Fantastic Four (2015)

(M) ★★½

Director: Josh Trank.

Cast: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B Jordan, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey, Tim Blake Nelson.

"I sure hope that's not our careers getting sucked into that skyhole."

TWENTIETH Century Fox has big plans for the Fantastic Four.

Marvel Comics’ so-called “first family” (they’ve been a cornerstone of the company since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created them in 1961) is already lined up for a sequel scheduled to be released on June 9, 2017, and the actors have all signed multi-film deals.

There are also talks of the characters teaming up with Fox’s other Marvel-made heroes, the X-Men.

Of course, none of that is going to matter if this first film isn’t any good.

The short answer to that unspoken question is “not really”. It’s certainly better than the corny, groan-worthy Fantastic Four movies made in the ‘00s but in an oversaturated market where even Ant-Man is gleefully making the most of his moment in the sun, this origin story doesn’t take its opportunity to step out of the shadows.

The quartet in question is brainiac Reed Richards (Teller), his long-time friend Ben Grimm (Bell), a hot-headed mechanic named Johnny Storm (Jordan) and his adopted sister/also brainiac Sue (Mara).

Richards’ experiments in teleportation attract the attention of Johnny and Sue’s dad Franklin (Cathey), who recruits Richards to work with his children on a similar project backed by the government.

Along with fellow bright spark Victor Von Doom, the group succeeds in opening a pathway to a parallel dimension, but an accident leaves them with a bizarre array of superpowers.

Unfortunately, this origin story is all origin, no story. The long build-up wouldn’t be so bad if it built up to something worthwhile, but it takes so long to set up its heroes and their transformations that it forgets to give them something to fight against, leaving the final (and only) battle of the film to be squeezed into five minutes at the end.

In place of a story we get a mildly interesting bunch of characters, hanging out and doing science, with little in the way of actual conflict, dramatic or physical.

Fantastic Four seemingly wilfully ignores the superhero movies that have gone before and instead buries itself in science montages, grand speeches (all made by Cathey’s Franklin Storm), and minor character interactions, rather than laying on the wow factor of spectacle, excitement, and strange people using strange new talents. Again this would be okay if the speeches and interactions led to deeper themes and stronger characters with intriguing arcs, but they don’t, and we’re left  shortchanged in the spectacle departments.

Unlike other movies starring Marvel characters, Fantastic Four (or “Fantfourstic” according to the poster title) takes the gritty and serious route, making it closer in tone to comic book rivals DC and their recent Superman reboot Man Of Steel than anything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

That’s not a criticism necessarily, although the tone does sit uneasily when they try to work in some humour (most of which falls flat) and there is no deeper theme to give all the gravitas a purpose. In some ways, Fantastic Four is admirable in its different-ness, but it’s sadly unmemorable and unsurprising.

The big shame here is that the casting is spot-on – it’s the script that's off. Teller is perfect as Reed Richards, while Mara, Jordan and Bell all fit their roles nicely. Kebbell underplays Doom pretty well until it all goes down the insane drain at the film’s end.

For the superfans, most of the requisite boxes are ticked. Ben says “it’s clobberin’ time”, Johnny says “flame on”, and someone says the name “Fantastic Four”, although it all feels so lacklustre. The use of the origin story from the Ultimate Fantastic Four comic book series works nicely, making all the characters younger and dispensing with the “we got our powers from a cloud in space” origin, which is good.

But Dr Doom looks weird. Really, really weird. And not in a good way.

There are some good moments in here – it’s not all a total waste – and for fans of the genre it offers something different. There’s certainly some novelty value in seeing the direction the film takes when compared to the 2005 iteration.

But cynics might be right in suggesting this movie was only made to ensure Fox retained the rights to the Fantastic Four, preventing the characters from reverting back to Marvel.

After this, we may see the rights going back to their comic book home sooner rather than later.