Creed II (2018) review

For more than 4 decades, the city of Philadelphia has been closely tied to one of the most iconic film franchises of all-time, the Rocky series. It all began, of course, with the 1976 classic about a local boxer named Rocky Balboa (played by Sylvester Stallone, who also wrote the film) whose journey to fight the heavyweight champion of the world led to him doing the impossible and going the distance. And the film itself went down that same path, surprising everyone by winning Best Picture at that year’s Oscars. The series would then continue on with five more sequels up until 2006’s Rocky Balboa, and while some of the sequels admittedly got rather silly at times, the franchise continues to remain a staple of pop culture, Philadelphia culture, and the sports film genre. And while Rocky’s time in the ring ultimately came to an end after the sixth film, fans of the franchise were treated to a surprise comeback when it was revealed that the series would continue in 2015 with a spin-off titled Creed. Under the direction of Ryan Coogler, the film shifted focus onto Adonis Johnson Creed, the son of Rocky’s original foe, Apollo Creed. And upon its release, the film was a smash hit with both critics and audiences, with many touting it as one of the best installments of the franchise. But now ‘Donnie’ Creed is back in the second installment of his new series, Creed II, which sees him take on his most personal opponent yet; the son of the man who had killed his father more than three decades prior, Ivan Drago. This time, however, Ryan Coogler was unavailable to direct due to his commitment to a certain Marvel superhero flick that lead actor Michael B. Jordan also happened to be involved with. And while it was initially reported that Sylvester Stallone would be stepping in to direct after previously helming films 2, 3, 4, and 6, it was instead decided to maintain the trend of the previous film by allowing a new generation of filmmakers to work on the franchise. Thus, general newcomer Steven Caple Jr. steps in to helm a sequel that, to reference one of this series’ many iconic songs, shows that this franchise still possesses that ‘Eye of the Tiger’.

It has been three years since Adonis ‘Donnie’ Johnson Creed (Michael B. Jordan) successfully managed to overcome the burden of following in the footsteps of his father, the late Heavyweight Champion Apollo Creed, with the aid of his father’s foe turned friend, fellow former Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). And after becoming the new Heavyweight Champion himself, Adonis is more than ready to start off a new chapter in his life with his fiancé, singer Bianca Taylor (Tessa Thompson). However, the past once again comes back to haunt Adonis when a new challenger emerges in Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), the son of notorious Russian boxer Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). Drago, of course, became infamous back in the ’80s when he killed Apollo during a simple exhibition match, and after being beaten by a vengeful Rocky in his home country during a subsequent bout, he now seeks redemption by training his son to take on Adonis. But while Adonis immediately sets his eyes on fighting Viktor and avenging his family name, Rocky warns him that he’s way too dangerous of an opponent given the track record of the man who’s training him. Adonis hastily ignores Rocky’s suggestion, however, and takes the fight which, simply put, does not bode well for him. Dealt with some intense injuries, Adonis now finds himself on the slow path to recovery as he prepares for the inevitable rematch where he seeks to avenge his family’s legacy while, at the same time, being forced to deal with some heavy-hitting developments in his personal life.

I think it’s safe to say that when it was revealed that Creed II would be bringing back Ivan Drago, some were a bit fearful about the film returning to the overall tone of Rocky IV, which is widely considered to be the goofiest installment of the franchise. This was, after all, the same film where Rocky bought an actual robot for his brother-in-law Paulie, featured a full-blown musical performance by James Brown singing ‘Living in America’ and was mostly just a series of montages where Rocky faced off against the equivalent of the final boss in a video game. But thankfully that’s not the case with Creed II, as it does maintain the same serious tone of its predecessor. And in this instance, it’s fitting to have Donnie face off against Drago’s son because it more than fuels this film’s emotional depth given everything that their family did to his all those years ago. True to franchise form, this film maintains a strong emphasis on its main protagonist and the physical and mental struggles that he goes through, and director Steven Caple Jr. does a phenomenal job when it comes to handling the story’s most emotional moments. And while there aren’t any major single-take fight sequences like in Ryan Coogler’s film, the boxing matches in this film are still excellently filmed and edited. In short, both Creed films fully succeed in accomplishing the same thing that the original Rocky films managed to achieve all those years ago. They properly set up their main characters and the ‘underdog’ situation that they find themselves in and then proceed to take their time to ensure that audiences are fully endeared to them. Thus, when the film’s final boxing match does occur, we’re fully behind them as they take on their opponent, resulting in an emotionally satisfying conclusion. Yeah, it’s undoubtedly become this series’ defining formula at this point, but it’s still quite effective in its execution, which is saying something considering that this is the eighth installment of the series.

