"Say that again?" .... "Fantastic!"
Oh God, why? Why? WHYYYYYY??????????
The Plot
After nearly perfecting a teleportation device that he and his friend, Ben Grimm (Jaime Bell) have been working on as a child, Reed Richards (Miles Teller) is recruited by Dr. Storm (Reg E. Cathey) to join Baxter, a facility for the gifted to build a better future. To aide Reed on his quest to be the first to crack inter dimensional travel, Dr. Storm brings in his children, Sue (Kate Mara) and Johnny (Michael B. Jordan), along with a former gifted student, Victor (Toby Kebbell), to complete the machine. But once completed, their facility's advisor and government liaison, Dr. Allen (Tim Blake Nelson), decides to send a team of selected astronauts to be the first to use their invention. Not wanting to be sidelined for their success, Reed, Johnny, Ben, Victor and Sue highjack the first mission and successfully travel to a place they dub Planet Zero. But what they discover there, will not only change their lives, but their physical bodies as well.
Review
Let me just go right off the bat and say this... I love Chronicle. Love it. It is one of the best found footage movies I've ever seen. And I was highly impressed that director Josh Trank broke the record of being the youngest director to generate a blockbuster film at the age of 27. The last person who held that record? Steven Spielberg for directing JAWS at the age of 28. But JAWS was Spielberg's third film, whereas Chronicle was Trank's first film. Which makes it even more impressive. Though a lot of credit definitely should go to screenwriter Max Landis for crafting Trank's vision into realistic dialogue between young boys, it is still Trank's original vision. Which is why I was so heavily interested in his take on the Fantastic Four. From his interesting casting choices, to the fact that he was basing it heavily on Ultimate Fantastic Four, even all the way down to him stating it was going to be more like David Cronenberg's body horror films. I was hooked, and defended this movie against anyone who would say that it is nothing like the comic books.... then I saw it.
I wouldn't go down and say this is the worst movie I've ever seen. That title for me belongs to Transformers: Age of Extinction. But the feeling I had while walking out of this film was more than just disappointment. It was pity. I felt sorry for everyone who is involved with this movie. I felt sorry for the cast, I felt sorry for the studio and I even felt sorry for the director. It was like watching a car crash happen in slow motion with people you like in the vehicle managing to survive to live another day. That's how it felt, and I could probably use the car crash metaphor with how this movie goes.
Think of it as a road trip. At the beginning of the journey, you're all getting ready and feeling excited. That's what it was like at at the beginning of the movie involving the child versions of Reed Richards and Ben Grimm. It was filled with hope and optimism about how youth can accomplish great things if their minds are in the right place. Or in the case of the cliche parents, the wrong place. But cliche parents aside, it was a nice intro to a friendship. A friendship that should've carried over to when Teller and Bell took over as the present day incarnations of the characters. And while it does for a while at the beginning, it abruptly disappears later. More on that in a bit. But again, with the beginning of the road trip, that's when you're meeting up with all your friends who are coming along for the ride. That's where Mara, Jordan and Kebbell come into play as Sue, Johnny and Victor. It is cool seeing all of these young geniuses work together in order to accomplish creating something that could possibly change the world. But once the drive begins and the car pops a tire with a nail, that's when things start to go downhill.
The first act of the movie is brilliant, but the second half of the movie is when it becomes really clear that whoever was driving the car at the beginning is no longer in full control. Once the main four gain their powers, it is clear that there was suppose to be an entire body horror sequence that should've lasted the entire second act. But unfortunately, choppy editing makes it clear that whatever the second act was suppose to be has been trimmed down for the sake of getting faster to the superhero action. Which happens after abruptly time skipping midway through the movie to one year. That one year time skip completely destroys any sense of team building amongst the characters, which has been the central thrust of their comic stories. In here there is no sense of relationships being solidified by any of the team members. They are first horrified by what happens to them, one of them escapes government captivity, then skip one year later to see everyone seems to efficiently know how to use their powers now and suddenly are friends with everyone again. It is so jarring and not executed well that it is obvious several scenes are missing. And if you've seen the trailers, then you'll know most of the scenes in the trailer are missing from the movie.
But while the second act feels like there are scenes that could've been extended or added to make it flow better, the third act completely derails any hope you will have of things getting better. The best way to put it? Remember my road trip metaphor and how I left off with the tires blowing out? Well what if someone on the road tries to help you by trying to drive your car to the nearest town at full speed? With the tires still busted. And not even bothering to use the spare tire you have in the trunk. Because you are only a few miles away to your destination. And against all your gut instincts that tell you this is a bad idea, you still allow it to happen. That's what happened to the third act of this movie, and that's where the car crash happens.
Kebbell's Victor, who was barely developed at the beginning of the movie, yet there are clear hints as to who he is as well as his philosophy, is rescued after being left on Planet Zero for a year. And what happens when he comes back? He is now Doom and blah blah blah blah blah, wants to destroy the world all of a sudden. We don't get any incite as to why he suddenly believes he wants to do this. And also it was painfully obvious that everything involving Doom before and after the hallway Akira sequence was re-shot entirely. Because I have a strong feeling that his was not how Josh Trank wanted the movie to end. It is clear that his vision for this was definitely more like a Cronenberg face-off ala The Fly or Scanners, but that doesn't happen. It just turns into a cliche superhero battle that lacks any punch, despite having a lot of punches, and strange cheesy interactions between all the "heroes" who suddenly know how to work together. It's just so... so.... You know. A car crash. That thankfully everyone lived, but still have to be hospitalized in order to recover.
Final Thoughts
I want to say this is the worst superhero movie ever made, but the first act genuinely made me believe that I was watching something different than the standard superhero mold. It made me feel like I was watching a science fiction movie that abruptly shifts into a horror film then abruptly crashes and burns into a superhero film. I know there have been reports about Trank being unruly on set, but I can tell what kind of movie he wanted to make. He wanted to make a sci-fi horror movie that just happened to have superheroes in it. And unfortunately for him, the studio wanted a standard superhero movie. These two ways of thinking clash so severely that the end result is a muddled mess that starts off with so much promise, especially from the cast and crew, that then dive bombs into oblivion, especially when the cast appear to stop caring about what movie they're in by the end. I wish I could've seen the sci-fi horror epic I know this movie was suppose to be, but I guess we never will. And that's sad.
SCORE: 4/10 - 1 for Potential 2 for the Cast 3 for the Tone and 4 for a Pity Point
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