Fantastic Four & Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

Fantastic Four is a fun summer blockbuster, the kind we used to get all the time. It works in the way that Armageddon or Bad Boys works, it doesn't pretend to be more than it is. This is a lesson Steven Spielberg should have paid attention to before making the mess that was War Of The Worlds. Fantastic Four is a comic book movie that remembers why the term comic is used. A lot of the really good comic book movies in the last few years have been really serious films, that happen to be based on a comic book. This movie though, seemed to be a comic book come to life. It didn't skimp on funny characters, out of control action scenes, and really evil villains. In other words, this is my kind of comic book movie.

This movie first peaked my interest when I read who they had cast in each of the 5 main roles (the Fantastic 4 and Dr. Doom). The casting with the exception of the terribly miscast Jessica Alba as Sue Storm was spot on. While I always thought George Clooney would have been the perfect Reed Richards, Ioan Gruffudd is a very close second. He looks a lot like the character from the comic book, and really gives off that fatherly vibe that is so important to the character. Sue Storm is supposed to give off a motherly vibe, sadly Jessica Alba is like 19, so while she did what she could, motherly is a bit tough for her to pull off. Chris Evans as the Johnny Storm/Human Torch and Michael Chiklis as the Ben Grimm/The Thing not only are perfect for their roles, but also are great together as what is more less a sibling rivalry. Rounding out the cast is the perfectly slimy Julian McMahon (of the great FX show Nip/Tuck...Chiklis is also from The Shield on FX...FX deserves a producer credit on this) as Dr. Doom, Reed Richards' rival and enemy in pretty much every regard. It was the pitch perfect casting that made this movie work where so many comic book flicks fail.

There is nothing terribly new here, this movie doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. That, along with being the unfortunate comic adaptation to follow Batman Begins has cause a lot of people to be lukewarm to director Tim Story's (of Barbershop and Taxi fame) take on this very popular comic franchise. Now, I am not a comic book guy as I have said many times here, I am aware of the basics of them, but I am not someone complaining over minute details changed from the comic. If you are a fan of fun action movies with out the pretext of being more than that, then this movie is probably for you. If your looking for something with more substance, good luck finding it this summer at a multiplex. You may just have to wait until November before you find a movie that isn't a remake, sequel, or update of a TV show.






Speaking of unnecessary remakes of classic films (am I the king of the segue or what?), Tim Burton's neutered Disney version of Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory is pretty much the first disaster of the new film year (WOTW had enough good to not be classified as a disaster). Ever since this remake got off the ground we were promised that it would be darker...it isn't. We were promised this wouldn't be a remake, but a retelling of the classic kids book...it was pretty close to a copy of the original, except without the good or dark parts. I thought Tim Burton was going to make a dark comedy update of the original, instead he sold out to make some money.

I know what your thinking, how was Johnny Depp? The answer is...slightly amusing. Depp's take on Willy Wonka was pretty much Michael Jackson in Marilyn Manson's clothes. He was more weird and retarded than mean, which keeps with the theme of comercializing the film. Depp did a decent job with what he had to work with, but ultimately he was nothing close to comparing with Gene Wilder. Freddie Highmore, fresh off his performance in Finding Neverland, turns in by far the best performance in the film. He is so wholesome, that you totally believe him as this do the right thing type kid. That is key because we don't see nearly enough of his family to ever get a sense of why he is how he is. Other than Wonka and Charlie, every other character in this movie is a one dimensional character just there to movie the story along. Charlie even has a dad in this one. I bet some genius thought that would add another 5 million in box office.

The biggest problem with the movie is what all they left out or changed. The tunnel scene which is the best part of the original movie is now gone. Slugworth...gone. Wonka turning on Charlie at the end...gone. We even get to see that all the kids are ok and not hurt at the end, cause you can't make 200 million at the box office if people think some kids die in your movie. There were also equally stupid things added to the film. A backstory with Wonka and his dad is pointless and ruins the mystery that should be Willy Wonka. Mike Teevee is now a video game junkie. The goose that lays the golden egg is now squirrels. They even managed to mess up the poor little Oompa Loompas. The choice of using one guy to play all of them was bad enough, but their songs were dreadful, nothing like the great dark songs in the original. I am sure there are probably plenty of other things wrong with this movie, but I am getting annoyed just thinking about it so I better end it now. The most annoying thing of all was that after 2 hours of bad cinema, the soccer moms and 10 year olds at my theater gave it a standing ovation. I guess that means more awful remakes of my childhood favorites are right around the corner. Nora Ephron remaking Goonies perhaps.