As was the case with the first film, Creed II primarily belongs to Michael B. Jordan, who’s fantastic once again as Adonis Creed. Even when he ends up diving into a situation without thinking things through first, he still manages to be a highly sympathetic protagonist and Jordan’s charisma is in top form here. A lot of this also comes via his relationship with Bianca, who in just two films has more than managed to become more than just the equivalent of what Adrian was to Rocky in the previous films. Jordan and Tessa Thompson have phenomenal chemistry and one major plotline that revolves around their newborn daughter Amara being afflicted with a serious physical condition provides the film with one of its most emotionally devastating moments. Phylicia Rashad also happens to get a bit more to do this time around as Adonis’ mother (and Apollo’s widow) Mary Anne, primarily thanks to her sharp wit whenever she shares a scene with Jordan. And, of course, there’s still Sylvester Stallone being as great as ever as Rocky Balboa. Admittedly, this one doesn’t give him the same emotionally-charged storyline that he got with Rocky’s cancer diagnosis in the first Creed, but he continues to maintain Rocky’s status as one of the most endearing protagonists in film history. But perhaps the most impressive thing that this film manages to achieve is taking the character of Ivan Drago and effectively presenting him in a serious manner. That’s right, this isn’t the over-the-top goliath of Rocky IV anymore; instead, we get a man who’s deadly committed to regaining his former glory no matter the cost. In other words, it’s easily the best performance of Dolph Lundgren’s career. Admittedly, though, his son Viktor doesn’t get as much to work with character-wise. Granted, Florian Munteanu does prove to be quite the physical foe for Adonis to face and there is some decent characterization with him when it comes to him trying to understand why his father is so desperate to win back those who shunned him after his loss to Rocky. Ultimately, though, he arguably gets even fewer lines than his dad did in Rocky IV.

The most common word that is being tossed around with this film is ‘predictable’. After the whirlwind success of the first Creed, several critics have lamented the fact that this film decides to go for a straight-forward plot that rehashes one of the most notable storylines from a past installment of the franchise. Well, to that I say this… yes, it’s predictable… but is that really such a bad thing? After all, the Rocky films usually aren’t known for re-inventing the wheel when it comes to their writing. And yes, that even includes the first Creed, which literally ended the same way as the original Rocky four decades prior and ultimately worked as well as it did thanks to Ryan Coogler’s strong direction and the outstanding lead trio of Jordan, Stallone, and Thompson. And despite the loss of Coogler as director for this one (though he did stay on as an executive producer), Steven Caple Jr. does an excellent job in his place because he continues to maintain an emphasis on the most important aspect of these films, their characters. Sure, you can tell that things will end up being alright for Donnie and his family, but it’s more about the journey there than the destination itself. Plus, it even manages to take the series’ goofiest villain and find some bits of humanity within him, thus making him just as intimidating as he was in Rocky IV but in a vastly different way. In short, Creed II is another rousing success story for this legendary franchise that, pardon the pun, delivers yet another emotional knockout. And considering the recent announcement by Sylvester Stallone that revealed that this will ultimately be his final turn as Rocky Balboa, that effectively makes this film one hell of a send-off for a true icon of the big-screen right as his new protégé becomes a legend in his own right.

Rating: 5/5!

