Movie: Fantastic 4

[RDK]

Just tired of these crappy CGI-driven pseudo-movies.

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CGI-driven, okay. But there's nothing "pseudo" about it. It's a damn movie.

[BERIGAN]

...I've been awaiting it eagerly, but with great dread. 

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That should be your new signature line!

[RDK]

...I've been awaiting it eagerly, but with great dread.  

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That should be your new signature line!

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Nah, my sig line is reserved for poking fun at idiots and their dumb reviews.

Oh.

Er.... heh. Heh....

[jazzbo]

Went to see this today.

Wasn't as bad as I feared it might be. Was a lot of fun actually. The worst thing about the rewriting of the story to include Von Doom as a victim of the radiation and mutation is. . . he was a lot more sinister as a Latverian ruler with no super powers that we didn't know that much about before he appeared. He's more Green Goblin than Latverian monarch here. . . .

Still I think they sort of captured the beginning of Strange Tales Ben and Johnny sparring and Johnny Storm was truly amusing. Sue Storm was someone you really wanted to remain visible. The others. . . they did okay.

I was actually happy they put Stan Lee in there as they did. . . it was nice to see him as that character th at we did see in the early issues of the comic as partial comic relief.

So who you do you think will be showing up along with Dr. Doom in the next one as villain du jour?

[Alexander]

The obvious choice, if they want the movies to go cosmic, is Galactus. That way they can introduce the Silver Surfer. I'd like to see them go into the Negative Zone, which means Anhilius and Blastaar! And what about the Skrulls?!

[Jazzmoose]

Let me be the first to say "NO to Moleman"...

[RDK]

$56M for the weekend! Those are unexpectedly HUGE numbers for this film. Fox would have been thrilled with 30M. This is great news for the franchise, but dear god I hope they find a new director...

[jazzbo]

I'd lke to see the Skrulls next.

[jazzbo]

Or better yet, the Skrulls. . .and Namor. Invasion from above and below!

[ejp626]

I wasn't really planning on seeing this movie, and most of the reviews I've scanned have been fairly negative. Is it true that the Invisible Woman isn't able to make her clothes invisible and gets a complex over having to strip before using her powers? Does she eventually manage to turn her uniform invisible? Quite frankly, if this is true, it seems such a perversion (in several senses) of the comics that I wouldn't even rent the movie. She is definitely supposed to have the power to turn the things she is touching invisible.

What might be watchable would be a cross-over between FF and Spiderman. They made many appearances together and always had a nice tension between whether FF would trust Spiderman, since in most early storylines he had such bad publicity. Maybe they need a successful FF sequel to show the franchise really has legs.

[ejp626]

Then I started thinking about Spiderman and Dr. Strange, since they did a cross-over or two. Dr. Strange have his own TV pilot in 1978 which I watched, and for some reason I thought he showed up once or twice in the Spiderman TV series, but I am probably mistaken.

Anyway, scanning the web for confirmation of this, I came across this list of Marvel-based movies in development. It's sort of good news/bad news. Bad news for people who like serious movies. Good news for people who like superhero movies, though most of them won't be very good, and the sheer number will end up killing the trend for another 10 years or so. I think Dr. Strange does have promise as a movie, though hard to say it wouldn't be so watered down to avoid getting banned in the South that it would even be worth it. Same with Ghost Rider, though the studios somehow did put out Hellboy and that did ok.

Synopsis: Marvels' financial statements provide interesting details about their movie slate. Points of interest:

- Man-Thing is now listed as a 2005 release with the exact date TBD.

- Other 2005 releases include Elektra (Jan. 15), Fantastic Four (July 1), Iron Man (November or else Summer 2006) and Luke Cage

- For 2006 & Beyond: The Avengers (Lions Gate - animated DVD), X-Men 3 (May 3, 2006), Namor (Summer 2006), Ghost Rider (Summer 2006), Black Widow (2006), The Punisher 2, The Hulk 2, Deathlok, Spider-Man 3 (May 4, 2007), Dr. Strange, Iron Fist, Silver Surfer, Ant-Man, Black Panther, Captain America, Nick Fury and Thor

[jazzbo]

A number of those I bet never get to theaters. . . . Just a guess.

Okay: re: Sue Storms couture: it's only at the beginning she has to strip to be invisible, and she expresses momentary discomfort at the trend, all for laughs. Reed discovers that the uniforms they wore into space had also been affected by the cosmic radiation and were "unstable" so that Sue's would turn invisible with her, his would stretch infinitesmally, Johnny's wouldn't incinerate, and Ben's would withstand his galeforce farts.

[ejp626]

A number of those I bet never get to theaters. . . . Just a guess.

Okay: re: Sue Storms couture:  it's only at the beginning she has to strip to be invisible, and she expresses momentary discomfort at the trend, all for laughs.  Reed discovers that the uniforms they wore into space had also been affected by the cosmic radiation and were "unstable" so that Sue's would turn invisible with her, his would stretch infinitesmally, Johnny's wouldn't incinerate, and Ben's would withstand his galeforce farts.

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I agree - I can't imagine all these actually making it to the screen - Ant Man, Namor? I did see Silver Surfer, so maybe there will be a galactic adventure after all.

As far as the uniforms, well no wonder Doom felt left out. Now if only they had gone into space wearing their Fantastic Five costumes, then the world would have turned out so much better. (Again, a pretty ridiculous change to the basic story line.)

[Aggie87]

...bumping this up because the sequel comes out in about 2 weeks - Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Could be interesting, or could be bad - it looks more about the Surfer than it does about the F4.

Here's some strange marketing too - I don't think I like our currency being used like this. I guess since it's the Franklin Mint it's an "after market" deal, but still - isn't defacing currency like this (and putting it into circulation) illegal?

Silver Surfer U.S. quarter minted

Limited edition coin put into circulation

Hollywood really does mint money.

In an unprecedented marketing move, 20th Century Fox and the Franklin Mint have created a Silver Surfer U.S. quarter that has been put into limited circulation in advance of the release of "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer."

Pic bows in the U.S. on June 15.

In recent days, a total of 40,000 quarters were released into the currency stream after being dispatched to cities across the country in special silver armored trucks.

Legal tender coin is a California state commemerateive quarter minted by the U.S. Mint and color-enhanced by Franklin.

One side of the limited edition collector's quarter features an image of the Silver Surfer character, while the name of the movie's Web site appears in tiny lettering.

Those finding the quarter can go to the Web site and take part in the Search 4 Silver campaign, including registering to win a trip for four to the world preem of "Surfer" in London. There's other treats offered as well, including special screenings for those finding the coin early on.

This weekend, Fox will pull off another marketing stunt for the tentpole when a team of 20 skydivers and a champion sky-surfer perform an aerial show at the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in North Carolina.

Edited May 28, 2007 by Aggie87