Movie Review - Fantastic 4

Fantastic 4

Starring: Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey, Tim Blake Nelson, Owen Judge, Evan Hannemann, Dan Castellaneta, and more.

Directed by: Josh Trank Screenplay by: Simon Kinberg, Jeremy Slater, and Josh Trank Based on Characters Created by: Jack Kirby and Stan Lee Cinematography by: Matthew Jensen Music by: Marco Beltrami and Philip Glass

Premise: Despite the opinions of his teacher and his peers, Reed Richards continues to work at making his dream of inventing a form of teleporation a reality. With Ben Grimm at his side, he makes enough headway to get himself noticed by an unexpected source. Dr. Franklin Storm believes Reed has stumbled upon the answer which has been holding back his own dimensional travel program. He gives Reed a full scholarship to come learn and work at the Baxter building. Bringing back a disgruntled Victor Von Doom, and his own authority bucking son, Johnny, into the mix, he uses his adopted daughter, Sue, to hold them together long enough to create wonders. But when the opportunity to be the first people to go to the other world is suddenly denied them, the young scientists decide to go for a ride despite them. And things go wrong. (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Thumbs Up: The young actors Owen Judge and Evan Hannemann did a fantastic job setting up the audience and getting us to connect with Reed Richards and Ben Grimm. Miles Teller and Jamie Bell pick up from there as the story rolls forward seven years. Kate Mara does a different take on Sue Storm, making her more of a loner than previous incarnations. It was great fun watching Reed trying to connect with her despite her own reservations. Michael B. Jordan also did very well as the authority clashing Johnny Storm. Toby Kebbell was grim and distrustful as Victor, but he too could be surprised.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: There were a lot of cool CGI effects in the film.  The dimensional globe was quite impressive, especially when we see the first version of it in Reed's garage. The setup of his science project version made it look very impressive, even if his teacher didn't think so.

Johnny's flame and Ben's rock skin looked great. And they did a fabulous job of actually letting Mr. Fantastic use his stretch skills effectively. Sue's fields and bubbles also got a spiffy look.

The green goo on planet Zero was super cool. Loved the cracks. The swirling gas and bioelectric micro-lightning looked great. And what happens after that? Very nice.

The planet, however, was not cool. If I see one more alien planet with 45 degree angled rocks jutting from the ground everywhere, I'm going to SCREAM! It's an alien planet, for pete's sake, use your imagination! With CGI you can make the planet look like anything! So why is it that everyone is using the same setup? 45 degree angled rocks are becoming a visual cliche in science fiction movies. I don't understand why they're overusing them like this? Why? (As I saw it for the first time through the camera screen, I kept expecting Riddick to step out from behind one of the angled rocks and take a pot shot at them...:P)

3) Plot/Story - Neutral: I knew from the commercials the film was not going to be cannon. Dimensional travel instead of space travel, super young people instead of late twenties to mid thirties, got it. I went to see it totally prepared for all that and more. And to give them credit, the first half was fabulous! Totally loved how they started the story and swept us up in the tale. Which made the second half, once things actually go bad plotwise, a complete and total copout! *cry*

**(SPOILERS!) WARNING WARNING WARNING (SPOILERS!)**

Sue keeps the guys focused, Sue makes the suits to keep everyone safe, Sue gets promised, like the rest, that she will get to go on the first voyage...And she's bummed like the rest when they take the opportunity away...But the guys go off to get drunk, decide they're going anyway, and NEVER called her! They bring in Ben (who I did think should go) but left her out! They never even thought of her. If I was her, I would have been FURIOUS! Horrible turnout be dammed. Heck, she might have kept them all safe! Yet she spent all this time all this work and they forget her? Then, since she gets her powers as part of an energy discharge when the group comes back, they're just actually subliminally implying she won't be as powerful as the rest. Well Grrrrrr. (Though at least she did get pattern recognition and intelligence, so it could have been worse...) (And really, it was a cheap plot shot to just make four travel canisters instead of five.)

Victor...you are a genius. yet you stupidly put you hand into reactive energy on an alien planet without taking scans, precautions, or anything else. Really? Worse, you decide to suck the Earth into a blackhole for no real good reason. Worse, if you can make a syphoning interdimensional conduit from pure power and rocks, why didn't you use that to open a portal to come back yourself? The character of Dr. Doom in the comics is scary because he defeats people with who have superhuman powers with his intelligence! But no, let's just make him smart but then give him a ton of super natural power which he will waste stupidly blowing people's heads off for no real reason. UGH!

Reed...You ran away. At first I thought, good, so you can collect your thoughts, make a plan, and come back to save the others. But no. For a full year, you just run around. You've controlled your power, you can make yourself look like anyone. You know Sue looks for patterns, yet you never tried to contact your friends EVER! You only end up talking to them again because you got captured (great fight!), really, Reed? Really? You can create a dimensional rift with speakers and wire but not figure out a way to help the people you feel GUILTY about messing up? REALLY?

And talk about skipping reality fallout. An entire secret base is a giant hole in the ground with only four survivors - four survivors who are super powered. Yet they're instantly embraced as heroes rather than scapegoats for the loss of life and millions of dollars? Not like there was anyone there to back up their story. But our government just took them at their word? Let them quit and gave them everything they ever wanted? Yeah, right...

And finally, they get all sorts of goodies they ask for, but they don't end up owning the Baxter building and no 4 with a circle for the helicopter pad. Boo!

Ben Grimm keeping track of kills in the field? Double Boo! And not a single one of them moved to save a single human at the base or on the other dimension. They only cared about Franklin and didn't really even try to save him with an invisible shield or elastic push. Argh!

