‘Fantastic Four’: OK not fantastic

The “Fantastic Four” are back, but they weren’t that fantastic this time around. I expected the movie to be extraordinarily exciting, especially with their new superpowers — but I was wrong.

I wouldn’t exactly call it “Fantastic Four” — perhaps  “Fine Four” would have been more suitable. It wasn’t horrible, but it was far from the best movie I’ve ever seen. The film had some major flaws.

Based on the Marvel comic book “Fantastic Four” and directed by Josh Trank, the film follows Reed Richards (Miles Teller) as he works to create a teleporter to a place called Planet Zero, wanting to prove teleportation and the new planet’s existence.

Richards and his colleagues decide to transport themselves without permission, disregarding countless possible negative consequences, and the trip takes a wrong turn, resulting in the travelers and Sue Storm (Kate Mara) receiving superpowers. Using their given powers, Richards and his friends travel back to the planet to stop the antagonist, Doctor Doom, from taking over the world.

With such an intense plot, the movie has enough action packed in an hour and 40 minutes to keep the audience engaged and on their toes.

At the same time, the movie felt very rushed, as if the director was trying to develop the characters and the plot as quickly as possible. If the movie was lengthened, the characters could experiment with their powers more in depth before the battle. The audience could also build a better relationship and attachment to the characters in the film.

The movie is also missing those moments before and after the characters gain their superpowers, where they are just being themselves. Furthermore, it should achieve a balance between action shots and still frame shots because the audience needs breaks between so much movement and chaos.

Personally, I would have appreciated seeing more of how the team worked together in the lab beforehand and how their relationships with each other grew. It was hard to connect to any character, because the movie did not spend enough time on any particular one.

Although the development of the characters was rushed, the actors portrayed their characters well. Teller does a good job as the new kid, awkward yet kind, especially in the lab with the other workers. Sue Storm (Kate Mara) is the feminine power of the film. Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan) brings continual comic relief to the movie since he was the only one to crack a joke in the lab.

Additionally, the movie is effective in foreshadowing the characters’ powers. Their powers come from how they were injured or almost died, which connected nicely for me.

The movie also had decent special effects, some of which were borderline disgusting. When Doctor Doom killed people by suffocating them, I cringed as I watched their faces turn red, wrinkled and dry.

Although it occasionally made me look away, “Fantastic Four” would have the potential to be a better and extremely captivating movie if the director, Josh Trank, made it longer than the 100 minutes it was. Because it lacked good length and full development, it felt a little short-handed, leading to its rating of less than fantastic.