Tag Archives: mr. fantastic

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The Fantastic Four – A Movie Review

Let me begin by stating that while I am a self-admitted comic book fan, I am by no means a die-hard Fantastic Four fan.  I’ve always thought they were a neat team, but I’ve never really been interested in them or their comic. 

Okay, with that out of the way, I think we all understand that I am by no means as critical when it comes to the Fantastic Four as I would be with, say, Batman or the Flash. 

My wife and I went to see the Fantastic Four movie while on vacation from our summer vacation.  I had no expectations whatsoever and I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.  Here we had a film that was exactly what it should have been, a lighthearted movie about a family-like team of superheroes who banter and quibble as most families do.  It was a great deal of fun to see their powers showcased, and the film was nowhere near as campy or cheesy as I thought it would be from what I saw in the previews. 

Was this the dark psychodrama of Batman?  No.  Was this the film noir of Sin City?  Not in the least.  What it was, however, was a movie that was plain and simply put fun to watch.

Sorry if I’m upsetting all the Kirby and Lee fans out there who judge me to be committing Fantastic Four sacrilege, but I liked the movie.  Go check it out if you want to have some good old fashioned summer movie fun!

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Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer – A Movie Review

There are some fanatical Fantastic Four comic book fans out there, and you’ll have to take into consideration that I’m not one of them.  I always found them a little lame, and yes, I have been browbeaten on a regular basis by people trying to convince me of the errors of my ways.

That said, I really enjoyed the first Fantastic Four movie.  In know, go figure.  I thought it was lighthearted with some cool special effects.  Not all comic book movies have to be grim and gritty, right?  I knew the Fantastic Four were a family, and I thought the first movie really captured the essence of that dynamic.

So when I saw the trailers for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, I thought it looked pretty cool.  Again, I’m not a huge Silver Surfer fan.  I never got why a cosmic entity rode a surfboard through the cosmos.  Anyway, when I saw the Human Torch chasing the Silver Surfer through the streets of New York, I decided this was one of the few summer movies I absolutely HAD to see in the theater.

Well, I saw the flick today and I’ve got some good news and bad news. 

The good news-it was a pretty good movie.  What I liked about the first one continued in the second: funny dialogue, interesting character interaction, and nifty special effects.  The Silver Surfer looked (no pun intended) out of this world. 

The bad news-you’ve already seen all the best parts of this movie in the trailers.  Literally.  I get pretty upset when the studios do this sort of thing.  As an author, I understand the importance of building buzz in the hopes of capturing an audience before release, but this was just ridiculous.  I pretty much saw the whole movie in the trailers that were put out over the last few months.  Bummer.

Then what finally got my undies in a bunch is that fact that-

**MINOR SPOILER WARNING, PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK**

-after many, many promises by the execs and creators of the film, the actual figure of Galactus made no appearance at all.  There were grave concerns that he was nothing more than the cloud of dust shown in the previews, but the creators swore the audience would not be disappointed, Galactus would appear in all his glory.

Not so.

He was just a big dust cloud.  Impressively executed, but we did not see the figure made famous Marvel Comics.  I’m not even a rabid Fantastic Four fanboy, and I was pretty miffed they cheated me out of my Galactus fix.  I can only imagine what the die-hards are saying.

All in all, fun movie, the Silver Surfer rocks, no Galactus, and you’ve already seen the best action sequences. 

p.s.  If Galactus appeared after the credits or something, would somebody tell me so I don’t feel like a moron?  Thanks.