Fantastic 4 (2015) Review - AND - The Evolution of My Reviews

Okay, well its been about a week and half since I first posted to this blog and I have to say I have been enjoying being forced to think critically about the movies I have seen. However, I feel that because I am always in the mindset of "analyzing a film's quality," I lose in the enjoyment department. The reason movies actually exist is for entertainment, not for someone to sit on their high-horse  criticizing an actor's performance or taking note of every product placement or continuity error. (As much as I enjoy CinemaSins on YouTube, they sure are nit-picky). The reason I started this blog was to have an outlet to express my appreciation for media, and in this case especially cinema. I feel I have missed the mark in the few meager reviews I have written. In the future I truly want to simply keep a log of what I have been watching with some thoughts I may have. This may not include a fully inclusive review, but it will certainly highlight what I liked and disliked. I don't want to be forced into finding things to talk about for movies that are boring.

For example, I just went to the premier of Fant4stic (The newest adaptation of Marvel's Fantastic 4) and I really don't have too much to comment on it. Bottom line, I did not enjoy it. The exposition and set-up took up nearly 2/3 of the movie and was incredibly boring. While a detailed origin story may have suited Marvel movies in the early days, but now I just want to get into cool powers and action quickly. A barrage of awful CGI also took me out of the movie. One of my friends commented afterward that some of the scenes "could have been done himself." And when the main conflict with Dr. Doom took place, I was totally shocked at the poor story-telling and confusing fight.

I went into the movie with very high hopes. After the first trailer I was on-board. I have been a fan of the Fantastic 4 since the 2005 movie. I love this superhero team formula because it has so much potential. I mean The Incredibles proved how well this formula works. Also, look at the movie poster. They all look amazing, especially The Thing. What. A. Boss.

Unfortunately this movie felt more like getting teeth pulled than a fun superhero experience.

To return to my earlier rant, I still plan on giving the movies I watch a rating, but I want it to be clear that the "Nathan" rating is very biased. While I like to think I have pretty good opinions of media, there are several examples I could give of opinions that are the polar opposite of the "Rotten Tomatoes" or "IMDB" rating.


And on that note here is my rating for Fant4stic. Bonus points go to Doom's initial powers reveal, and a Fire Flower Easter Egg.

4/10