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Fantastic Flops: Fantastic Four (2015) is a chemistry-averse attempt at a dark Elseworlds take on Marvel’s First Family

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Even though the Fantastic Four comics kickstarted the creation of the Marvel Universe, their film adaptations have been critically maligned. In the “Fantastic Flops” series, I’m going back and re-evaluating the four previous Fantastic Four films and seeing if they’re a “Flop”, “Bop”, or “In-Between”.

Fantastic Four (2015)

Thinking back to the mid-2010s, it seemed like every studio wanted to do a dark superhero yarn. You had the neck snapping, hero vs hero, nihilist Pa Kent antics of Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. More successfully, Fox decided go dystopian with X-Men: Days of Future Past before atoning for X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine with a hopeful ending that was immediately walked back in the final two X-Men films. Even the quippy world of Marvel went to some literal or tonally dark places with Thor: The Dark World, the conspiracy thriller-inspired Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and the collateral damage filled Avengers: Age of Ultron. Instead of providing counter-programming, Fantastic Four goes for a darker, more trauma-filled take on Marvel’s First Family. Even though I enjoyed his directorial debut Chronicle, director Josh Trank lacks even the visual style of Zack Snyder to make the film look memorable even if the tone is dour. However, what really sinks this film is the lack of spark and familial connection between the Fantastic Four even though Reg E. Cathey’s Dr. Franklin Storm does give a few speeches on the topic, and there’s a seemingly tacked on scene on the end to give their “team” a name.

Some tone deaf moments (“Clobbering time” being used by Ben Grimm’s abusive older brother.) and the complete lack of chemistry between Reed Richards (Miles Teller) and Sue Storm (Kate Mara) aside, I honestly don’t mind the beginning of Fantastic Four before they go into the other dimension. I love the scene where Dr. Franklin Storm (A thoughtful performance from the late Cathey) and Sue pluck Reed from the school science fair and let him unleash his passion for science and other dimensions at the Baxter Institute. It’s hilarious that working on an interdimensional transport is Johnny Storm’s (Michael B. Jordan) punishment for illegally street racing. Also, the motivation for their mission is sound as Harvey Allen (Tim Blake Nelson) wants to send trained NASA astronauts to another dimension instead of young science nerds. (He does have a point, but apparently, this Reed Richards is into wanting fortune and fame.)

However, the film really goes downhill after we get some genuinely interesting, if a little over-CGIed body horror and transformation takes on the Fantastic Four and Dr. Doom. The Storm siblings are lab rats, Ben Grimm (An unconvincing Jamie Bell) ends up being a super soldier for the US government, and Reed Richards is a fugitive attempting to build an interdimensional teleporter in a cave with a box of scraps. Fantastic Four‘s narrative momentum fizzles and springs back to life with the re-emergence of Von Doom, who has survived his green energy/laundry detergent bath and is extremely pissed off and nihilistic. He also has a death touch and uses it to take out characters played by beloved character actors, Reg E. Cathey and Nelson. (The ending is so rushed that the Storm siblings and Reed don’t even mourn for Dr. Storm before moving into their new space. Earlier, in the film, he had a bit of anti-authority streak, but that has turned into a desire to destroy our Earth and reign over the utter barrenness that is Planet Zero. This involves the cliched glowing portal in the sky, one of the most anti-climactic final superhero battles ever, and Reed Richards playing ring around the rosie with Dr. Doom before Ben Grimm punches him while repeating his abusive brother’s catch phrase.

Fantastic Four (2015)

Other than laughable fight choreography and special effects, the final fight scene in Fantastic Four doesn’t land because it’s Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny’s first time working together as a team because they’ve been fragmented throughout the entire film. Logically, Dr. Doom would kick their lackluster chemistry having butts and then portal off to run Latveria or whatever, and the team would come back stronger in the sequel. However, the entire fate of the world is on the line so, of course, they have to win with Trank adding a sliver of unearned hope at the end.

