Clobbering its way into cinemas over the past two weeks is the reimagining of the very much remembered tale of the Fantastic Four. However, the latest addition to the popular saga was, as expected, not as fantastic as its predecessors. With only 10 years since the release of the original film, Fantastic Four (2005), it is a bit of a mystery as to why the creator thought it smart to refabricate the story to essentially the same audience who saw the first one.
Directed by Josh Trank (The Kill Point (2007), Chronicle (2012)), it follows four young outsiders who teleport to a dangerous, alternate universe under the instruction of the institute they work for. After delving too deep into the world with no guidance from their original universe, an attack alters their physical form in shocking ways and their lives are irrevocably upended. The team are then tasked with harnessing their new abilities to work together to save the world. Anyone who’s seen the original will be aware of this concept however, this newcomer takes the story from a different angle – being an almost “prequel” to the original. We get a glimpse into Reed’s (Miles Teller) past, how he met “The Thing” Ben (Jamie Bell), and further how siblings Sue (Kate Mara) and Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan) and Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell) come into play.
The action sequence is a waiting game with much of the film being a character building exercise. If it wasn’t a comic-book adaption and more of a foreign drama, this would have been acceptable however the genre conventions were muddied rather than challenged by Trank. Despite the cast giving enjoyable performances as their respectable characters, audiences could never really be satisfied as their journeys came to an end as abruptly as they had been thrown up into the air. There was no elasticity or real fire in the relationships, no real solidity in the progression and the final scene paled in comparison to the opening, with almost unbearably cheesy dialogue and smiles.
Interestingly, after the abrupt climax, it seems as though the film changed from a character-based drama to a character-absent action flick. No real conclusion to the characters was explored. It almost made the entire first half redundant as we were given no conclusion on Reed and Sue’s relationship, Reed and Ben’s relationship, Johnny and Sue’s relationship now that their father has passed and whatnot. Conclusively, the film was not necessarily a train-wreck however if you’re looking for a genre-bending action drama that won’t make you access too much thought, this is a nice one to see if you’re not too bothered…
Bronte On Film 