'Fantastic Four' can't live up to its promising title

Believe what you read about the new Fantastic Four reboot. Much has been said about this film already, so I wanted to go into this looking for some kind of redeeming quality. It truly does not have one. Every potential salvation for this film is squandered by whichever reason you choose to believe (the two biggest being inexperienced direction and studio intervention). A sharp cast of budding actors and about 50 years of compelling source material isn’t enough to make this excuse for property rights retention a successful reboot.

The film’s storytelling deviates very little from a superhero origin movie, but the pacing of each act warps the framework. The four leads aren’t endowed with their abilities until an hour into the movie and then spend about 10 minutes coming to grips with them. This internal conflict is what typically comprises the meat of an origin movie; it’s this drama that leads the audience to understand where the hero’s moral compass swings and why. This movie quickly shoehorns all of that with a flash-forward that ultimately gets the characters in the perfect position to take on their adversary and learn the value of teamwork. But none of it is as neat and tidy as that sounds.

Credit should be given to director Josh Trank for trying to shake things up, but it couldn’t have gone more wrong. His cast is noticeably younger and atypical to superhero fare, but he can never seem to create any moments of chemistry between them. The problem is that there aren’t enough scenes to develop an understanding of the characters and their dynamic together. Trank handpicked Miles Teller for the role of Reed Richards reportedly against some protests from the studio, but with a better final cut this would have seemed like an ace choice. Teller is awkward yet confident and had there been more dialogue between the characters, he would have come out of this a superstar. Similarly, the designated “fun” character, Johnny Storm played by Michael B. Jordan, trades in the Human Torch's carefree quips for stubborn angst. Jordan is a superb actor who could have portrayed the character’s clash between the opportunity and responsibility of new powers with nuance, but instead he essentially argues and broods the whole time.

If only this "change" could have been for the better. 'Fantastic' largely squanders a huge opportunity. photo: Twentieth Century Fox.

The two most accomplished actors of the group, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell, have barely anything to do at all. Bell, as Ben Grimm aka The Thing, isn’t even a part of the group for two-thirds of the movie. Mara is given about one scene with each character but each with very little substance other than “look, she’s smarter and more mature than them!” The cast list may have been the most exciting part about this movie before its release, but unfortunately Trank and his co-writers Jeremy Slater and Simon Kinberg are unable to convey a meaningful connection between them. 

Trank clearly came into this movie with a different idea of how to approach these characters and in another reality he could have made it work. The transformations are rightfully grotesque and the internal struggle among the four leads could get dark, but it’s not portrayed in a way that stays true to the Fantastic Four. Had there been a stronger emphasis on family as the solution to come to terms with their abilities, this could have been a refreshing take on the superhero genre. Instead it all adds up to a nonsensical mess that demonstrates how terribly a comic can translate to film.