I have to give slight kudos to Josh Trank and writers Jeremy Slater and Simon Kinberg for attempting a different tone than the previous two Fantastic Four films. They draw heavily on the Mark Millar and Brian Michael Bendis Ultimate Fantastic Four, and a lot of the way the government treats folks with superpowers reminds me of the Ultimate Universe trying to find the latest super soldier and fight foreign wars for the United States. Like Chronicle, I think Trank was going for real world plus superhero vibes, but the Fantastic Four isn’t the property you do that with. Planet Zero could have been a Cronenberg-ian take on the “Negative Zone”, but it’s like Mordor in the Lord of the Rings if they got rid of the Orcs, giant Spiders, cool fortresses, and giant Eye and replaced it with the Ooze from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Characters talk about Planet Zero being this place that could change the fortune of the human race, but the visuals don’t live up to it. Also, the lack of connection between Grimm, Richards, Johnny Storm, and Victor Von Doom accentuates the emptiness of the landscape even more. (It’s so weird to me that Sue isn’t on that first mission, but you have to four sci-fi coffins on your teleporter machine in a Fantastic Four film.)

Fantastic Four (2015) tries to be a dark, Elseworlds-y take on Marvel’s first superheroes, but is crippled by a snooze of a second act, a stinker of a third act, and characters that feel more like co-workers whose shifts occasionally crossover rather than found family squandering the talents for four great young actors in Teller, Jordan, Mara, and Bell. (Casting a Brit as Ben Grimm is a misstep though.) I can definitely see why Stan Lee didn’t have a cameo in this as Trank and cinematographer Matthew Jensen drain the color and wonder out of one of his finest co-creations.

So, it sadly looked like all the previous Fantastic Four film adaptations were flops even though I was very close to ranking the 1994 one as “Mid”. Here is my ranking of all the Fantastic Four films so far, and I’ll be back next week with a review of Fantastic Four: First Steps

  1. The Fantastic Four (1994)
  2. Fantastic Four (2005)
  3. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
  4. Fantastic Four (2015)

Overall Verdict: Flop

Film Review: Captain America: Brave New World is a low point for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is neither entertaining, thought-provoking, funny, or interesting to look at

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When something catches on fire, you’re supposed to immediately smother/cover it and/pr finish it off with a fire extinguisher. What you’re not supposed to do is keep throwing stuff into the fire while wearing a nighty and continuing to live stream. All this to say is that I wasn’t surprised when the credits rolled for Captain America: Brave New World, and there were five credited writers, including director Julius Onah. New chefs kept respawning in the burning kitchen that was the screenplay for this film. Captain America: Brave New World is simultaneously Sam Wilson’s (Anthony Mackie) first cinematic outing as Captain America, a follow-up to Incredible Hulk and Eternals, and a bit of a prequel to Thunderbolts and anything the Marvel Cinematic Universe wants to do with Wolverine/the Weapon X program. It succeeds at being none of these things (Although, Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus Ross/Red Hulk is a somewhat delightful grump), has muddled visual effects, corny dialogue, and above all else, bad politics.

Captain America: Brave New World begins at the inauguration of Ross as president of the United States, which is a controversial choice thanks to his actions towards the Hulk in his solo film and to superheroes as a whole in Captain America: Civil War. But, like a good centrist, he’s ready to cross the aisle and work with the new Captain America to start a new Avengers team. Unfortunately, this plan immediately backfires when something triggers forgotten/screwed over by the United States government super soldier Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), and he attacks President Ross at a reception for world leaders centered around the adamantium discovered in “Celestial Island” in the Indian Ocean. The film follows Sam Wilson and Joaquin Torres’ attempt to clear Bradley’s name and figure out who is really behind the assassination attempt.

This plot synopsis makes it seem like Brave New World is a political thriller like the excellent Captain America: Winter Soldier, but it’s unfortunately a pale echo of the previous film. The writing (and let’s face it, marketing) team shows their hands too early, and we go from Wilson and Torres rooting around in sketchy labs in West Virginia to squabbling with fighter planes, aircraft carriers, and Celestial heads. Secondary villain Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito) mentions something about the CIA paying him to steal adamantium from the Japanese, but it’s brushed over for explosions, rage-outs, stale quips, and empty speeches that not even Mackie’s (And a sleep walking Sebastian Stan in one scene.) charisma can salvage.

