The Marvel Comics adaptation “Fantastic Four” and its sequel “Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer” were created shortly before the release of “Iron Man” in 2008 and are not part of the MCU. That’s good, because the movies, directed by “Ride Along” director Tim Story, might not have prevented the franchise’s colossal success, but they certainly wouldn’t have contributed to it either. Even then, they seemed cheap, silly, and low-tension – an impression that has drastically increased from the current perspective of the superhero genre.
So you don’t have to turn it on when Today, April 3, 2023, “Fantastic Four” will be running at 8:15 PM and immediately afterwards at 10:30 PM “Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer” on Cable 1. And certainly not for the reruns that follow that same night at 12:20 p.m. or 2:15 a.m.
For the curious and/or intrepid who want to see the movies despite our warning but don’t have time today, there are alternatives. So you can stream both titles at any time as part of your Disney+ or Paramount+ subscription.
In addition, “Fantastic Four” and “Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer” are of course available on DVD/Blu-ray. And that even in a currently quite cheap double pack:
“Fantastic Four” is hollow puppet theatre
Not only that the special effects, which are hugely important to this topic, fell well below the level of other blockbusters current at the time, such as “Batman Begins”, “X-Men” or “Spider-Man” and cheesy to cheap. The storytelling – especially that of the first film – is just lame and the quartet’s adversaries clumsy, one-dimensional boredom. It didn’t help that some popular faces were signed for the title roles with future Captain America Chris Evans, Jessica Alba (“Sin City”), Ion Gruffudd (“San Andreas”) and “The Shield” anti-hero Michael Chiklis.
In our FILMSTARTS review, which awarded only one and a half stars, we call “Fantastic Four” a “garish, colorful but empty Punch and Judy show.” The sequel, which was quickly put behind schedule by its surprisingly high $330 million box office, is still rated “very mediocre by all accounts” in the accompanying FILMSTARTS review, receiving two and a half stars. So progress, but still anything but a good film.
Marvel now wants to live up to that with the announced reboot for 2025. After the two creations from 2000 were still made by the German production company Constantin Film, Marvel is taking over this time and wants to establish the four heroes as part of the MCU. Of course, it remains to be seen whether the Americans will do better or correctly. “WandaVision” creators Matt Shakman However, should act as director at the start of shooting in early 2024, which certainly gives hope.
“Fantastic Four 1+2” on Cable 1: These are the stories
The saga begins when five astronauts are exposed to an unknown amount of radiation that gives them superhuman powers: Dr. Reed Richards (Ion Gruffudd) becomes the extremely resilient Mr. Fantastic. His girlfriend Susan Storm (Jessica Alba) can now make herself invisible and calls herself Invisible Girl from now on. Storm’s younger brother Johnny (Chris Evans) has become Human Torch and Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) is a piece of rock as The Thing.
As the Fantastic Four, they must save the world from the fifth in their former league, Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon), aka Dr. Save Doom. Because unlike them, the brilliant and unscrupulous scientist uses his new mental powers only for evil…
At the beginning of the second part, Richards and Storm are preparing for their wedding when a new threat literally looms in the sky: The Silver Surfer (Doug Jones), a mysterious alien with amazing superpowers, wants to wreak havoc on the Earth. In addition, Dr. Doom has made his somewhat surprising return to…
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