Black Panther (2018) review

In 1966, Marvel legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the first African-American superhero that ever appeared in mainstream comics. His name was T’Challa, ruler of the African nation of Wakanda and its greatest warrior, the Black Panther. Half a century later, the character would make his official live-action film debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2016 release, Captain America: Civil War. In the film, T’Challa was played by Chadwick Boseman. Fresh off playing cultural icons like Jackie Robinson (42) and James Brown (Get on Up), Boseman added yet another cultural icon to his resume of film roles thanks to his excellent performance as the stoic regal warrior. And now, the Black Panther headlines his own solo film courtesy of director Ryan Coogler. Since 2013, the Oakland native has made a name for himself in the film industry with some of the most critically-acclaimed films of the past few years; and to put this all into perspective, Black Panther is only his third feature film to date. Prior to this, he directed the 2013 drama Fruitvale Station, which told the true story of the death of Oscar Grant III in the titular Bay Area Rapid Transit metro station, and 2015’s Creed, the unexpected continuation of the iconic Rocky franchise that ended up being its most critically successful outing since the original back in 1976. And with Black Panther, Coogler (and, therefore, Marvel Studios) ends up having yet another critically-acclaimed outing on their hands thanks to it being one of the most emotionally-charged outings of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In Captain America: Civil War, audiences were introduced to T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), prince of the African nation of Wakanda who also serves as its greatest warrior, the ‘Black Panther’. When his father, King T’Chaka (John Kani), was murdered in a bombing at the United Nations, T’Challa embarked on a quest for vengeance against his father’s killer Helmut Zemo, though he ultimately let him live when he decided that he would no longer be consumed by vengeance. Thus, as Black Panther begins, T’Challa returns home to Wakanda to prepare to become its new king. However, he soon finds himself having to deal with two major threats to the peaceful existence of his kingdom. First, there’s Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), a black-market arms dealer who has spent several years trying to find Wakanda and steal its most valuable resource, vibranium (AKA the material used to create Captain America’s iconic shield). The other big threat comes in the form of Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), a Black Ops soldier (who, as it turns out, harbors a major personal connection to T’Challa that’s tied to a key incident of Killmonger’s past that T’Chaka was directly involved in), who arrives in Wakanda hell-bent on taking the throne and utilizing the kingdom’s resources to initiate rebellions all over the world. This, in turn, forces T’Challa and his main allies, including his ex-lover Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), his tech-savvy sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), and Okoye (Danai Gurira), leader of the Dora Milaje, Wakanda’s special forces group, to stand their ground to prevent Killmonger from taking over the kingdom and, subsequently, the rest of the world.

I’ve stated time and time again that the MCU has always done a fantastic job developing its main characters to the point where it results in some of the most effective emotional moments to come out of the superhero genre (e.g. the ending of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the ‘big reveal’ in Captain America: Civil War, etc.). And with Black Panther, Coogler gives us one of the most emotionally-driven installments of the entire franchise. There’s a real spiritual sense to this film, and not just through its excellent portrayal of the world of Wakanda and its culture. Emotion practically drives everything in this film from character motivations for both heroes and villains to key moments in the plot that reflect modern race relations. All of this helps to make the film one of the most moving and culturally relevant films in recent memory while still being a fun and exciting blockbuster flick, a balancing act that Coogler handles terrifically. Because after all, this is still a Marvel Cinematic Universe film that we’re talking about here, and even at 18 films in, Black Panther still features everything that we’ve come to love from this franchise. Coogler and cinematographer Rachel Morrison (who previously collaborated on Fruitvale Station) more than deliver on the film’s solid action sequences, many of which are backed by the franchise’s consistently solid visual effects. And while Black Panther certainly doesn’t skimp on its emotional poignancy, it still finds plenty of time for the MCU’s trademark sense of humor.