The opening scene where Sam Wilson and Joaquin Torres fight Sidewinder and the Super Society has well-choreographed hand-to-hand action augmented by whiz bang special effects for Wilson’s Wakanda-enhanced Captain America costume, but it’s all downhill from there in the action department. The fights seem just a perfunctory part of the superhero genre than revealing anything about the characters in them although Wilson often complains about not taking the super-soldier serum while he fights foes from the Hulk’s rogues gallery. It’s fun to see Ford freak out as Red Hulk and be consumed by rage until he gets talked down by Sam Wilson’s plot-relevant background as a social worker. (Winter Soldier handled this part of his character much better.)

In keeping with the through-line of Brave New World being a Xerox of a Xerox of Winter Soldier, the film has its own (Former) Black Widow. It’s not Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanov even though the performer playing her is also a Zionist: Israeli actress Shira Haas appearing as Ruth Bat-Seraph. (The character’s comic book codename Sabra and backstory as a Mossad agent don’t appear in this adaptation.) Politics aside, Bat-Seraph is a nothingburger of a character, who represents President Ross’ distrust of superheroes and love of the covert. Let’s just say she’s no Romanov, Maria Hill, or even Sharon Carter. It’s puzzling how such a controversial character survived multiple reshoots and plays no meaningful role in the film even though an American president having an Israeli secret agent as a key figure in his security detail could have led to compelling commentary on the relationship between the United States and Israel. Instead we get to see a stilted performance by an actress from a country that is currently committing genocide, who hasn’t spoken out against it.

Sometimes, Captain America: Brave New World feels like it’s actually about something, and that’s usually in scenes featuring Isaiah Bradley, who was also the best part of the Falcon and Winter Soldier TV show/six hour movie. Although, most of his interactions are responding to ageist quips from Joaquin Torres, Bradley also talks to Sam Wilson about his misgivings of going to the White House and standing with President Ross after how he was treated by the US government. He finds common ground with Wilson’s imprisonment in Captain America: Civil War, but this is immediately brushed aside by the new Captain American saying something about having a seat at the table. Ideological tension is swept aside for “there are fine people on both sides” type of rhetoric, and of course, Isaiah Bradley needing to be at the White House to kick off the plot, being benched for the rest of the movie, and not receiving any kind of recognition or reparations at the end of the film. If Brave New World has any kind of overarching theme, it’s to throw scary, traumatic, soul and society shattering things in a literal prison and get back to the status quo. In this way, it connects to one of the chief criticisms of the MCU, which is the films care more about getting to the next movie/event than telling a compelling story in the current film.

Captain America: Brave New World is truly a low point for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is neither entertaining, thought-provoking, funny, or interesting to look at. (They did nail Sam Wilson’s Captain America costume.) Most of the film is empty spectacle a la Michael Bay’s Transformers sequels, and the whole endeavor is a waste of Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Giancarlo Esposito, and Tim Blake Nelson’s talents. Maybe, Galactus should eat this universe and its cowardly politics.

Overall Verdict: 3.0

TV Review: Watchmen S1E2 Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship

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Watchmen

Watchmen‘s second episode focuses on the fallout of the murder of the police captain Judd Crawford played by Don Johnson. The episode goes beyond that but also builds on its history of Tulsa as well as Angela Abar’s.

We learn about Angela’s history with Judd and her history with Judd. That history becomes closer due to the White Night, a coordinated attack by the 7th Cavalry murdering police officers. Through that we also find out about Abar’s children, who are the children of her former partner who was killed during the attack. It’s an interesting scene as it explains why an officer would be so close to her superior and also why the police now hide their identities.

The series continues to entwine itself into the history of the Tulsa Race Riot. It becomes clear as to why Judd was murdered as Angela discovers what looks like a KKK outfit in Crawford’s closet. We also discover Louis Gossett, Jr.’s Will Reeves is indeed the young boy from Tulsa as well as his connection to Angela.

