50 Most Hated Movies of all Time - #44 - Fantastic Four

You know, comic book movies or should I say, the reaction to comic book movies (and specifically for the purposes of this post, the Marvel Comics movies) is weird these days.  First and foremost I guess is the Marvel Studios films where movies range from the really good (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor) to the not-so-good (Iron Man 2, Incredible Hulk).  New Line had a good thing with Blade, until the 3rd one sucked the joint out.  20th Century Fox usually have hits with the X-Men series (though I don't really know why, the movies aren't that great) and Columbia Pictures have either had hits (Spider-Man 1 & 2, Ghost Rider), or misses (Spider-Man 3, Ghost Rider 2) or colossal bungles (Spider-Man 4...okay, it hasn't come out, but the movie looks like ass).  Which leads me to the Fantastic Four series.  Yes, all the series I've mentioned previously have had their ups and downs, but it seems at least with the Film A-hole and Rehab Troupe (or FART, if you will), this series is among the most derided.  The question is, why?


First of all, I think unlike some of the other movies mentioned, this comic book movie series is actually fun.  Yes, that's right; FUN!  Imagine a comic book series that's actually fun.  We can't have that!  We can't have fun!  Where is all the brooding if we have fun?  The grittiness?  The realism? NO!  No fun!  Movies are not fun, they are serious educational pieces about how a billionaire who dresses as a bat could realistically clean up the city! NO FUN!  You see my point.  The Fantastic Four was not gritty, no realistic, no brooding, not taking social issues of today and trying to jam them into a place they don't really belong.  The Fantastic Four was just a jolly good time and nowadays, that is not permitted, at least not if FART has anything to to do with it. 


Secondly, it appears there are problems with at least one of the actors and we know who we're talking about.  It's not Michael Chikilis or Ioan Gruffald.  It was Jessica Alba.  At the time (and I suppose this still goes on today, though her career appears to be in a black hole right, now), Jessica was one of our resident hotties, a girl who got more press for her looks than for her talent.  Right or wrong you can debate until the sun goes down, but the more people panted for her physically, the more it seemed that the rest of the critics, the serious people mind you were more than willing to rip down her talent as they could not do so with her looks. We're talking about a woman who has been nominated for 4 Razzies for 11 films she made (including both Fantastic Four), so that may have something to do with the movie's hate label as well.


The third reason and this might be the most deserving reason why these films are "hated" is because they made some bad choices.  Look, I really do like these films and would consider getting them on blu-ray at some point, but in both films, they kinda screwed the pooch a little.  They didn't use Dr. Doom enough in part 1 and they completely frigged up Galactus is part 2.  We heard about these bad choices all over the 'Net and I do agree, these were mistakes.  However, I feel that looking at the sum of the movies, (and the sum of other movies as well), these mistakes while not being completely forgiven, can at least be put on the backburner a little bit.  The 4 look good, they have their powers, they have their origin, they do have a big fight with Dr. Doom at the end, they have the right personalities for their characters...what more do you want?  Yeah, I could have used more Dr. Doom as well, but the Director's Cut gives you a little bit more as well...I don't know what else to say.  For this film to be hated, it just boggles the mind. 


So, that's my analysis of Fantastic Four.  A movie that is hated for being fun, hated for the publicity giving to the main actress and hated for some mistakes in their story.  If not following the comics to a T is cause for hatred, then all comic movies, including the blessed Dark Knight and the rest of the Marvel movies should be hated as well.  


Rating: Worth the hate: NO!  


- Stephenstein

50 Most Hated Movies of all Time - #50 - Daredevil

So, a while back, I posted the list of the 50 "most hated" films of all time according to Total Film.  Well, I didn't really say my individual feelings towards each of these films.  J-Man had his JCVD and Gamera Kaiju reviews, Deceptisean has his nostalgic song posts every Friday...I've decided to have this.  So, once every couple of days or so, I'm going to touch on a brief post on my feelings towards the films in this list by the so-called movie website, Total Film (yeah right, Total). 


When I first saw this film, I thought it was okay.  I wasn't dying, but I did like it.  The backlash on this film though, was incredible.  Why all the hate?  Was the film THAT bad?  I mean honestly, what was it that made people dislike this movie so much?  It wasn't like they were life-long Daredevil fans!  Some people didn't even know he was legitimately a comic book character before this movie came out!  So, what the hell?