Right from his first scene in Captain America: Civil War, Chadwick Boseman proved to be a major scene-stealer as his iteration of Black Panther was full of powerful, emotional nuance. And now that he headlines his own film, that firm resolve is strengthened even further along with a solid arc in which T’Challa struggles to figure out his identity as the new ruler of Wakanda. But he’s not alone in this endeavor, as he’s backed by some of the greatest female leads in the entire MCU. As Nakia, Lupita Nyong’o has excellent chemistry with Boseman (effectively making them one of the MCU’s best ‘couples’) while still being much more than just a traditional ‘love interest’. As Okoye, Danai Gurira continues her recent track record of playing badass warriors (following her turn as Michonne in The Walking Dead) as the staunch leader of the Dora Milaje who is NOT to be messed with. And as Shuri, Letitia Wright ends up being the film’s biggest standout as T’Challa’s snarky but high-spirited sister whose technological prowess manages to give even Tony Stark a run for his money. Of course, like any MCU film, there are plenty more standouts from this film’s excellent supporting cast. Daniel Kaluuya plays a minor but all-around pivotal role in the film as T’Challa’s best friend W’Kabi, the head of Wakanda’s ‘Border Tribe’ who ends up getting into a rather tough personal conflict with T’Challa over his handling of Klaue. And as for Winston Duke as the imposing M’Baku, the leader of the Jabari tribe who is in constant conflict with T’Challa over his impending rule, he surprisingly ends up providing the film with some of its best humorous moments. Close it all out with some solid turns from screen legends Angela Bassett and Forest Whitaker as T’Challa’s mother Ramonda and the sage-like figure Zuri, respectively, and you have one of the MCU’s best ensemble casts.  

Ultimately, though, one of the most well-received aspects of this film is something that you don’t hear of very often from critics and audiences when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, its villains. And while I have gone on record stating that I don’t think that the majority of the MCU’s collection of antagonists are as bad as many claim that they are, I will openly admit that Black Panther features some of the franchise’s greatest villains. First, we have Andy Serkis reprising his brief cameo role in Avengers: Age of Ultron as Ulysses Klaue. Without giving anything major away, Klaue’s role in this film is minor but Serkis is clearly having a ball as the delightfully over-the-top arms dealer who gets plenty of the film’s best humorous lines. But, of course, the real star of the show is Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger, who is hands down one of the most layered antagonists of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Keeping in line with the film’s strong sense of emotional depth, Killmonger’s backstory is steeped entirely in emotional sentiment, effectively making him a perfect foil for T’Challa in more ways than I describe here without delving into spoiler territory. His motivations are clear throughout as is Jordan’s fantastic, commanding screen presence in the role. Simply put, Killmonger is one of the prime examples of a ‘sympathetic’ antagonist; while he does serve as a major threat to T’Challa and company, there are instances where you do empathize with where he’s coming from. Not only that, but it’s also good to see Jordan get a top-quality role in a superhero film after his rather disastrous outing as the Human Torch in 2015’s Fan4stic. And for those keeping track at home, that makes two former on-screen Human Torches who ended up getting stronger material when they transitioned over to Marvel Studios (the first, of course, being Cap himself, Chris Evans).

Now, of course, anyone who knows me probably guessed beforehand that I was going to love this film given all the times that I’ve gushed about the MCU in the past… and they would be right. While I usually don’t like to lean so closely towards the film fan community’s consensus towards any given film, it’s hard to deny that Black Panther truly is a landmark installment of both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the superhero genre in general. For lack of a better term, director Ryan Coogler infuses this film with so much soul that it ends up being an emotionally powerful cinematic experience. Whether it’s thanks to the film’s deeply-layered plot or Michael B. Jordan’s phenomenal turn as arguably the MCU’s greatest villain to date, Black Panther is sure to hit you with all the feels. And really, at the risk of becoming a broken record, this is just yet another testament to Marvel Studios’ dominance of the superhero genre since the MCU’s inception. For the past decade, they’ve provided us with well-written and well-directed superhero epics that have been highlighted by their excellently written characters, jaw-dropping action sequences, and in their greatest outings, a fantastic sense of emotional poignancy that has made their protagonists endearing icons in the world of pop culture for years to come. Black Panther boasts all those things and then some.  

