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jackThe new Fantastic Four was pretty good. (Sonic, Martin and I went to see it on Sunday.)
I enjoyed it all the way through, I'm very glad I wanted to go. The effects were impressive, the characters nice, the imposing characters, Silver Surfer and world-eating Galactus were ominous and effective, which is pretty darn near impossible to get right without looking stupid.
There were only a few of niggles:
* Several of the early-middle scenes had "OK, now we demonstrate superpower of character X". Which is good, it shows why they're cool and introduces new viewers to what's possible, but if I noticed it wasn't quite integrated enough. (OTOH, Ms Storm stepping backwards off the quay onto tow mini-forcefields was cool.)
* The scope of the film was good, it portrays a world-encompassing disaster pretty well. However, they must remember for the next film to *back off*; venice sinking wasn't the most promising sign. Trying to outdo this one will just produce something silly where you know everyone's going to survive, dealing with a continent-localised catastrophe would be plenty to have a film about.
* Susan Jessica Alba gets *another* power that leaves her clothes-less in public. Come to think of it, The Thing's would do that *as well*, that's 3 for 4. I mean, ok, this has its good side, but it's depressingly unequal-opportunity, Hornblower shows Welsh-Guy-beekcake is possible if you want it.
* The ending is appropriately dramatic and reasonably moving, but not especially coherent. So, Surf-dude can blow up Galactus? Why didn't he do that *already*? I thought he was supposed to just lead him away, that would be both tragic, logical, and dramatic.
I checked the backstory from the comics (trying to go back to the first encounter). According to the internet:
(a) SS originally led G to planets with only nonsapient life, but over time G's power changed SS, making him more into a servant of G, and less his original self. On earth, he rediscovered himself, which was why he wanted to save earth from G. This all fits, and is what the film kind of implies, whether it means to or not.
(b) This *could* explain *how* he turned on G. If he was becoming more trusted (and also needing to range further afield), maybe he was able to channel more and more of G's power -- maybe enough to set up enough feedback to harm him! Boom, it all hangs together pretty well.
Except that's not what happened in the comics at all, in the comics he just holds G off until FF set off a deus ex machina device even more implausible than what happened in the film, G goes away, exiles SS to earth, and returns for rematch bouts ENTROPYOFSTARSPERSONIFIED vs FOURGUYSWHOCANTURNINVISIBLEORFLY two, three, four, etc.
SS's own exile comics were supposedly philosophical and well done though.
A primer on SS and the Big G.
Coincidentally, despite not being a comic guy, I knew of both G and SS beforehand, and hoped for G's appearance when I saw the trailer. From two completely coincidental sources, I'd heard about G arising from "Hey, what if the FF fought god?"; and that SS had been G's herald.
I enjoyed it all the way through, I'm very glad I wanted to go. The effects were impressive, the characters nice, the imposing characters, Silver Surfer and world-eating Galactus were ominous and effective, which is pretty darn near impossible to get right without looking stupid.
There were only a few of niggles:
* Several of the early-middle scenes had "OK, now we demonstrate superpower of character X". Which is good, it shows why they're cool and introduces new viewers to what's possible, but if I noticed it wasn't quite integrated enough. (OTOH, Ms Storm stepping backwards off the quay onto tow mini-forcefields was cool.)
* The scope of the film was good, it portrays a world-encompassing disaster pretty well. However, they must remember for the next film to *back off*; venice sinking wasn't the most promising sign. Trying to outdo this one will just produce something silly where you know everyone's going to survive, dealing with a continent-localised catastrophe would be plenty to have a film about.
* Susan Jessica Alba gets *another* power that leaves her clothes-less in public. Come to think of it, The Thing's would do that *as well*, that's 3 for 4. I mean, ok, this has its good side, but it's depressingly unequal-opportunity, Hornblower shows Welsh-Guy-beekcake is possible if you want it.
* The ending is appropriately dramatic and reasonably moving, but not especially coherent. So, Surf-dude can blow up Galactus? Why didn't he do that *already*? I thought he was supposed to just lead him away, that would be both tragic, logical, and dramatic.
I checked the backstory from the comics (trying to go back to the first encounter). According to the internet:
(a) SS originally led G to planets with only nonsapient life, but over time G's power changed SS, making him more into a servant of G, and less his original self. On earth, he rediscovered himself, which was why he wanted to save earth from G. This all fits, and is what the film kind of implies, whether it means to or not.
(b) This *could* explain *how* he turned on G. If he was becoming more trusted (and also needing to range further afield), maybe he was able to channel more and more of G's power -- maybe enough to set up enough feedback to harm him! Boom, it all hangs together pretty well.
Except that's not what happened in the comics at all, in the comics he just holds G off until FF set off a deus ex machina device even more implausible than what happened in the film, G goes away, exiles SS to earth, and returns for rematch bouts ENTROPYOFSTARSPERSONIFIED vs FOURGUYSWHOCANTURNINVISIBLEORFLY two, three, four, etc.
SS's own exile comics were supposedly philosophical and well done though.
A primer on SS and the Big G.
Coincidentally, despite not being a comic guy, I knew of both G and SS beforehand, and hoped for G's appearance when I saw the trailer. From two completely coincidental sources, I'd heard about G arising from "Hey, what if the FF fought god?"; and that SS had been G's herald.