Movie: Fantastic Four

 

Studio:    (20th Century Fox) 1 hr. 40 min.

Plot:     A re-imagining of Marvel’s original and longest-running superhero team.

Cast:     Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell

Rating:     PG-13

Bottom Line:     *1/2

 

By Tia Terlaje

 

All these recent action/sci-fi adventures start off the same: The audience is introduced to the character’s pre-superhero lives, followed by how they gain their powers, a long scene ensues with them using their superpowers, then facing the bad guy, and (the best part of ANY film) – defeating the villain and saving the day.

 

Director Josh Trank had the of task retelling a familiar story for a new generation of Marvel comic book fans – rebooting the “Fantastic Four.”

 

The premise?

 

Childhood friends Reed Richards (Miles Teller) and Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell) have worked together for five years on a teleporter. They demonstrated a working prototype at their high school science fair, which despite causing some minor damage, catches the attention of Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) and his adopted daughter Sue (Kate Mara), who coincidently, are working on a similar project yielding the same destructive results.

 

Impressed with Reed’s invention, Dr. Storm and Sue invite the pair to study at their New York City laboratory. Last to join the team is Johnny (Michael B. Jordan), Dr. Storm’s son. Storm had also recruited Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell), a stubborn former student whose idea of the teleporter is already in use to study a new dimension to help understand more about Earth. Dr. Storm is hoping to bring back natural resources to help sustain mankind.

 

Through a teleportation mishap, the team returns with tremendous powers. Reed can stretch his body, Johnny can turn himself into fire, Sue can become invisible and Ben’s body is trapped inside of rocks. Victor Von Doom, who has consumed so much power, wants to destroy everything in his path… including Earth.

 

The film’s beginning, middle and end are uneven. Too much time is spent telling the story we already know, rather than expanding the short battle scene at the end. Perhaps a flaw in editing? It makes one wonder what scenes were deleted. A little more humor and overall balance would’ve made this film…well…fantastic.

 

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