#WAKANDAFOREVER

Rating: 5/5!

Creed (2015) review

Over the span of three decades, audiences witnessed one of the greatest underdog stories ever told through one of the most famous film franchises of all-time; the ‘Rocky’ series. It all began in 1976 with a $1 million budgeted boxing film written by its star, Sylvester Stallone, about a small-time boxer named Rocky Balboa, a ‘nobody’ from Philadelphia who was given the opportunity to fight the heavyweight champion of the world, Apollo Creed. In a way, the first ‘Rocky’ was as much of an underdog as its main character but it ended up becoming one of the biggest sleeper hits of all-time, becoming the highest grossing film of the year and winning the Oscar for Best Picture. It subsequently spawned one of the most famous film franchises of all-time; one that experienced both highs and lows over the years. After 2006’s ‘Rocky Balboa’, which primarily came as a result of Stallone wanting to give the franchise a much better conclusion after the critical and commercial disappointment that was 1990’s ‘Rocky V’, it seemed like the franchise had finally come to an end. But then, out of the blue, comes this year’s ‘Creed’, a film that not only continues the series but takes it in a whole new direction. Under the direction of Ryan Coogler, fresh off of 2013’s critical indie darling ‘Fruitvale Station’, ‘Creed’ shifts the series’ focus from Rocky Balboa to a new character, Adonis Johnson Creed, the son of Apollo Creed. And thanks to the superb direction from Coogler and the terrific lead performances of its two main leads, ‘Creed’ proves that the ‘Rocky’ series still has quite a bit of gas left in the tank.

Adonis ‘Donnie’ Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) never knew his father. That’s because his father was former heavyweight champion of the world Apollo Creed, who died as a result of his fight with Russian Olympian Ivan Drago (as seen in ‘Rocky IV’), all of this before Donnie was even born as the result of an extramarital affair. After spending some time in a youth correctional facility, Donnie is taken in by Creed’s widow Mary Anne (Phylicia Rashad). Years later, a now grown-up Donnie quits his firm job in order to pursue a career in boxing just like his father. After being rejected by one of LA’s top boxing gyms, Donnie heads to Philadelphia where he finds Apollo’s old friend and former rival, fellow former heavyweight champion Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), and asks him to train him. Although hesitant at first, Rocky becomes Donnie’s new mentor as he begins to climb the ranks in the world of professional boxing. When Donnie’s connection to Apollo is revealed to the world, something that Donnie didn’t want to happen as he wanted to establish his own legacy, he and Rocky are approached by the handlers of ‘Pretty’ Ricky Conlan (Tony Bellew), the current light heavyweight champion of the world who challenges Donnie to be his final opponent before he goes to prison. Donnie accepts though is now pressured to truly prove himself as ‘the son of Apollo Creed’. Meanwhile, Rocky takes on a personal battle of his own outside of the ring that forces him to confront his own mortality.

As far as being part of the ‘Rocky’ franchise, ‘Creed’ not only continues it from a new perspective but also stays true to a lot of the things that have defined the franchise since the beginning. With this new film, Coogler foregoes quite a few of the usual elements that fans have come to expect from the franchise, namely the series’ primary songs in favor of a more modern soundtrack. But at the same time, the story of Adonis Johnson Creed’s rise to fame is very reminiscent of Rocky’s ‘zero to hero’ story in the first ‘Rocky’ through certain story beats. And even though that means that the story can be rather traditional at times, that is by no means an issue as it’s executed really well given Coogler’s clear affection for the franchise. Of course one of the key themes of the franchise has always been its underdog spirit and this film more than exceeds in continuing that tradition. But while previous films put Rocky through underdog situations like being a nobody taking on the heavyweight champion of the world to proving that he still has that ‘fighting spirit’ even at the age of 60, this film’s underdog story is a case of Adonis trying to prove himself with one hell of a legacy to live up to as the son of Apollo Creed. And while Adonis has overtaken the role of the series’ main protagonist, Rocky is still a vital part of the story. The ‘age’ factor that was a key part of ‘Rocky Balboa’ is once again in play here as Rocky now finds himself having to confront his own mortality, putting him at probably the most vulnerable state that he’s ever been at in his series, especially now that everyone close to him has either moved on or died.