To me, it all came down to Ben Affleck.  People were tired of seeing him, he could have made the next great film and no one would have have liked it.  Much like a lot going on these days, the people were burned by a product of their own making.  Everyone was going on and on about 'Bennifer' and all that stuff?  No?  Shaking your head violently, with your nose turned up?  B.S.  These guys were everywhere, they were on all the entertainment shows, where they shopped, what they ate, what johns they used when going to the washroom, it was in all the trash magazines, all the internet sites, everywhere.  That kind of supply can't exist without the demand.  So, maybe rightfully so, maybe not, people were tired of Ben when this movie came out.  Never mind it wasn't actually that bad and he was pretty decent in it (and the director's cut was killer -- if that version had screened, no one had any right to piss and moan.  


At the end of the day, not a lot of people seemed to like the film.  However, in my opinion, the hate was against the lead actor (and why hate the guy anyway, wasn't like he came to your house and shot your puppy...you didn't like him, then change the channel or turn off the television!) and that was it.  The movie was harmless, yes somewhat flawed (thanks Hollywood suits!  Bet you gave this one a standing O when it screened! You jackasses!) , but not worth the hate.  Even hardcore Daredevil fans would have had to admit, at least they got the costume right!


Rating: Worth the hate? -- NO!


- Stephenstein

Random Song of the Week: Let Your Heart Decide - Celine Dion

Before you get up in arms about me posting a Celine Dion song (I'm not a huge fan, but I don't mind her as much as some people -- okay I don't like her big-eyed face, but that's it), let me point out that this song has geek roots. Let Your Heart Decide was written exclusively for the movie Asterix and the Vikings (2006), based on the french comic book. Asterix himself is a household name in Europe where his comic stories have been hugely popular since the 60’s. The character has starred in 8 animated movies and 3 live-action films (so far) with a fourth live-action movie Asterix and Obelix: On Her Majesty’s Service set for release later this year and a 3D animated feature Asterix: The Land of the Gods currently in production and slated for a 2014 release. I loved reading the English translations of Asterix in grade school and am happy to see the tale of unassuming Gauls holding off the Roman army with resourcefulness and a secret strength-giving formula to be as popular as ever in the 21^st century. Asterix and the Vikings was a so-so movie, with the Romeo and Juliette-like characters stealing a lot of the story away from Asterix and Obelix – but the animation is terrific and it’s great seeing the characters brought to life on the screen. Let Your Heart Decide is only available on the Asterix and the Vikings soundtrack. The song makes this movie seem more epic and emotional than it really is and I find myself remembering it and listening to it often.


-Deceptisean

Second Rate

So, this is the fifth X-Men movie and somehow, we're still telling the origins of the team.  It's getting to the point now, where the question has to be asked: will we ever see these characters ever "evolve" to use a constant word used in this latest film and show new stories on screen?  Will we ever get Apocalypse and Mr. Sinister? If so, what form would they be in?  'Cause I gotta be honest with you all...after seeing this latest film, I have almost no hope for the franchise at all.

The movie starts out with the exact first scene from #1.  That's right, because we needed to see Magneto's origin...again.  Then the next scene shows Sebastian Shaw killing Magneto's Mom because Magneto wouldn't (or rather couldn't) move a coin.  Magneto kills the Nazi guards and destroys the room...but actually doesn't kill Shaw.  That's right, because if someone just murdered my Mom, the last thing I would want to do is kill him.  I would just rather destroy a bunch of stuff for now reason.

So it goes with X-Men.  There's a lot of origin stories, but nothing really happens.  There's no real fighting between the Hellfire Club and the X-Men.  There's miniature battles here and there, but nothing really sustained.  The Hellfire Club actually takes out more CIA agents then X-Men.  Then, there's the Cold War aspect of the movie.  It permeates throughout the movie.  Look, I know the Cold War was this really stressful time in people's lives when they were living at that time and there have been a number of suitable films that have covered this subject...must we go through it again?  It hasn't been covered enough?  Not only that, but what's the big thing at the end?  Humans and Mutants can't get along.  Uh-huh.  Let's see, didn't I just see 3 X-Men movies that all covered this subject?  Is there going to be another theme besides this in ANY X-Men movie? 

You know, this movie really is for people who have no idea what the X-Men mythos is.  I've read the X-Men encyclopedia, so I know all this stuff.  I'm not particularly interested in how Professor X got crippled or how Magneto got the helmet or what Mystique and Professor X's relationship was before  the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants was formed.  I don't need ANY of this explained and you know what?  I could have figured it out for myself!  It's called WIKIPEDIA!!!!  Imagine that!!!  or even better, I could have used this little thing that no one seems to use anymore...it's called my IMAGINATION!!!!!!!!

