Why Fantastic Four Wasn't The Worst Movie Of 2015
Calm down, it wasn't THAT bad.
Fantastic Four doesn't quite deserve all the hatred it seems to be attracting. Was it flawed? Of course it was. Was it terrible? No. Is it irredeemable? Not in the slightest.
Theres actually a good chance Fantastic Four wouldnt be so roundly hated if it didnt release on the back of a tidal wave of negative buzz. Because of the context of Josh Trank's reported behaviour and the issue of studio medalling, it was inevitable that there would be some negativity around its release, but the reaction was grotesque and pantomimey for a film that was no less than mediocre.
It wasn't anywhere near as bad as the clownish idiocy of Rise Of The Silver Surfer, and it could well be appreciated more in future when everyone calms down about the director reportedly being difficult to work with. Stanley Kubrick didn't get all this sh*t.
That's not to say that Trank is a genius, but you do have to admire him for his bravery - not just in having the temerity to be silly, but also to attempt to rewrite the rules of comic book movie tone. It's not his fault that the studio came in and recut everything, removing key sequences that had already been shown in the trailers and generally making the final act look like a gigantic CGI mess.
The first two acts are actually very good: the imaginative vision that blends cartoonish elements with noir and body horror (which could and should have been pushed further) is to be embraced. And while there are some terrible choices in terms of Doctor Doom, the rest of the cast are totally fine. They're not brilliant, but then only Chris Evans really stood out in the originals, too.
Quite when mediocrity in the face of high expectations meant a film would be doubly scorned is unclear, but without the comic book movie label (and associated hype), and without the loud whispers of Trank's work ethics, Fantastic Four would not be so comically lambasted. It is a middling film, hugely entertaining at times and creatively endearing at others. It is better than about 30% of comic book movies that have come out - including a Batman, three Supermen, two X-Men and a Green Lantern - and better than about 40% of the films that came out in 2015.
Therein lies the real rub: 2015 was a bad year for film. Yes there were some major highs with Mad Max and Inside Out and Straight Outta Compton and Brooklyn and Carol, but the low points - like Mortdecai and Jupiter Ascending were extreme to say the least. Those films - and indeed all of the ones that made the Worst Films of 2015 list - were provocatively, obnoxiously bad from top to bottom.
Yes Doctor Doom was a disaster, but he wasn't as bad as Johnny Depp's Inspector Clouseau rip-off; yes the film was dull but it wasn't as boring as Aloha; and yes it was silly, but next to Terminator Genisys, it looked like a bloody genius. It's all a matter of perspective.
It's no hidden gem, but it's certainly under-appreciated, and it is supremely unfair to judge any film for what it is not rather than assessing its existing merits. Remove the third act from Fantastic Four and tie the studio's hands to let Trank follow through on his vision and the result wouldn't have been anything like that level of garbage. So the butt-hurt comments about it being the WORST FILM OF THE YEAR EVER are badly misplaced.
It wasn't far off being in the bottom 30 films of the year admittedly, but it wasn't close to being the worst.
Do you think Fantastic Four deserves to be considered one of the worst films of 2015? Leave your opinion below...