Fantastic Four really wants to be a good movie, but after a promising start it encounters the problem that has derailed many of a filmmakers good intentions, and the signs of studio interference are written all over the movie. Never mind Kate Maras wig you can tell which scenes were reshot in post-production by the clunky dialogue, forced drama and clumsy plotting, all of which smack of rewrites by a different creative team. After a slow first half, the films second half becomes so frenzied that by the time the end credits roll, you feel like youve gotten only two-thirds of an actual movie. Disjointed and disappointing, this is one movie nobody is going to watch more than once at least, until director Josh Trank gets to release his directors cut. But dont count on that happening anytime soon.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