Seriously, these movies are beginning to piss me off.  Nothing happens in this movie.  I mean literally, nothing happens.  There's no intrigue, no suspense, no "what's-going-to-happen-next", nothing.  The story doesn't even to seem to make much sense.  Professor X and Magento go around recruiting people for no purpose other than to put them in a room to sit around and chill.  It's just...bad.  If I wasn't a completist and wanted to keep the movies together, I would not buy this movie.  That's what I think of it.

As for the character designs, you see Emma Frost in the thigh-high boots once...you see Beast as the actual Beast in the last 20 minutes (he's actually really cool...when he's Beast)...they put on the yellow and blue (or is it black?) suits once...Magneto shows up in his real costume at the very end.  The performances are alright, everyone tried, it's just, when you don't have great material, you can't do anything with it.  There's some surprise cameos and there's a ton of actors in this film that you'll be like "hey, I know this guy, but I can't remember his name".  Oh and don't bother waiting through the end credits for a scene at the end, there's nothing this time.

So, that's X-Men: Last Class.  I was bored, I didn't care, it's nothing interesting, it's nothing new.  I'm going to be HYPER generous with my review, only because the movie didn't actually offend me or was like Battle L.A. where I literally couldn't tell what was happened.  But it's not good and those yahoos out there who are dying for this film...gimme a break.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

- Stephenstein

Iron Man 2: The Tony Stark Show

I'm going to break my tradition and write about a movie already reviewed on this blog. Why? Because it's Iron Man. Growing up, Iron Man was not one of the comics I read, but since getting back into comics, I've noted how enormously important Iron Man is, both to Marvel's comic book world, as well as the films they are trying to make. Iron Man is sort of like, the lynch pin (in my opinion) of the whole Avengers concept, so any film adaptation they do, bears comment.

What did I like? I liked the humour, for th most part. I liked parts of the story, such as Howard Stark leaving clues to the new element to his son in the design of the Expo. Iliked Robert Downey Jr, and Sam Rockwell. Robert Downey Jr. is great...as Tony Stark. Let's face it, any yahoo could be in the Iron Man suit. But Downey just plays the part of the Tony Stark so well, and infuses him both with a half-serious superficiality, and a determination to do what's right, that you have to admire it. Likewise, Rockwell really stood out for me, as a villain who is trying to capitalize on an opportunity he sees. He's not totally evil, but he's sort of like the standard selfish, capitalistic corporate head. Except Rockwell makes him 10 times more memorable. Dancing to the podium, eating ice cream flown in from San Francisco, he's got nice little touches that I really liked.

Then there's War Machine. Okay, they didn't really call him War Machine, but I really dug his look, and his arsenal. I liked too, that War Machine didn't give the suit back in the end. Likewise, I enjoyed the drones, that they had certain drones for certain parts of the military (though that concept did not really play out), and the fact they were so effective an adversary to Iron Man.

Okay, so that's all well and good. Now let's get on with the bad. Pepper Potts. Annoying as hell, I could not stand her. From the beginning to the end, all she does is whine and complain to Tony. You didn't tell me you were dying, this job is so hard, what are you doing, I can't take this anymore, etc, etc. Umm, you've worked for this guy for years, how about a little gratitude when he makes you CEO? How about the benefit of the doubt? "Tony, you're acting a little weird, what's wrong?" Nope. She was just a bitch from beginning to end, and I wished that drone had blown up and killed her.

What else? Not enough Iron Man. J-Man brought this up, and he's right. He should have appeared more in the 2nd film (as we've already established how Iron Man was put together), the fights should have been longer (the end fight was really pathetic for an end fight). Whiplash and Black Widow were completely wasted. I've rarely seen an ineffective villain like Whiplash, he didn't really engage Iron Man after his first appearance at the racetrack, but tinkered in Justin Hammer's compound. The real villain of the film was the faulty arclight generator in Tony Stark's chest. Nice concept, but I want to see Iron Man fight someone worthy, not worry if his chest generator is going to kill him. Some of these problems may seem nitpicky, but I don't think so: this is 2010, we know how good superhero movies work, and how the rest don't. We're running out of time for excuses.

My rating may seem generous, but I do like Downey Jr. as Iron Man, and I like the universe they've created here. I just think this one was a little on the weaker side, compared to the first film, and a lot of the concepts, while neat, either didn't play out to their maximum potential (such as Whiplash and Justin Hammer teaming up), or were given too much attention (the arclight generator failing in his chest).

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I wish thee a fond goodnight

- Stephenstein