INTRO:
I’m finally back after my NDE from a month-long bout with H1N1 earlier this year. I’m Hank Davis, a nineteen year podcasting veteran, filmmaker, and soon to be musician (more on that in the coming weeks) and this is my review of Marvel’s Fantastic Four.
This is a spoiler-filled review of the movie and if you are overly sensitive to satire (that may or may not be funny) this won’t be the podcast for you.
SETTINGS:
When it comes to the sets and immersion I feel that Fantastic Four shines. This is the first Marvel movie in recent years (that I’ve watched anyway) that has areas which actually feel populated and expansive. Maybe there are simply more people on Earth-828. We’d need to see the census data compared to Earth-616 but I digress.
The retro design of the areas, vehicles, building interiors, clothing, and household items gave me a Jetsons meets Flash Gordon vibe. I thought they nailed costumes which are darn near impeccable.
The aesthetics coalesce to create a believable world that simply hasn’t been present in a Marvel film in quite some time. But a world is only as good as the characters you put in it.
CHARACTERS:
Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm is believable, balanced, and didn't overpower the movie like Marvel tends to do female leads.
Ben Grimm's portrayal is about as spot on as there's been in any incarnation of the character.
While not my favorite, Joseph Quinn's Johnny Storm is likeable but not as punchy as the Chris Evans version. Thankfully, we didn’t get the awkward “how are they related” gymnastics like the 2015 version.
Outside of the writing Ralph Ineson does a solid job of bringing Galactus to life on the big screen.
My sister's 8th grade sports trophy springs to life as Julia Garner attempts to give us a different take on Silver Surfer. While there's nothing like the original, Shalla-Bal didn't negatively impact the movie (outside of those initial concept renderings). Ultimately she portrayed a conflicted character that was believable.
I laughed out loud when Stingray from Cobra Kai rolled in as the Mole Man. I guess Cobra Kai truly never dies! It’s just been driven underground.
Which unfortunately leads me to Reed Richards himself portrayed by Pedro Pascal. Pedro Pascal is as much Mister Fantastic as I'm Denzel Washington. I needed to see another Pedro lead like a golf club to the head (SFX). If you know, you know. He delivers amazing lines like "I don't know." and others that make you second guess the idea that he's the smartest man alive. I am suffering from Pedro fatigue!
HITS:
I’ll say it again, the costumes were excellent! Even though I couldn’t help but itch myself uncomfortably while looking at that material, the suits were incredible.
The Thing was done justice in this movie! I thought about how cool playing a video game would be as he smashed through the columns of that building. Can we get The Thing vs The Hulk please? That’s one of my favorite comic book childhood matchups.
I liked the blending of high and low tech items. Seeing physical records made me nostalgic but didn’t take away from the sophisticated feel the film delivers.
The message of world-wide unity in the face of extreme turmoil was a refreshing insertion that didn’t feel like a ‘nine iron to the head’ political lecture.
Who doesn’t love a superpowered baby? Although I wished they would have fleshed that out more in this particular movie instead of hoping I watch what’s next. A cute baby trumps an obnoxious dog any day of the week. I’m looking at you James Gunn!
MISSES:
Galactus is estimated to be approximately 440 meters tall. He stretches Mr. Fantastic not even to his full wingspan. If you apply that to human anatomy the average man’s wingspan is approximately 2” more than his height. In the comics Mister Fantastic can stretch a minimum of over 450 meters and in some extreme instances over 24km. Yet somehow, the stretchy guy is screaming in pain being barely stretched? I’m talking much, much less than Galactus’ wingspan. Unless his underoos were riding up, this makes zero sense. This is the reason that writers should always read and respect the source material. This is one of the dumbest misses in all of the comic book movie genre.
Just like you don’t want to see me on a Carnival cruise, I don’t want to see Pedro Pascal in another piece of entertainment. Well, unless it’s with a helmet on and he’s voice acting with an animatronic. This is the way. (SFX)
Mister Fantastic makes the area where Galactus needs to stand a literal caution area. You would have to be one over the shoulder tossed lightsaber short of a washed up Skywalker to fall for that. These are supposed to be two of the most cerebral beings in the universe.
Galactus is hyper fixated on a baby who is not ready to do whatever he thinks the kid can do so he can ride off into the sunset (which we’ll come back to).
Anybody else worried about Franklin Richards’ birth certificate? That’s gonna be awkward to explain. Mom - Dad where am I from? Uh, space…
The brilliant Reed Richards can’t come up with another thing to say other than the actual truth about what Galactus wants? He would have had to run the numbers and know that, in reality, the governments of the world would offer up the kid if he didn’t want to. Instead one heartfelt speech is enough to get humanity to accept extinction.
Pedro Pascal’s line delivery in some spots is awful (We will protect you SFX). He is simply not Reed Richards.
Lastly, what’s up with the villain retirement trope? I mean what else is this gigantic dude going to do? I guess snacking on solar systems would get boring over time, but seriously, is he going to head to the beach or find a gigantic woman to settle down with? Why exactly is he tired of this gig?
MOVIE SCORE: 6/10
DIRECTION: C
WRITING: D
CINEMATOGRAPHY: B
POST PRODUCTION (INCLUDES: SCORE, SFX, COLORGRADE) : B
REWATCHABILITY: C
