Tag Archives: Tim Story

Feb 18 2024

Four Things The New Fantastic Four Has To Accomplish

Now that the constant speculation about who would be cast as the Fantastic Four has ended (thank God!), we can officially get pumped for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) version of the Fantastic Four. With the casting out of the way for the core cast, the production has time to fine-tune the film, as seen with recent news that the film was being rewritten. Thanks to the failures of the previous film versions of the Fantastic Four, there is a a lot of pressure for the MCU version to get it right because it has to at this point.

Given that the Fantastic Four comics launched the so-called Marvel Age of Comics back in the 1960s and is considered one of the premier properties of Marvel Comics, it is outlandish that past efforts to adapt the superhero team into live-action films failed. Yet, here we are. As fans know, the first effort was an unreleased adaptation in the early 1990s that was produced with barely a budget in order for the producer to retain the film rights to the property. That monstrosity was as bad as its reputation and makes Madame Web look like Logan in terms of quality or lack of. The Tim Story duology that came out in the 2000s captured some of the spirit of the comic books, but lacked the gravitas to elevate them to top-tier superhero films. And the less said about the cloud thing called Galactus the better. The worse mainstream adaptation had to be 2015’s Fant4stic, which is how marketing stylized the film logo. The last version of the Fantastic Four basically tanked the career of its director Josh Trank, who had the bizarre idea to make his Fantastic Four film a body-horror film without any of the humor and charm the comic book team was famous for having.

Thankfully, now that Marvel Studios and Disney have the film rights to the Fantastic Four, they can give the property the attention it needs to create a high-quality superhero film. To do that, Marvel Studios has to evoke the qualities that made the comic books so beloved, especially the ones from the 1960s. At the same time, The Fantastic Four has to appeal to audiences in order to get them into theater seats. The cast, which includes Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Richards/Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, are a solid first step, now it is up to the script and the director to bring the Fantastic Four to life. Here are four things The Fantastic Four must accomplish in order to succeed:

Find the Right Balance With Humor, Family and Awe

The two different film versions of the Fantastic Four were flawed in that they either lacked any humor or humanity, or were too goofy and did not aspire to greatness. The Tim Story Fantastic Four films had plenty of humor and most of it worked, especially the interactions between Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm. But the flaw of those films was that they didn’t really aim higher. The films diminished Doctor Doom and had him being a petty businessman instead of the intimidating ruler of Latveria. What’s worse was that efforts to present something incredible lacked any real scope. The worst example was the Galactus storyline in the second film that reduced the cosmic villain into a giant gas cloud. Blame the budgets.

Now the Josh Trank Fantastic Four film was completely the opposite in that it lacked any humor and charm. The entire film was a dire and dark affair where the characters moped about their newfound powers and were forced to work for the military. Nothing in the film was cheerful or bright, nothing at all like the comic books. Those comics exuded optimism while dealing with challenges. Yes, the team often bickered and fought with each other, but they came together at the end because they were a family. The Trank film did not reflect this family aspect at all. It did not help that the characters were mistakenly cast as young adults, but that is another story. The Fantastic Four has to capture the wow factor and the family dynamics and the humor that made the comic books so revolutionary.

Explore the Fantastic (Pun Intended)

A major fault with the previous Fantastic Four films was that they lacked the sci-fi scale of the comic books. Yes there were many sci-fi trappings, but they were not anything audiences have not seen before. What was worse was that the production budgets of the films could not capture the epic scale of the comic books. Just look at the wild panels in Fantastic Four Annual #3 when Reed, Ben and Johnny explore the Negative Zone. Or the images in the Galactus trilogy of Fantastic Four #s 48-50 where the Human Torch traverses skyscraper-sized machinery to find a weapon to defeat Galactus. The closest we got to that in the films was in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer where Doctor Doom stole the Silver Surfer’s powers, which was taken from the comics. Yet, that was completely undone with the finale act where the Galactus cloud showed up.

