MOVIE MONDAYS: FANTASTIC FOUR (2015)
A few of weeks ago I felt I owed it to myself to make use of AMC's summer offer at least once where tickets for films seen before 12 pm cost a lovely £3.50; the film I ended up seeing was the new version of Fantastic Four. Now, I know a lot of people feel iffy when remakes of films they love are done especially if they are released less than 20 years since the original but I figured I'd still give this a go because, well... the poster made it look like this version would be a completely new spin on the story and I wanted to know how it played out. It is as simple as that really.
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Source: © 2014 Marvel & Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
I am not oblivious to the fact that there is a dire need for more original scripts to be turned into cinematic gold (American Ultra I have my eye on you!) but, when there is a promise of a new path for an old favourite character of yours to take that brings them to the same, similar or completely different end, then there is hope that things will still get interesting and be potentially better. If I am completely honest, I did enjoy Fantastic Four (2015) but I was not blown away by what I saw. To me, the film started off well but when we get to the halfway point (or was it a bit after? I forget), the story started to wear a little thin causing the film to not seem "meaty" enough. And I do not mean that it in an action-sequence sense. I think the back story of a few characters could have been explored a little more as it appeared to me that the purpose of this film was to set the scene of the new kids on the block.
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Source: © 2014 Marvel & Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
For those of you who are not familiar with F4, let me give you a mini recap. Fantastic Four centres on how the paths of four individuals in the Marvel universe cross and intertwine such that they end up being instrumental in protecting the world from harm. This particular instalment in the F4 franchise shifts the timeline back to when they were but teenagers; still trying to find their feet in the world. And who are they you may ask in the not so distant future? Well, we have the siblings Sue Storm - an intelligent, driven young woman - and Johnny Storm - a slightly egotistical, loyal young lad - who who were played by Kate Mara (House of Cards; American Horror Story; Iron Man 2) and Michael B. Jordan (That Awkward Moment; Fruitvale Station; Parenthood). And then there is the wicked smart, egocentric Reed Richards and the true-hearted and kind Ben Grimm who were brought to life by Miles Teller (That Awkward Moment; Whiplash;The Spectacular Now) and Jamie Bell (Man on a Ledge; Jane Eyre; Billy Elliot) respectively. The cast had such good chemistry and gave great performances. It was fun watching the characters grow, adapt to the new situations they were faced with and deal with the consequences of their actions.
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Source: © 2014 Marvel & Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Directed by Josh Trank (Chronicle; The Kill Point), Fantastic Four (2015) surprisingly did not have a mini clip of what to expect in the next instalment at the end of the film so one can only hope that if there is another film in the works, it does make the audience feel fantastic by the end. The screenplay which was filled with drama and injected with spots of humour was developed by quite a few people - Jeremy Slater (The Lazarus Effect), Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past; Sherlock Holmes; X-Men: The Last Stand) and Josh Trank (The Kill Point). I did love getting the chance to learn about the four main characters in this new light and see how they started knowing already what their future potentially holds. I am intrigued to find out how their story, relationship with one another as well as the rest of the world continues to unfold and found this snapshot of their lives we were given an interesting introduction that focused more on how the team came to be.
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If you are in the mood for a Marvel movie that takes you on the journey of a bunch of innovative pioneers as they realise their purpose in life with the help of a few superpowers then Fantastic Four might be one to reach for. If you have seen this film what do you think of it?
Mo x