Saturday, December 08, 2007
Fantastic Four, Plus One Dweeb
Kristin and I got to see both of the Fantastic Four films, and although I wasn't blown away, I found there was a lot I liked about them. I admit I've never been a huge fan of the World's Greatest Comic, but once thing I have liked about the Fantastic Four is the family aspect, and I think the four principles in these films capture that dynamic perfectly.
If only Doom would live up to his name.
I like Julian McMahon as an actor. He was the main reason I stuck with Charmed for so long, and once his character went from series regular to an occasional appearance my attention to the show waned. But he is woefully miscast as Doom. He never portrays the right amount of menace or sinister intentions. He never acts arrogant enough, and never refers to himself in the third person. In both films his confrontations with the Fantastic Four are laughably short, as they take the upper hand way too fast. Everything about his character, from his background as a European monarch to his costume and powers, and never fully explained or fleshed out enough to give him any resonance, and so ultimately the films fail as a hero is most often defined by the villain. The inclusion of the Surfer and Galactus in the second give it the edge as the better film, though, and precisely for the same reason.
Now if the film Doom had looked this, and sounded like Udo Kier or Arnold Vosloo, we would have had a sure fire winner:
I'm wondering if this film has set up a possible third film. Doom is sent to the bottom of the Atlantic, teasing us with a possible Namor tie-in. However, part of me feels that the universe of the movie Fantastic Four is ground too much in reality to preclude an Atlantic civilization. Of course, that grounding in reality would hamstring many plots, as one of the biggest appeals to a Fantastic Four story is that science can cause all sorts of wacky things, and invasions by Mole Men and other-dimensional insect lords are an everyday occurrence. Plus, given the emphasis on children, I'd imagine a third film would have Franklin Richards in it, and a Reed-Sue-Namor triangle would feel a lot more uncomfortable when children are also involved.
Labels: Hey Kids - Comics, Marvel Zombie, My Cinematic 2 Cents, Spot the Pop Culture Reference
------------------------------------------------