Meanwhile, the Trank film did not have any of the joy of scientific discovery, even though many of the main characters were scientists. Sure, the characters visited an alien planet, but it was a barren, stormy hellhole that did not inspire any awe, and was more in line with the body-horror aspect of the film. But what made things worse was that the film had a low-budget feel. The Fantastic Four needs a huge budget and the best resources to pull off the mind-bending world of the Fantastic Four. This is not an easy feat given the difficulty of trying to pull off the stretching powers of Mr. Fantastic. In other words, The Fantastic Four has to and will be a true MCU epic with the budget and resources it needs to properly adapt the fantastic (yes, pun intended) feel of the comic books.

Do Not Have Doctor Doom as the Main Villain in the First Film

While Doctor Doom is the premier villain for the Fantastic Four and Marvel Comics, he has been overused in the past films. What was worse was that the depictions of the Latverian ruler in the films were not at all accurate. The filmmakers mistakenly tied the origin of Doctor Doom with the Fantastic Four, which was not the case in the comic books. But in the films the villainous doctor was involved in the same accident that gave the FF their powers, which in turn gave him some kind of electric powers, which was never shown in the comics. These reimaginings omitted his genius intellect that enabled him to master science and sorcery to be able to nearly conquer the world. Nor was his status as ruler of Latveria even a factor.

Doctor Doom has been misused in the previous films and he needs to be faithfully depicted if he is to be the main baddie of the MCU and the Secret Wars event. He should only appear in The Fantastic Four as a cameo, and in other MCU productions in the same way Thanos popped up here and there in early MCU films. As for which villains the FF should confront in the first film, well, supposedly Galactus and the Silver Surfer will be the foes, although it may be too early to confront them. It would have been better if a film trilogy built up to them. Other villains to make life miserable for the Fantastic Four could be Annihilus, the Molecule Man (a major character in Secret Wars), the Super-Skrull (though Secret Invasion ruined that), the Red Ghost, the Mad Thinker or even the Frightful Four. Or the sequels could have the team facing a villain not usually associated with them. A sequel film would also be a perfect way to bring back Namor since he was a major villain that the team fought in the early comic cooks.

Make the Characters Relatable

The Fantastic Four comic books, thanks to Stan Lee’s writing and Jack Kirby’s pencils and stories, were able to present outlandish and jaw-dropping sci-fi visuals while retaining a sense of humanity. Who could forget those intricately drawn panels of Reed’s room-sized machinery? Sure they were dazzling, but the focus was on the characters bickering in those same panels like a dysfunctional family. The Fantastic Four has to incorporate this aspect of family into the film.

Despite the faults with the Tim Story Fantastic Four films what they got right was a sense of pathos as seen with moments were Ben struggles with being the Thing. A perfect example was a scene in the first film where he was not able to pick up his wife’s wedding ring because his rock-like hands lacked dexterity. Then again the film was able to have some fun with Ben when one of the final shots of the first film showed him wearing humongous, custom-made sneakers. Meanwhile, with the Josh Trank film it was difficult to relate to the characters, even the Thing, who barely stood out as a character. The caustic, but loving relationship between Ben and Johnny, while done accurately in the Story films, was absent in the Trank film. That is except for one line at the end of the film where Johnny came off as a mean-spirited A-Hole when he mocked Ben.

If The Fantastic Four focuses on the characters and their family relationship, gives us a sense of wonder and adventure, while featuring villains other than Doctor Doom, then it will succeed. It’s just that simple. Fans will flock to see the film if it has these aspects that made the Fantastic Four one of the most popular superhero teams in comic books.

José Soto

Aug 7 2015

Latest Version Of Fantastic Four Is Doomed

crap poster

After torturing myself from watching Fantastic Four, the new cash grab reboot by 20th Century Fox to hold on to the film rights to Marvel Comics’ legendary superhero team, I’m convinced that the film studio doesn’t know what to do with this franchise. How bad was Fantastic Four? Let’s put it this way, not only does it make the Tim Story Fantastic Four films seem like Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy films, but I would rather watch Batman & Robin again than sit through this monstrosity one more time. Seriously, at least those films can be enjoyed on an “it’s so bad, it’s hysterical” level while drunk or high. This dreary, dour film doesn’t even have that guilty pleasure value.

