By Jono
WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Exposure to energy from another dimension leaves a group of young adults with a variety of superpowers.
IS IT ANY GOOD? (GRADE: D) To be clear, this is a film about Marvel characters, but it is not a Marvel Studios film. Fox owns the rights, and while the studio gave us the occasionally-brilliant X-Men franchise, it also gave us duds like Daredevil, Elektra, and the earlier Fantastic Four movies. This lifeless reboot had potential: director Josh Trank once delivered the gripping indie superhero thriller Chronicle, but whether Trank is in a sophomore slump or Fox interfered too much (probably both), The Fantastic Four is a dud, plain and simple.
Hackneyed dialogue plagues the film from beginning to end; these are talented actors, so it’s painful to watch them deliver heavy exposition, wannabe catch-phrases, and bumper-sticker philosophy throughout. The characters are poorly-developed cliches. Worst of all, the film is boring. The entire first half is made up largely of fictional psuedo-scientific babble as the team works towards inter-dimensional travel. The second half is unfocused and joyless and the finale fails to balance its gritty violence with its cartoonish super-villainy. Attempts to introduce ideals of teamwork and heroism at the end feel unearned and rushed. Read the Full Review at Mormons at the Megaplex!