What makes Reeves interesting is his talking in riddles which has the viewer parsing everything he has to say. It forces you to listen to the dialogue and question everything said. It puts the viewer in a similar position with Angela as she attempts to discover the truth.

We also learn more about Veidt and his servants. It’s now much clearer as to what’s going on and the oddness of them. It shows Veidt is up to his old tricks and has lost his mind even more than before. Is he still the villain?

The episode has a lot of revelations and adds depth to each of its characters in small moments and big ones as well. It also deepens the mystery as we, like Angela Abar, discover each new piece of information. For each answer, there’s so many more questions presented.

Watchmen is proving itself to be every bit the worthy successor of the original comic material delivering a layered story and fleshed out history. This is much watch television. One that deserves multiple viewings.

Overall Rating: 8.5

TV Review: Watchmen S1E1 It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice

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Watchmen

Based on the classic graphic novel and comic series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons‘, HBO‘s Watchmen is the latest attempt to build off what is considered one of the greatest comics of all time.

Opening with the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, the series is an interesting exploration of fascism on all fronts. Taking place after the events of the classic comic series, police now don masks and personas in a battle for justice using less than just means. A white supremacist group who seem to worship Rorschach has risen.

While it’s clear who the bad guys are (unless there’s some twist yet to come), it’s an interesting spin to deliver a series where we’re supposed to emphasize with the police. An attempt is made towards the beginning when one is gunned down but from there it’s a series focused on bad all around. Bad and weird.

It all feels a bit overkill in the middle America this takes place. The police force has a version of Nite Owl’s Owlship which while used for a rather exciting sequence all feels a bit over the top.

And maybe that’s part of the point?

Like our local police force having military grade hardware in real life, it all feels like it’s an exaggeration of the broken down rule of law and order that exists today. Police kill innocent individuals going for the gun when other methods may due. Here, the police ignore civil rights and revel in military assaults.

But, what stands out the most of this debut episode is how much it nods to the source material while not relying on it. It’s set in the world of, but is its own thing. A man with a sign is in a scene as a character walks back. The sign reads the opposite of Rorschach’s doom and gloom of the comics. The squids falling from the sky is a reminder of how the comic ended.

Watchmen‘s debut episode also delivers some depth to each of the main characters. Don Johnson‘s Judd Crawford and Regina King‘s Angela Abar feel like the two characters the series revolves around. Despite their fascist tendencies, there’s enough there to like them as people and empathize with them. King’s Abar especially seems to have nice depth to the character and her husband Cal Abar, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is one of the more fresh aspects of the show.

And then there’s that ending… So many questions. So much history playing out on the screen. Much like the comics, the story we witness is just one of a story that weaves in and out of other aspects.

While the title might be Watchmen, this show stands on its own delivering an intriguing adaptation of the source material. One that makes the viewer think and ponder right from wrong, good and evil.

Overall Rating: 8.5

Tick tock. HBO’s Watchmen Gets a First Official Teaser

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Tick tock.

Watchmen debuts this fall on HBO. Created by Damon Lindelof, Watchmen is a modern-day reimagining of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins‘ groundbreaking graphic novel about masked vigilantes. Starring Academy Award-winner Regina King, Don Johnson, Jeremy Irons, Jean Smart, Tim Blake Nelson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Louis Gossett Jr.

HBO’s Watchmen Get Its First Cast Members

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The new Watchmen television series has cast some of its first actors. Damon Lindelof who is heading up the series has said it’ll explore other aspects of the world and isn’t an adaptation of the modern classic comic series. It will air on HBO.

Cast in unknown roles are Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Adelaide Clemens, and Andrew Howard. King will have the lead role.

Lindelof has said that some of the characters for the series will be unknown. There’ll be new faces, new masks to uncover, and there’ll be an exploration of the world.

King and Johnson have yet to be attached to a comic property in their careers. Tim Blake Nelson played Dr. Allen in Fantastic Four and Samuel Sterns in The Incredible Hulk. Louis Gossett Jr. was the voice of Lucious Fox in The Batman and Jake Berkowitz in The Punisher. Adelaide Clemens appeared in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as Carnival Girl. Andrew Howard was Luther Banks in multiple episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.