The fight sequences for the film are superb, particularly the one in which Adonis fights a local Philadelphia boxer that was legitimately shot in one single take. As for the cast, there’s been quite a lot of talk about Sylvester Stallone’s performance in this film, with quite a lot of people predicting a potential Best Supporting Actor nomination at this year’s Oscars. And I must say that I completely agree with those people. I mean to be perfectly frank Stallone has always been great in the role of Rocky, even in the franchise’s weaker installments. And this film, the first of the series that he did not write, once again proves that as he once again conveys all of the qualities that made Rocky such a lovable character in the first place, including his inherent likability, his great comedic timing, and most importantly his willpower that allows him to overcome any adversity in his life. But of course he’s not the main character this time around as Michael B. Jordan, one of the best up-and-coming actors in the business, takes on the role of the series’ new main protagonist. And he very much succeeds in that regard, capturing quite a lot of the mannerisms that Carl Weathers brought to the role of his father Apollo while also establishing his own personality; a young man who’s been through quite a lot of rough patches in his life and has worked to forge his own legacy, though of course he still carries the weight of his father’s legacy on his shoulders. But as the film goes on, he too goes through a lot of the same endeavors that Rocky went through in the first film. He falls in love, in this case with an up-and-coming singer/songwriter named Bianca (Tessa Thompson, who serves as an excellent foil to Jordan as Adonis’ love interest the same way Talia Shire was always a great foil for Stallone as Adrian), and even experiences a few personal lows.

Under Ryan Coogler’s fantastic direction (two films into his career and he’s already become one of the best new directors in the industry), ‘Creed’ reinvigorates the iconic ‘Rocky’ franchise for a new generation, primarily by moving away from some of the things that made the series so beloved in the first place (for one thing, you don’t hear ‘Eye of the Tiger’ and only hear brief snippets of ‘Gonna Fly Now’ in the score). But even with that in mind, ‘Creed’ still very much feels like a ‘Rocky’ film through beats and themes reminiscent of previous films, especially when it comes to retaining the series’ trademark underdog spirit. No this film doesn’t do much to ‘reinvent’ the genre but that is by no means an issue when it comes to this film. The fight sequences are excellent, Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone excel performance-wise, and as a result, this series that had previously been considered done has been given new life. Which of course begs the question… will the franchise keep moving forward now that it has a new main protagonist? Where could Adonis’ story potentially go? Will Michael B. Jordan go the same route that Stallone did and one day direct one of these films? Will he end up fighting an Olympian in an incredibly over-the-top fight a la ‘Rocky IV’? Whatever happens next, ‘Creed’ is definitely another great installment of this great franchise.

Rating: 4.5/5

Fantastic Four (2015) review

Debuting in November 1961 as the first major superhero team developed by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Fantastic Four have been one of Marvel’s most famous franchises as far as the comics are concerned. But as for their track record on the big screen, Marvel’s First Family has not been as successful compared to other Marvel franchises such as Spider-Man, The Avengers, X-Men, or even lesser-known characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy. It all began in 1994 when famous B-movie producer Roger Corman produced a low-budget adaptation of ‘The Fantastic Four’. But because either the production company behind it, Constantin Film, just made it to keep the film rights or Marvel stepped in so that it wouldn’t ‘ruin the franchise’, that film was never released in theaters and is currently only viewable on the internet in bootleg quality. 20^th Century Fox would eventually get a ‘Fantastic Four’ film into theaters in 2005 with the Tim Story directed ‘Fantastic Four’. The film was successful enough financially to warrant a sequel, ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’, in 2007. But while both films performed solidly enough at the box-office, they were also generally disliked by both critics and audiences, primarily for their overtly goofy attempts at humor, some questionable casting choices (i.e. Jessica Alba as the Invisible Woman), and, in the case of the sequel, one of the worst changes from the comics in superhero film history in regards to the portrayal of Galactus.