I’m not exaggerating when I say this film is an ff castinsult to the Fantastic Four and to superhero films. It’s obvious that almost everyone involved in this film from director Josh Trank to the actors don’t respect the source material or have a clue as to what made the comic book work. At least, Tim Story had enough sense to pay homage to the comic books and captured many parts of it like the banter, the feeling of family, the sense of fun. All of that is missing here. The cast has no synergy, there isn’t any joy or excitement or even adventure with this reboot. Instead Josh Trank gives us a pretentious and sloppily slapped together mess that is evidence that control of the film was taken away from him in post production. Not that it helped.

richardsThere are half-hearted attempts in the first third to create some character developments, but then they’re dropped. For instance, when Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan) is confronting his father Franklin (Reg. E. Cathey, who gives the best performance in this cesspool), there is a hint that he is jealous of his adopted sister Sue (Kate Mara), but it’s never brought up again. Remember how Johnny would always tease Ben Grimm in the comics and earlier films? That only happens once, at the end. That’s right, and it Johnny’s sole attempt at humor came off as being mean-spirited for no good reason. The opening third tries to copy Spielberg’s sense of wonder, but all I got where endless scenes of people looking at blueprints and computer screens and Reed Richards (Miles Teller) wandering around hallways and spouting exposition. It isn’t until forty five minutes into a ninety-minute film that the characters get their powers and basically not do much with them until the end.

Then without warning, Fantastic Four becomes a poor man’s David Cronenberg body horror film, which was kind of intriguing, but undeveloped especially with Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell). What could’ve been a good showcase for him is a lost opportunity and that’s a @!#$ shame because in this muddle there is a nugget of something that could’ve been stellar. The other attempt at body horror is actually quite laughable. When Reed Richards is first shown all stretched out on an exam table like a Stretch Armstrong doll I couldn’t stop rolling my eyes on how silly he looked.

doomedFinally, Fantastic Four completely goes off the rails in the final third that tries to be an action superhero film, but collapses when the villain Victor Von Doom (Tobey Kebbell) appears. This version of Dr. Doom incredibly redeems the Tim Story version! Doom here just shows up in the last fifteen minutes or so, blows up people’s heads with telekinesis and screams corny lines about the evils of humanity. He doesn’t look menacing but like a stupid combo of the Mummy and a metallic Freddy Krueger. This Doom has none of his comic book counterpart’s bravado and power. The only merciful thing to say about Dr. Doom is that his screen time is so short you can take a bathroom break when he first appears and he’ll gone by the time you return. BTW, most of those clips you’ve seen in the trailers don’t appear in the finished film.

Oh God, I have a headache right now thinking about the film. I’m going to pull out my old Fantastic Four DVDs to wash out the memories of witnessing this summer’s real Trainwreck. I think I’ll also go see Ant-Man again this weekend for good measure. With that let me conclude this review with an open letter to 20th Century Fox:

FF

Dear Fox:

Your company has struck out three times with the Fantastic Four. Each time you tried to improve the film franchise you only dug the grave deeper for the First Family of Marvel superheroes. Now you have released what will be known as one of the worst superhero films. You clearly don’t understand why they launched the Marvel Comics phenomenon and this reboot is a disrespect to the First Family and its fans.

By refusing to let the rights go back to Marvel and making bad films, you’re ruining your reputation and good will. Honestly, I’m questioning if I should bother to pay money to see more X-Men films and their spinoffs.

You’ve tried, but we’re getting diminishing returns here. Be honest with yourself and your shareholders. The bottom line is the dollar, but by continuing to produce these insulting adaptations you are alienating viewers and are putting your future profit at risk.

OK, keep the X-Men franchise, you’ve done good with it for the most part and there’s word that you want to do a TV show based on those mutants. Well, since you need to negotiate with Marvel for the TV rights, why not earn some cred and give the Fantastic Four rights back to Marvel? Don’t be a tool and hold onto the rights for another five or seven years then crank out another piece of crap out of spite. Just let it go.

Waldermann Rivera