Dr Doom. Fantastic Four.

Fantastic Four – Child prodigy, Reed Richards, is convinced that he can make teleportation possible and this dream becomes a reality when he teams up with friend, Ben Grimm. When he discovers that the objects he transports go to a different dimension, Reed is offered a scholarship at a prestigious science academy and thrives. After he and his team send a live test subject to the other dimension and back safely, they go without permission which leads them to being exposed to the planet’s alien material, drastically affecting their genetic makeup.

Fantastic Four (2015) – Director: Josh Trank

Is Fantastic Four appropriate for kids

“Fantastic Four 2015 poster” by Source (WP:NFCC#4). Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fantastic_Four_2015_poster.jpg#/media/File:Fantastic_Four_2015_poster.jpg

Rating: 12A

Running Length: 100 mins

Starring: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Toby Kebbell

Genre: Science Fiction, Comic Book

REVIEW: ‘FANTASTIC FOUR’

‘Fantastic Four’, the Marvel creation which saw its first big screen adoption in 2005 has now been rebooted with several gritty and realistic changes having been made. The bright colours and child-like wonder are gone in favour of a much stronger, adult tone. The idea of travelling to a newly discovered dimension is very contemporary, bringing the story up to date. Exploring the unknown is always appealing and the consequences are shown to be as devastating as might be expected.

While the movie admirably explores several of the characters and their motivations, this is somewhat overdone and one of the main characters, Ben, is almost forgotten about for the majority, especially as he then does not get enough screen time to justify his sudden move to the forefront in the final third of the film. The plot is also a little disjointed with the action happening all at once at the end with little build-up and little of the expected action beforehand.

While there are points to criticise about this version of the story, it is very watchable and, if viewed as more of a drama than an action flick, ‘Fantastic Four’ seems less like an origins story and more like the beginning of something great.

CONTENT: IS ‘FANTASTIC FOUR (2015)’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

A chimp is used as the live test subject that is sent to the other dimension. When it is being shut into the craft, it appears to be afraid. However, there is no concern that the experiment could go wrong, the chimp doesn’t show any other signs of distress and is returned safely. Children who are concerned with animal cruelty and using animals for scientific experiments may be a little upset by this scene but should not be too distressed.

When Reed and the others visit the other dimension, they see long ‘rivers’ of electricity which run into large pools. When exploring, the pools suddenly explode, throwing what looks like water high into the air and send rocks flying all around. This becomes a very intense scene with the scientists running for their lives and each one being exposed. One gets into their transport pod but fire smashes through the glass, consuming and burning the man inside as he screams in pain. When they get back to the lab, one of the team sees this man’s body, charred and still on fire.

One character lies on an operating table; their limbs are stretched far out of proportion and held in place. When he wakes up he becomes increasingly distressed when he is unable to get any answers on what has happened to himself and his friends. Another character is on fire, he grunts and groans, visibly suffering before controlling what is happening to him. His eyes and mouth are holes which glow yellow but he is able to also look normal when not using his powers.

Another character becomes a large rock creature and struggles to deal with his new appearance. When Reed tries to find him, he can hear him calling out for help and on finding him is shocked by what he sees. This character is clearly distraught by what has happened to him and, when Reed has to leave him, he begs him not to go. Later, a character asks him if it hurts to which he replies ‘I’m used to it’.

A character kills many incidental characters, they do this by first collapsing a roof on top of some and then exploding the heads of others. He walks down a corridor and each person he comes across is killed. They wear hazmat suits but large pools of blood from their heads splatter against the wall. The strongest moment of this scene is when one particular character is killed, they groan and shake, visibly suffering; their head turns bright red and the visor of their hazmat suit suddenly turns a deep red as their head has exploded and they slump to the floor on their knees. This part of the scene lasts around 30 seconds and is unexpectedly strong for a movie which has had very little violence up until this point.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?
VERDICT: IS ‘FANTASTIC FOUR’ FOR KIDS?

‘Fantastic Four’ suffers from a plot that doesn’t quite get the pacing right, however that doesn’t stop it from being good. As the fun of its predecessor is lacking and with the strong violence at the end of the movie, we feel that this movie is not appropriate for kids under 12.

  • Violence: 5/5 (very little violence for the majority of the movie but a scene towards the end is almost excessive. Blood and gore are seen as well as human suffering)
  • Emotional Distress: 2/5 (a character is killed and their loved ones are deeply upset, one telling them that they are sorry. This distress is not lingered upon and should not be too upsetting)
  • Fear Factor: 3/5 (the villain, who is only introduced in the final third of the movie is quite frightening as they are shown to have no remorse over killing innocent people and are seemingly unstoppable)
  • Sexual Content: 0/5
  • Bad Language: 3/5 (frequent moderate cursing and blasphemy)
  • Dialogue: 0/5
  • Other notes: Deals with themes of friendship, accepting responsibility for your actions, righting a wrong, believing in yourself even if those around you don’t, not giving up on the people you care about and accepting disabilities in yourself and others.

Words by Laura Record

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