Fantastic Four, passed my expectations but that doesn't say much
Written: Jun 21 '07 (Updated Jun 21 '07)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Nice special effects, good music, some acting
Cons: Shameless product placement, impossible to take it seriously
The Bottom Line: Better than terrible but worse than mediocre.
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| musicc's Full Review: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer |
Even though Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer was not my first choice, I still walked in the theater with hopes of seeing a good film. My expectations on the film were very low and I must say the film passed them but all that doesn’t exactly say much. Still as much as I wanted to enjoy the film I just couldn’t. I haven’t read the comics so I really can’t say this film was unfaithful to the comics. The film has a lighter tone and atmosphere and that kind of messes the whole genre of the film up as it fumbles from comedy to action then to drama.
It is wedding day for Reed Richards and Susan Storm but problems with a mysterious man in silver complicate things. It appears as the silver surfer helps eats planets. The fantastic four has to figure out how to stop him but they have to have the help of Victor Von Doom to stop him. Joining forces they bring him down but it seems he might not be so evil after all.
It’s a shame this film series has to be so bad and cheesy. It could be a great film with flair and originality like the X-men series but instead feels like a dumbed down version of what might have been. Since the film is so cheesy and loaded with painfully unfunny lines it is impossible to take seriously. The plot is supposed to make you care about the characters and their situations but instead you just can’t. The plot is not terribly bad but the writing is and in the end that is what makes the film not work. Nothing in the film is amazing; however the special effects look pretty nice. They aren’t the best I’ve seen but they stand out nicely.
An interesting move this film is only PG meaning the violence level is taken down further. This film would have been far better off if it was PG-13 so it could have a darker atmosphere and more effective violence. All these factors make the film bad enough but none of them equal out to the product placement found in the film. I usually don’t mind product placement in films but this film took it too far. The first one comes from a nokia Palm Pilot device but even that is nothing compared to Dodge; whose logo is completely visible on their specialized car. The fact that this is a family friendly film interferes with the genres of the film. It mainly focuses on comedy but makes uneven shifts to drama and action. In my opinion the film would have been better off billed as a comedy as it had much more comedy than action. If this was PG-13 it could have possibly made those adjustments better.
The acting in the film really is not bad but to have good acting some good writing is needed, which pretty much wastes the talent. Jessica Alba and Ioan Gruffudd are not bad in their positions but fail to deliver emotion effectively when it comes down to serious scenes. Chris Evans actually seems to be the best performance in the film mainly because he looks like he is having fun. We don’t really take him seriously but we’re no supposed to. Michael Chiklis is not a bad actor but is given poor writing to and as a result is awkward comedy scenes and he just feels misplaced in the whole film.
Interesting enough I found the music to be rather enjoyable. The score was rather well timed and it fit the film pretty well. I was also pleased to see Canon in D minor show up. Anyways, this film was not flat out terrible but it was much too flawed to be recommendable. It may fill up an hour and a half nicely but isn’t worth the effort. Although the writing really is pretty bad I found it interesting that Don Payne was one of the two writers. Since he is a Simpson’s writer and has written a number of good episodes I had faith but was ultimately disappointed.
In the end this film is a wasted opportunity. The Fantastic Four could be a fun superhero movie but lacks the wit and timing that the X-men films have. It passed my expectations and I guess that is all I can ask for. I never really felt bored or angry during the film but rather unfulfilled. It seems like this type of film has the potential to be much better than it was but is unfortunately overshadowed by bad writing, horrible product placement, and an uneven mix of genres and styles. Still it could have been far worse, let’s just be glad this isn’t Batman and Robin all over again.
2.5 stars rounded down
Cast
Ioan Gruffudd ... Reed Richards
Jessica Alba ... Sue Storm
Chris Evans ... Johnny Storm
Michael Chiklis ... Ben Grimm
Julian McMahon ... Victor Von Doom
Recommended:
No
Movie Mood: Family Movie
Viewing Method: Studio Screening/Premiere
Film Completeness: A few glitches, but mostly complete.
Worst Part of this Film: Script
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Epinions.com ID:
musicc
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Member: Max Mosher
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
Reviews written: 262
Trusted by: 38 members
About Me:
Going to film school in Canada, lots of fun, trying to keep up with Epinions.
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