Cut to 2015, 8 years after the release of ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’. Fox is back again with their second major attempt at launching a ‘Fantastic Four’ film franchise. And compared to the previous two films, this one really showed some potential due to who was working on it. It was to be directed by Josh Trank, who was fresh off of 2012’s excellent found-footage flick ‘Chronicle’. It was to be produced by Matthew Vaughn and Simon Kinberg, who were both fresh off of playing a major role in the resurrection of the ‘X-Men’ franchise with 2011’s ‘First Class’ and later ‘Days of Future Past’. And it would feature an excellent group of leads playing the Fantastic Four in Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell. But, as is typical with any film in the superhero genre, this one was subjected to some heavy scrutiny by comic book fans in the months leading up to its release. As is also common with this genre, the casting was one of the major points of controversy amongst fans, primarily the casting of Michael B. Jordan in the role of the Human Torch, who is usually portrayed as a white man in the comics. Additional rumors including major deviations from the source material (including the supposed change of Doctor Doom into a hacker), confirmed reshoots, and rumors of Trank being ‘abrasive’ during the shoot also aroused suspicion that this was going to turn out to be nothing more than a mess. And now that the film has come out… well, unfortunately those fears are well-founded as this new ‘Fantastic Four’ ultimately ends up being a ‘fantastic’ disaster.

In 2007, young Reed Richards dreams of becoming the first human in existence to teleport. With the help of his best friend Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell), Reed (Miles Teller) starts to develop a prototype for a teleportation device. That prototype ends up attracting the attention of Professor Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) of the Baxter Foundation, who recruits Reed to help work on a special teleportation device developed by Storm’s old protégé Victor von Doom (Toby Kebbell). Along with Storm’s children Sue (Kate Mara) and Johnny (Michael B. Jordan), Reed helps get the machine operational but is disappointed to learn that he won’t be part of the initial voyage to the alternate dimension (referred to as ‘Planet Zero’) that the teleporter is set to head to. But the night before this is set to happen, Reed, Johnny, Victor, and Ben end up taking an unsanctioned trip to Planet Zero so that they could have their chance at using the machine that they created. Once there, chaos ensues and Reed, Johnny, Ben, and Sue (who didn’t come with them but was affected when the device returned to Earth) find themselves with strange new abilities; Reed can stretch his body to great lengths, Sue can turn invisible and generate force fields, Johnny can engulf himself in flames and can fly, and Ben is transformed into a powerful rock-like creature. With these new powers, the four must band together when Victor returns from Planet Zero hell-bent on the destruction of the Earth.

It is very much clear that the theatrical cut of this film was the result of Fox taking away creative control from Josh Trank, which I presume was due to them not having any faith in his vision for the film, which probably included all of those alleged major deviations from the comics (i.e. Doom being a hacker). As a result, the film as it is now definitely feels like the haphazard final product of this meddling. There are quite a few instances of continuity errors (most notably Sue’s changing hairstyle) and the film’s pacing feels off. Ultimately that leads into the film’s biggest issue… it is extremely dull and lacks the visual spark that one can expect from films of this genre. From what I hear, Fox actually cut out at least three major action sequences from the film just days before shooting was set to begin. Uh Fox, you do realize that action sequences are the bread and butter of this genre, right? But apparently they forgot about that because this has to be one of the most boring superhero films that I’ve ever seen in my life. Pretty much all of the film’s action sequences (all 2 of them) happen at the end, which means that basically 80% of this ‘superhero film’ is nothing more than just scenes of exposition. The very much-dragged out buildup to the Four gaining their powers ultimately leads to terrible payoff and the final fight between them and Doom is laughably bland and insignificant. This emphasis on exposition instead of action was also an issue with the 2005 ‘Fantastic Four’ film but even that film had better pacing than this.

