Two New Super-Serious FANTASTIC FOUR Trailers Hit

Fantastic Four is out in just over three weeks and it’s probably fair to say that there aren’t too many fans who have the hots for it right now. A host of rumoured behind-the-scenes trouble and a ton of backlash against the movie (mostly due to Johnny Storm’s race change, which is unwarranted) have led to fan anticipation becoming kinda obsolete. In a last-ditch marketing push Fox have released two new trailers for the movie – domestic and international – which, in my humble fanboy opinion, doesn’t do an awful lot to sway the naysayers.

Look, I want to like this movie. Josh Trank did a great job on Chronicle and I really like the cast of the film. That being said, it’s clear that nobody working on this movie really gets Fantastic Four. I don’t see anything ‘fantastic’ about the footage in these two trailers and it feels reminiscent of the pre-Iron Man era. These characters are not super-serious and dark; they’re fun and they’re a family, which this movie seems completely devoid of. There is literally no enthusiasm given in any footage or even interviews; these guys don’t feel like ‘the world’s first superhero family’ (that was more obvious from the original two movies), it feels like a bunch of scientists who have been thrown together played by actors who don’t want to be there. It feels like this movie was only made to hold onto character rights – which is the truth. There is no life in Fantastic Four regardless of how many trailers they throw at us.

My impression is that Josh Trank really wanted to make a more serious big-budget superhero movie, and when he was offered this he warped it to fit his own desires. In doing so the source material seems to have been thrown out the window, interest from both fans and the general public is non-existent and Trank’s Hollywood image has been severely damaged – whether the allegations against him are true or not. I guess we’ll find out if I’m right or wrong come August 6th.