Film Review | Fantastic Four

All Reed Richards (Mile Teller) wanted to do was make a difference. When he finally receives the chance to make a difference, the US government decides to give the glory to their people instead. Convinced by his colleague, Victor (Toby Kebbell), to “stick it to the man” and get ahead, Reed and the rest of his team decide to break the rules and make history.

The Story

This 2015 reboot of the Marvel franchise sees yet another origin story come to fruition. Moving away from 2005’s lighter take on the beloved comic book superheroes, this film leans towards the murkier side of story telling.

Instead of an intergalactic storm that alters human DNA, we have a completely separate world to play with altogether. Dealing with collegiate geniuses with their own quirky specialisations, this film plays with “bio-matter” and its potential to energise and rejuvenate our (apparently) dying planet.

Now, the story has a basic plot that simply outlines how these heroes become the Fantastic Four, so I can’t fault its premise based on its simplicity. What I can fault it on, on the other hand, is it’s lack in depth in regards to characterisation and missing “wow” factor.

Although I understand that this is an origin story, I wish the story had more depth into Doom’s lonely character. I didn’t believe that he was an outsider because the majority of the mid-section of this film has him part of the team rather than apart from the team. But…I think I’m getting way ahead of myself. In truth, I think the writing let the cast down.

The Cast

Miles Teller was an incredible choice as the leading mastermind behind the ingenuous invention that teleports people and things through to different dimensions. Where the writing faltered was in his ability to be the leader. Overshadowed by his father-like figure, Dr. Franklin Storm – a.k.a. Reg E. Cathey – Teller simply had no chance in really encompassing a leading role.

Kate Mara was believable in her role as Sue Storm, the adopted obedient daughter, but her character lacked depth beyond her ability to “follow patterns”. Her superhuman abilities of being able to be invisible and create force fields were rendered useless by her innate ability to hack into different computer systems.

Michael B. Jordan had a more rounded character as he took on Johnny Storm. He had it all – from daddy issues, to sibling issues and heck even loyalty issues. I think they used his super powers to its full capacity more so than anyone else’s in this film. So for that, I give the writers and Jordan two thumbs up for their redeeming factor with this particular character.

Jamie Bell needs to be given a pat on the back for his underdeveloped character. Although we see an abused child at the beginning of the film, this concept is never returned to as the film progresses. Instead Bell’s alter ego, “The Thing,” is somewhat underused as he was excused be a weapon for the US government…only after being slightly dejected by Teller’s character’s momentary abandonment of him – which again was ignored towards the end of the film.

Toby Kebbell was the most disappointing underdeveloped character altogether. What should have been the perfect counterpart for Teller’s lead, fell through as Kebbell’s antagonist was simply given a sloppy introduction and an abrupt ending. There was nothing scary about Kebbell’s ‘Doom’ – gory, yes, but not scary as his name suggests. What the writing missed in this character was the looming presence of hatred and resentment. Instead, we get an image of a lazy and resentful post-teen collage student.

Special and Visual Effects

These departments receive a dishonourable mention in regards to their lack of attention to detail. The graphics in this film were poorly executed as some – if not most – of the scenes with green screens and/or other graphics were obviously spotted. It was more distracting than awe-inspiring as the big screen only magnified their underdeveloped digital enhancements.

Overall, regardless of my disappointments, I didn’t mind this film. I’ll forgive its faults since it is a reboot and a re-origin of the Fantastic Four. But in future – please give your actors something to work with and get your special effects “on point”! And…what happened to the end-of-film preview scene?! C’mon!

Star Rating: ★★

Next on sL: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

Film Review | Insurgent

The internal system is broken. The shattered factions are spread-out like refugees amongst the remaining factions. Tris (Shailene Woodley), Four (Theo James), Caleb (Ansel Elgort) and Peter (Miles Teller) are in Amity trying to reboot and recuperate. But their stay is not long. Even the most patient people in their city begin to wear thin when their visitors' Dauntless instincts kick in. With Erudite elites flooding the speakers with lies and troops of Dauntless traitors continue to massacre Divergents, it’s not long until the truth must be set free.

The Story

Much like the first film, Insurgent follows the storyline of its paperback counterpart. Divergent saw us in Abnegation and Dauntless, Insurgent is set, firstly, in Amity, followed by Candor and eventually, The Factionless. We meet each faction’s head and see the way how they live and how unimportant they are to the faction system and this entire storyline.

In Amity, Tris and her band are hunted down, with a dual betrayal from two members. In Candor, some secrets spill out and Tris loses a friend. In the Factionless, more secrets are revealed. But at the end of the day, viewers are always sent back to Erudite anyway – oh, where THE BIGGEST SECRET is revealed. Now, I’m kind enough not to give spoilers, but for those of you who’ve read the book, you know exactly what it is and will either be overjoyed or overly disappointed – like me.

Overall, the story was pretty straightforward and the action was somewhat believable.

The Cast

Shailene Woodley, alright...I say this all the time about Miss Woodley, but I think I have to say it again (not that she really cares): she has no screen presence; there is nothing in this film that makes me believe her. Time and time again throughout the film her co-stars outshine her. In saying that, I do tip my hat off to Robert Schwentke, Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman, Mark Bomback and Woodley if having no screen presence was and is intentional in order for last two films to make sense for non-readers, but COME ON! You’re the lead of one of the most read post-apocolytic-world book series after The Hunger Games – give us something to believe, or at least like, or take you seriously as an actress.

Theo James at least is a less annoying Four than the character that was written into the series at about this time in the second book. I always felt that Four was somewhat emasculated by Tris after they finally told each other that they “loved” each other or whatever it was in the book. At least in this film, James kept his male bravado - regardless of his looks or muscular build, I mean they helped, but at least they were outshone by his acting. Four’s mummy-issues was dialled down a lot more than I remember reading, which is good and you really don’t see his daddy-issues here either. Again, my hat is tipped for Schwentke, Duffield, Goldsman and Bomback if they’re setting it up for the final films, because Four was not this dominant in the book and James was actually likable.

Miles Teller is handsdown the shining star of this film. Witty, funny and believable to the point of pity (that is, when Peter realises that Tris would spare his life if she got the chance), Teller outshone everyone, including Kate Winslet. I was more interested in his character than anyone else’s and wished Roth had given him a bigger role. Teller’s portrayal of a hated character was so on-point that Peter became my favourite character – and that says a lot because I hated him in the book. For his performance, I give Teller a standing ovation.

Kate Winslet, although she did not outshine Teller, did however steal the show for this film. Her strong screen-presence dominated the entire plot and overwhelmed all who were seated in the theatre. She was so domineering that I was on her side when the big reveal came out and was really angry about the turn of events for her character at the end. Roses all around for Miss Winslet.

Overall, like Divergent, if you liked the book, you’ll like the film. That’s all I can say. I hated the book, so I hated the film. It was really hard to say anything nice about this film, but I will say that I’m looking forward to the (unnecessary) two-part ending for Allegiant. No, not because (like the Twilight Saga) it’s about to end, but because this film has set up the finale. I’m actually curious about how the last book will be adapted considering how it was written.

Don’t know what I mean? rRead the last book. You seriously don’t even need to read the first two books now that the films have been released. You’re seriously not missing out on much.

Star Rating: ★★★

Next on sL: Cinderella