and Fox, be let into their own worlds where they can soar higher. I hope to god they don't make a sequel to this reboot. I haven't seen it and I am not paying to see. File torrent anyone? We might need to just accept the 2005 version for what is even through its not perfect. Its the closest we will ever get. Will the fifth time be the charm for the first family of Super Heroes these days it can happen.
