9 Reasons Fantastic Four Is A Fantastic Fail
The bar was already low, but Fox somehow still managed to screw up even worse than before.
Fox just can't seem to get this right. Their previous attempts at bringing Marvel's First Family to life on the big screen (Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer) were massive disappointments. Those films had spots of brightness in the films (such as the brilliant chemistry between Michael Chiklis and Chris Evans) and a tone that was more or less consistent with the comics. But those things were countered by stupid decisions like turning Galactus into a giant cloud and the incredibly bad casting of Julian McMahon as Doom and Jessica Alba as the Invisible Woman.
I had hoped that the third time would be the charm with Fox and the FF. Even though they were using the awful Ultimate Fantastic Four origin as opposed to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's original take and even though the film was intended to be a "grim and gritty" version of the FF, I tried to reserve judgment. But the trailers set a very low bar.
And somehow Fox put out something far worse than expected.
Of course, the film was doomed from the beginning, with news of a troubled production, script rewrites, reshoots, and friction between the director and the studio. Not to mention the cast's complete disdain for the source material in interviews. Here's what made it such a Fantastic Fail.
9. Ugly Character Designs
What the hell are those plates on Johnny's torso? Why does Reed look like he's about to break into the Pentagon? What's with Sue's short sleeves? Why does Ben have no pants (not to mention his lack of a little Thing)?
The Fantastic Four's costumes are among the easiest to design for a film. They're blue and black jumpsuits with the 4 logo on them. Why is that so hard to translate?
I get that they wanted something a bit more sci-fi and less superheroic, but why? To make a movie about a group of people who travel to an alternate dimension and gain superhuman powers more realistic? The government relying on a think tank of teenagers and a kid building an inter-dimensional portal that has stumped experts pretty much ended any concept of realism in this movie.
But as ugly as the costumes worn by the team are, nothing can compare to how awful Doom's look is. It's like they just threw some plaster on him and filled in the spots where it cracked with fluorescent green paint. I defy anyone to watch Doom's rampage through the Baxter Building and try not to laugh at how ridiculous he looks.
Once more, Doom's look is simple. You don't even need the tunic if you're worried about people confusing it with a skirt. Give him green robes instead, like Magneto in the X-Men films.