And last, but not least, what about the fact that though "being turned back to normal" is the giant motivation placard for which Ben is out there killing people, but by the end, it's not even a consideration anymore. Yet nothing had really changed to make him not want to go back. Come on!

**(END OF SPOILERS)**

No real surprises, no real twists, not even a Stan Lee cameo... Boo! Nothing at the end of the credit either. (Though Fantastic 4 #2 is already in the works.)

There are years and years and years of great Fantastic Four plots out in the comic verse, yet this is what they went with... Sigh...

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: Nice work for the stunt people and interlaced CGI. Watching Ben Grimm (The Thing) kick some booty with bad guy military peeps? Awesome! (Killing count - not so awesome.) The facility personnel and their bad travails toward the end were nicely done.

Conclusion: Fantastic 4 had a great first half, then threw all that work away by shoving in an unimaginative and not well thought out problem, assuming audiences would be satisfied with just bright lights and action. So they threw the whole thing away. Boo!

Rating: 3 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Movie Review - Thor: The Dark World

Thor: The Dark World

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tim Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Eccleston, Idris Elba, Jaimie Alexander, Zachary Levi, Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asano, Rene Russo, Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgård, and more.

Directed by: Alan Taylor Screenplay by: Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely Story by: Don Payne and Robert Rodat Based on the Comics by: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby Cinematography by: Kramer Morgenthau Original Music by: Brian Tyler

Premise: Over five thousand years ago, though the time of darkness drew to a close, the dark elves discovered a way to return the universe to how it had been before. Stopped after a bloody war by Odin's father, the dark elves and the aether weapon they'd hoped to use were long thought destroyed. As a new convergence of the nine worlds nears, Jane Foster stumbles upon the fact neither is actually gone. (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as the hammer weilding Thor. He's matured in the two years since his first arrival on earth and that maturity comes across easily thanks to Chris' skills. Natalie Portman also returns as Jane Foster. I loved all the weird quirkiness of the character, and it was a lot of fun watching her child like fascination as she gazed upon the people and wonders of Asgard, and 'geeking out' over the science. Tim Hiddleston gives great range to all that is Loki, a character as mercurial as the aether they seek to keep from the dark elves' grasp. Chris Eccleston brought a grave air to his portrayal of Malekith, even as Anthony Hopkins mirrored him in his fury to keep his way of life, even if it took every last living soul to do so.

2)  Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: Tons of special effects work their magic through the film. From the super cool dark elf ships to the awesome grandeur of the convergence, the special effects team didn't disappoint.

I was very happy they took time to show us more of Asgard. The Asgardians' ceremony for dead was impressive. Even better, they didn't forget, as so many movies and TV shows do, that the headliner wasn't the only one to lose their life. The gorgeous ceremony looked like an amalgamation of viking/Norse, and Japanese traditions. Gorgeous.

The workings of Asgard's defenses were totally fun to watch, but even more so were the cool fighters of the dark elves. The technologies of the two races as well as the 'look and feel' were different from each other, reinforcing their separation, and the dark vs. light aspect of the story. The dark elf grenades were super nasty! They also made for some very cool visuals.

3) Plot/Story - Total Thumbs Up: The story was always moving. Even in parts where you'd expect the action to slow down, they managed to do things in such a way that it kept moving forwards instead. The story also had tons of cute moments - quirky and/or funny bits that added layers of fun. One of them was an unexpected Captain America cameo - funny and unexpected yet totally fit the moment. Jane's dinner date was another.

The themes of family and responsibility are woven throughout, as well as that of stubbornness and resistance to change. They gave Heimdall some great scenes to play in!

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: The stunt guys were kept very busy in the film. There is a ton of hand-to-hand combat, getting thrown, falling, rolling. The whole department was very busy indeed.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: Whether real or CGI, the cinematography was fantastic. The view during the ceremony for the dead, the close and intimate shots of Asgard, watching the dark elf ship cut furrows in Greenwich, the convergence of the nine worlds, and more - gorgeous! The film is worth watching just for the locations and beautiful shots alone. Wait until you see Thor's view from his bedroom or Heimdall's at his post - food for the eyes.

6) Costuming/Makeup - Total Thumbs Up: Each race and world had their own unique styles of clothing, armor, and even hair styles. Half the fun of watching Jane in Asgard was seeing her go native.

Conclusion: "Thor: The Dark World" easily outdoes the first"Thor" film. The movie is constantly moving and with the fun, quirky bits they throw in, totally entertaining. IMAX, if not IMAX 3D, would be well worth it for the great visuals. Make sure to sit through the ENTIRE set of credits. We get two extra bits, and one is at the very end.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Paying Full Price to See Again)

Mind Sieve 1/14/13

This will probably be a quick one. Between all the OT and hubby's cold, time is really at a premium. Eek!

Mission Impossible from The Piano Guys. Too cute! The out takes at the end are hilarious!

Some Geeky Home Theaters to Make You Jealous by Kyle Anderson from the Nerdist. (I am jealous! Dang!)

Newly Found Comet Could Outshine the Moon from D News by Irene Klotz.

All Super Heroes Must Die trailer - this could be fun!

They Die by Dawn trailer - more westerns! (I think the trend cycles continues.) Lots of familiar faces. Should be fun.

Top 20 Social Media Marketing Articles from 2012 by The Social Media Examiner.

Agent Secrets  - Do Writers Need an Agent in the New Writing Paradigm? Guest blog post by Laurie McLean at Kristen Lamb's Blog.

Did more than I expected. Yay!