It has been eight years since the last attempt to reboot Marvel's team of superheroes called the "Fantastic Four", and with the review embargo being lifted (or being broken), the Internet is abuzz with disappointment.
"Fantastic Four" is based on Stan Lee-Jack Kirby comics about a bunch of science prodigies who created a transporter to an alternate dimension where they consequently got their super powers. The first "Fantastic Four" movie was created in 1994, but it didn't see the light of day, though bootleg copies were circulated. The second was released in 2005 with a sequel in 2007, but both with nothing to remember save the hotness of Jessica Alba.
Critics and comic aficionados are saying the "Fantastic Four" reboot is just reliving fans' disappointments with the two previous movies.
Cinemablend likened the film to an appetizer, sort of "teasing a meal that doesn't actually come." Todd McCarthy of Yahoo said the film is a "100-minute trailer for a movie that never happens."
The common complaint is that Josh Trank, whose claim to fame is the 2012 thriller "Chronicle," focused on the origin stories of the characters rather than the story of how these characters united to form this fantastic group.
With Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, Jaime Bell and Toby Kebbell on board, the film seemed to promise redemption for the first two "Fantastic Four" movies. The good cast, however, failed to save the movie from sinking because of the weight of its half-baked story.
There is no doubt that fans are going to flock theaters when 20th Century Fox's "Fantastic Four" opens this August 7. But with the not-so fantastic reviews circulating online days before its release, will the film hit the weekend Box Office projection of $40 million to $50 million?
The "Fantastic Four" sequel has been penciled in for June or July 2017. But with the disappointing reviews, will 20th Century Fox push through with the sequel out of sheer production obligation?