Another big issue is that the film is also pretty darn downbeat compared to, well, pretty much every other superhero film ever made. If I haven’t made it clear before, I’ve been rather hesitant about DC’s more serious approach to their superhero films to the point where they are apparently enforcing a ‘no joke’ mandate. But after watching this film, I can safely say that I’m pretty confident that DC will never go as far as this film did in terms of its overall tone. Trank has stated that David Cronenberg was a major influence in regards to how he approached how the Four would react to their transformations; in other words, it’s very much reminiscent of body horror. Now I do think that this is an interesting take on these characters and you can definitely see that in the initial scenes of them with their powers, which are arguably the best scenes in the entire film. But ultimately those are the only moments where this concept is utilized. As a whole, the film is very drab in its overall look and feel, lacking the humor and charm that one can expect from, say, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There are some attempts at humor throughout the film but most of them end up falling flat. Hell, what I’d argue is the best line from the trailer, where Johnny remarks about how he’ll need ‘a heat-resistant workshop and a big-ass sunroof’… isn’t even in the film. Whereas the previous ‘Fantastic Four’ films were a bit too goofy, this film is just too damn serious.

Now I wouldn’t be ‘too annoyed’ with the darker approach if the characters were well-developed. But unfortunately they aren’t and again it’s due to the film’s terrible pacing. Not long after the initial incident they literally cut to one year later, glossing over what should have been essential moments of character development. In fact, it isn’t even until the end of the film when the Four are actually all together on-screen. As a result, you never get a sense of the familial relationships between the main four that define who they are in the comics whatsoever; the friendship of Reed and Ben, the romance between Reed and Sue, etc. And it’s sad because, contrary to popular opinion, I think that the film was well-cast in regards to the main Four. Teller, Mara, Jordan, and Bell have all proven to be some of the best actors/actresses of their generation but unfortunately they’re all pretty much wasted here. And I think that they did a good job in casting Doctor Doom by going with Toby Kebbell, who last year really stood out as Koba, the main villain of ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’. It’s too bad then that Kebbell is majorly underused here. After the incident, Doom is not seen again until the end of the film and by that point there’s absolutely no motivation for his actions other than ‘he’s just evil’. For the record, that is the third straight time that one of Marvel’s most iconic villains has been butchered on the big screen, from being an absolute wuss in the 1994 ‘Fantastic Four’ film to the overly cheesy Doom of the 2000’s ‘Fantastic Four’ films to finally the highly underdeveloped baddie of this ‘Fantastic Four’ film.

Now let me be clear; while it’s obvious that Josh Trank was majorly screwed over by Fox in regards to him losing creative control over what would turn out to be a quite aimless final product, at the end of the day we may never know if his ‘version’ of the film would’ve been any better. This may have just been a case of a young director who was simply unprepared to handle a big-budget blockbuster like this, hence why Fox seemed to have had little faith in what he did with it. Ultimately though, I don’t blame Trank for the fact that this new version of this new ‘Fantastic Four’ film that we got is… just terrible. This film is just not entertaining and not just because it is severely lacking in terms of action sequences, which is something that you really don’t want for a film in the superhero genre, but because it’s also quite dour. Ultimately, it’s just boring; thankfully the film is only 100 minutes long and it actually does fly by rather fast. But at the end of the day, that also means that the film fails to make any major impression whatsoever. And that’s really sad given how many good people worked on it and while I know that a lot of people were hesitant about this film, I was actually really optimistic and hopeful that this film was going to be good and prove its critics wrong. But at the end of the day, it just ends up being a major disappointment, continuing the mediocre track record of the ‘Fantastic Four’ on the big screen. On the bright side, maybe Marvel’s First Family will have greater luck when their film rights are inevitably reacquired by Marvel Studios.  

Rating: 1/5

(P.S. To put this rating into perspective, I gave both the 1994 unreleased low-budget ‘Fantastic Four’ film and both of the early 2000’s ‘Fantastic Four’ films higher ratings than this… now that’s saying something)