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Friday, January 30, 2015

4 REASONS TO BE EXCITED FOR THE NEW FANTASTIC FOUR MOVIE

I’m one of those weird people that actually liked the first Fantastic Four movie. I really liked the original Stan Lee / Jack Kirby comics (Galactus and the Silver Surfer are awesome). The first film was definitely based on those comics. Say what you will about how it turned out, but I thought the first film was good. The second one . . . Well . . . the Silver Surfer looked amazing.

So awesome!

As the years have passed, I still like it but I do see where it didn’t click with other people. It is pretty campy and doesn't really take itself seriously. Especially Doom. He was awful. I’ll never deny that. But I liked the characters and most of the cast was perfect in their roles. The Thing's prosthetic suit looked good and Michael Chiklis was great, Ioan Gruffudd was great as Reed Richards, and Chris Evans was hilarious as Johnny Storm. Jessica Alba was . . . beautiful. That's about it.

Who's idea was it to cast Alba as the INVISIBLE woman??

When it was announced that they were going to reboot the Fantastic Four, I wasn’t sure how I felt. It never bothered me that Michael B. Jordan was going to be Johnny Storm. I didn’t know much about the rest of the cast. At the time, the only cast member I had actually seen in anything was Kate Mara from American Horror Story. And I’m one of the two people in America that doesn’t actually like that show. When more information came out about the film, the less interested I became. I didn’t know much about the cast, but I didn’t like that they were all younger (despite me being a big fan of the Ultimate Fantastic Four). I didn’t care for an “angry blogger” Doom. What I was really shocked by was how little we actually knew about the movie. It was starting to get irritating. I'm a Fantastic Four fan and I wanted to know what they were gonna do with the movie damn it!

One thing you may not know about me is that I’m a sucker for a great teaser preview and the preview we got for the Fantastic Four is my new favorite preview (but to be fair, it changes like every week). It shows you just enough to get excited but leaves enough behind to leave you wanting more. Some trailers are really bad at this and show you “the whole movie.” Lots of movie studios are guilty of this nowadays and it’s very annoying. 

You know who you are!

It’s nice to see that there are some producers that prefer to hold back and let the trailer tease us and make us curious as to what the movie will be about. Regardless of whether or not you like the trailer,  or even the Fantastic Four for that matter, it does have people talking. You know what they say, “No such thing as bad publicity.” Which is actually not true. Like at all. 

Isn't that right you bag of shit? Just kidding you're cool (stay away from Indiana Jones!)

Anyway, this trailer got me super excited for the movie when I was previously disinterested. Here are the 4 REASONS TO BE EXCITED FOR THE NEW FANTASTIC FOUR MOVIE (see there are four reasons because it's the Fantastic Four! Haha! I'm so clever):


IT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE THE FIRST TWO FILMS:
Like I said, I’m a fan of the original film but I do get where people didn’t like it. So for anyone that didn’t like the first film and think that Fox could do better, look to this new film. It looks more like Interstellar than a superhero film which is actually fitting because the Fantastic Four have always been adventurers and scientists/inventors (at least Reed is) over being superheroes. Instead of them getting their powers and becoming heroes and celebrities, they get their powers and are afraid of what is happening to them. It's a very real reaction to waking up with crazy powers or being a rock monster. The first two films were very comedic, this film looks to taking the material a little more seriously. 


THE CAST:
 Like some of the best comic book films of the last 15 years, the cast is full of up and coming actors. Despite being annoyed with them when they were first announced, I've since done my homework. These actors have all gotten critical acclaim for their previous work. Michael B. Jordan gained acclaim in Fruitvale Station and Chronicle. Miles Tellar got recognized for Divergent and the Oscar nominated Whiplash. Kate Mara is an Emmy nominated actress for her part in House of Cards. Jamie Bell starred as the title character in the Oscar nominated Billy Elliott. And for Doom? None other than Koba himself Toby Kebbell. If you haven't seen Dawn of the Planet of the Apes then go fucking do that right now. But of course having a great cast doesn't exactly mean you're film will be a hit. However, it does help that these actors are all (dare I say it) fantastic in their own right. Fun fact - Michael B. Jordan was the voice of Cyborg in Justice League: the Flashpoint Paradox. He's very good in that movie too. If the X-Men series is any indication, then Fox knows how to cast great actors on their way to becoming movie stars. 


THE WRITER AND DIRECTOR GET IT:
Have you seen Chronicle? You should because that movie is fucking great. Josh Trank was the director of that film and is now directing the Fantastic Four. Chronicle was about three teenagers that get their powers in a strange event and the film deals with how they use and play with their powers, forming a brotherly bond. Of course everything turns to shit and they fight . . . Yadda yadda yadda. The film was well done, albeit a little cliche, but the fight scene at the end of the film was great. The characters seemed believable to me, despite the cliches. I think Trank's a great choice for the directing job. You wanna know what the previous director, Tim Story, did before his Fantastic Four film?


Yeah so let that sink in for a minute . . . 

The screenwriter for the film is Simon Kinberg. He was the producer and screenwriter for X-Men: Days of Future Past and serves as a writer and producer on Star Wars: Rebels. This dude has the best life! Now to be fair he is also credited with X-Men: the Last Stand and xXx: State of the Union but I think it's fair to say his recent work has been top notch. He's a genuine comic book fan and knows how to sell these characters to the mainstream audience while maintaining the spirit and fun of the comic book. Both Trank and Kinberg have stressed that this film is about a family going through a crazy event together. The family part of the story is what is most important to the Fantastic Four. After all, they're called Marvel's first FAMILY, not first SUPERHEROES for a reason. I think the Four are in good hands. 


IT'S TREADING NEW GROUND:
This is the trickiest thing with maintaining relevance with superhero movies. It’s important that they all look and feel different. This one is an origin story (which has been done to death) but there is the added twist of crossing dimensional barriers and exploring new worlds. It's something we haven't quite seen yet in a superhero film. Captain America: the Winter Soldier was a political thriller, The Dark Knight was an urban crime drama, and Guardians of the Galaxy was an outer space adventure. In the early 2000s, almost all the comic book films started with origin stories because that's what Hollywood thought they all had to be. Nowadays, the origin is done as quickly as possible so they can get to the action. This film needs to stand out from the rest. With two Marvel films coming out this summer, Fox will really need to sell this as a totally unique property unlike anything we've seen. Or at least as far as the superhero genre goes. 

I will admit that there is still a good chance that this trailer was just well put together and the film will end up being terrible. However, I think this trailer was worth the wait and the film could end up being really awesome. Now all you naysayers keep in mind that if the movie does flop that that is actually a bad thing (especially if you're a Fantastic Four fan). Would you rather have a quality Fantastic Four film even if it's with another studio or have it flop and the rights go back to Marvel where they will do NOTHING with it for a long time. Why do you think we haven't seen them do something with the Punisher or Ghost Rider? It's something to think about . . . 

Till next time!


JJ - The Comic Junkie!

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