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Techtite's DVD Reviews! |
"To be fair, this was one of the biggest undertakings in live-action comic book films ever attempted ...I cannot help but give props to the film's crew for even trying to convey it as a live- action film." --from the review ------------- Sidebar :: ------------- No sidebar comments for this review. Yet. ...
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Fantastic 4
A Review by TechtiteThe Film: If Fantastic 4 was released ten years ago, it would be heralded as one of the best comic book films in years. Back then the only competition would've been the original Tim Burton Batman films, which were as imaginative as they were flawed. A lot has happened since then: Spider-Man 2, Batman Begins, and yes, the X-Men films. Does this mean Fantastic 4 is bad? Not from where I'm standing. It just isn't as good as the "best" these days. Here's a short synopsis for the agnostic viewer. Reed Richards and four of his friends go into space to explore a strange cosmic storm. They are exposed to these cosmic rays and each is given unique powers. Sue Storm is given a sort of force shield that can render her invisible. Johnny Storm has been given the power to turn his skin aflame and back again, allowing him to be, as he is nicknamed, The Human Torch. Ben becomes The Thing; a walking rock. Reed becomes Mr. Fantastic, whose body is like the most stretchable elastic you can find. Together they are The Fantastic 4, devoted to stopping the evil deeds of the nefarious Dr. Doom...who, by the way, has armor stronger than any tank, and can shoot deadly lightning bolts as well. Is this just like the comics? Well, yeah...sort of. As with Spider-Man in film, creative license has been attempted. Consider: Peter Parker invented "webbing" in the comics. The makers of the film decided it was "impossible" for a high school boy to create a chemical that 3M and Dupont never thought up, so they made the web shooters a DNA trait that grew on his wrists. Well, someone must've thought that Dr. Doom's costume being stronger than any military armor was a similar impossibility, so he now has been "genetically altered" as well, to have metallic skin. This is one of many pieces of creative license that has some fans in a tizzy, but I don't see it as any different from the "biological webbing" of the Spider-films. I'm just saying. Let's move on... Mind you; this is just some of the flak this film has received online, even before its release. Personally, I don't think these people are thinking realistically. To be fair, this was one of the biggest undertakings in live-action comic book films ever attempted. It was one thing to bring the X-Men to the silver screen, most of whom have powers that aren't quite as "visual" as the Fantastic 4. Sure we all love Jean Grey but how hard was it to show her picking up objects with her "mind"? Compare that to the challenge of bringing to life The Human Torch; a walking human flame. The Thing, similarly, is a man made entirely of rock, yet still able to move as freely as The Incredible Hulk. Add Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic, and you had one major FX frenzy in the making. If there is one flaw with this picture it's how the FX are admittedly low budget for such an undertaking as this. Yet the fantasy-filled story of this comic was so grandiose, I cannot help but give props to the film's crew for even trying to convey it as a live-action film. Is it flawless? Well, okay, naysayers; you got me. It would be a hard sell to put this on a DVD shelf next to Spider-Man 2 or Batman Begins or X-Men. None of those films reduced their lead heroines to stripping to be invisible, only to have a sort of "oops my invisible powers shut off and here I am in my underwear!" Sure Sue Storm is played by Jessica Alba, but come on. Others have said that The Thing doesn't look believable and to them I can only offer the now well known behind the scenes tale where the FX team wanted to make Thing computer generated and more rock-like, but actor Michael Chiklis insisted that he be the character, not just a voice. Then there's how diehard fans were upset that Doctor Doom is now a corporate executive working in the U.S. and not "Latveria," but again, come on: is that really a major plot hole? It's one thing to make a movie about Superman and take away his cape, but I hardly think "Latveria" makes the character. I'm just saying. So yeah, because of these flaws, it's hard to put this film next to Spider-Man 2. Yet I'd still put Fantastic 4 next to Tim Burton's Batman movies, or to a point, even the original Spider-Man movie. It was a fine effort, given the subject matter, which were seemingly too fanciful to ever make into a live action film. Furthermore, it is hardly the worst comic book adaptation ever made, as some critics implied. That dubious honor still goes to Catwoman. Is it the second worst then...? No; that honor still goes to (The Incredible) Hulk. Then there's always Superman 3, Batman and Robin, and though not based on a comic book per se, come on: how about those Scooby-Doo films? This is hardly the "worst," kiddo. Is that a rousing endorsement? Maybe not. However, as in most cases it's just a sign that you want to lower your unfairly high expectations once more, and at the very least rent this movie. It's hardly as bad as all that, and it will lead to a fun night of television...and why not? This was the comic book, after all, that the animated film The Incredibles parodied. Who doesn't want to see characters like that in a live action film? It was a tough task, but overall, it's delivered well.
The DVD: You have to give the designers of the PSP version credit: even on a tiny UMD Playstation Portable disc, they were able to include the full audio commentary track by the stars (!), a music video, and a featurette. The DVD of course includes the whole enchilada, so let's cover the above extras in full on the DVD. Still, it is impressive that they fit as many extras as they could on a PSP version. That was cool. As for the DVD "proper," as it were: I hate to say it, because it sounds sort of like a low blow. But to be perfectly candid, it does speak volumes about what I said earlier, when the biggest sales pitch for this DVD is a sneak peek at X-Men 3. It's almost like the DVD's design team are agreeing with me; good film but not in league with the other Marvel films...so why not include a snippet of those films on this very disc? To wit: there is an inside look at X-Men 3, as hosted by producer Avi Arad. Not that this is the only extra. Music videos of the film's major songs are present. Two Fox Movie Channel featurettes are present: "Casting Session" and "Making a Scene." The obligatory Making Of Fantastic Four Featurette is present. There are also three deleted scenes, though the trouble with deleted scenes is: when the film isn't "meaty" enough, deleted moments are just gravy. I'm just saying. What does impress me, however, is how the cast did not shirk their duties when promoting this film. That's something many A list celebrities do when a film doesn't do as well as planned. Box Office boom or not, the cast is still present to ham it up in an Exclusive behind the scenes featurette, "Home video" style, hosted by the entire cast. In addition, the commentary is by the Fantastic Four (actors), as it should be. True, the commentary may be a bit too whimsical at times, but I like it that way. When Jessica Alba asks fancifully "How cool would that be...?" when looking at this or that special power, she is in fact talking with the same sense of awe that should've been present in the overall film. Maybe if the film showed us how cool that'd be, this would've been much better.
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