Caffeinated Clint
“It’s funny how things turn out isn’t it?” utters one of the film’s central characters early on. Indeed, he’s right. The film version of one of Marvel Comics earliest and most well known brands has had quite the pre-spooled life. In 1994, B-movie director Roger Corman bought the comic to life in a film version of “Fantastic Four” but unbeknown to the cast and crew, the movie was never intended to be released, and was made only because the studio who owned the rights to make a film based on the comic would have lost the rights if they did not begin production by a certain date. Now, several years down the track, they’re utilizing those rights and spending $140 million on making sure they’re used properly. The kicker? Two tries later and we’ve got something that’s nowhere near fantastic – merely ‘not bad’.
Granted, audiences have been so spoilt of late with their comic-inspired films, so this was always going to disappoint. From “Spider-Man 2” to “Sin City” and notably, “Batman Begins”, the films are starting take on an almost award-worthy epic feel, and as a result, anything that’s not as beefy, not as well-written or not chock-a-block with unforgettable scrupulously staged action sequences was always going to dissatisfy in contrast.
Though it does have its problems, to Fantastic Four’s merit – this was always going to be a lighter, fluffier, less-serious bit of ink cum celluloid. Its central characters may exist in the same world as both ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Daredevil’ (regularly making appearances in each others comics), but the Fantastic Four’s neighbouring pals are a lot more solemn and multifarious than this stubby of superhero-lite. [Full Review]
