Change Your Image
brikov
Reviews
Fantastic Four (2005)
Decent Comic Book of a Movie
I had the fortune of attending an advance screening of F4 and left the theater with a smile. Like many comic book movies it suffers from the pacing problem inherent in telling an origin story AND an adventure story. The origin story will be well-known (and therefore painfully dull) to a portion of the audience {even with the changes they made for the movie} but necessary for that part of the audience that is unfamiliar with the material.
This movie is one of the best adaptations of a comic book to movie. The actors are perfectly cast, for the most part. Michael Chiklis and Chris Evans were particularly great in their roles as The Thing and the Human Torch. Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffud and Julian McMahon made less of an impression as there roles were not as 'flashy' as the others. {SPOILERs follow} Which leads to the main problem of the film: Dr. Doom is almost a non-entity. In most of the scenes he appears in it is not clear as to what drives him other than that he is supposed to be the villain. The implication is that he is angry at Reed Richards for damaging his business and stealing Sue but you never understand why this would drive him to murder and destruction. I guess you are supposed to think that "he is the villain" and is supposed to go to these extremes. Was he crazy/evil to begin with? Did the accident affect his mind? Compare and contrast with the villains in the Spider-Man and X-Men movies. Or Batman Begins. {This is also undermined by the weakness of the love triangle subplot.}
But, by the time he finally goes into full villain mode, the movie is almost over. Then it ends. Just when it got really interesting and revved up to full speed. {SPOILERS end} It is still a joy for any fans of the comic to see it on the big screen. Non-fans may not have as good a time. Its a comic book movie, people! If you go into it with the same expectations you would a comic (not graphic novel!)you will definitely enjoy yourself. It certainly takes a different path than Batman Begins in following comic book conventions and adapting them to film rather than using film conventions to tell a comic book story, if you can grasp the difference.
30 Days (1999)
Read the plot summary? Then you've seen the movie!
A very slight movie filled with annoying people you would avoid in real life. Aside from the main character's aimlessness, which I well remembered from my own past, I couldn't explain why any of the character's made any of the choices that they made.
I can't even remember the "protagonist's" name though I saw the movie only last night. Several of the other character's were interchangeable and it usually took quite awhile in any scene before I could tell which one (Brad, Tad, Chad--or was it Craig?)it was supposed to be.
Yet I laughed frequently and "only" looked at my watch 3 times.
And the ending is brave. You have got to give them credit for sticking with that ending. Plus, it is very well crafted. This looks like a much more expensive movie than the stated budget.