Re: The Fantastic Four
Okay, I've been really working at organizing my thoughts on this, so forgive me a little if this is a little disjointed.
I get what you're saying, Vivek, about wanting to keep an open mind. I would love to be able to do that. Unfortunately, I just can't at this point. There are just so many things that are detracting from my ability to get excited about this movie in any way, shape or form.
* Found footage. Can we just stop with found footage? I get that Chronicle was a big deal for Trank and it's natural for him to want to go with what he knows. However, found footage is not a format that encompasses the kind of scale that FF should have.
* Cronenburg. It seems like by invoking the name Cronenburg, these two are trying to establish their "geek cred" by letting us know they've watched some classic sci-fi films and want to bring elements into it. However, Cronenburg does not fit with FF. It's the Fantastic Four, not the Fly. Not Naked Lunch. Even in the Ultimate universe where things get pretty frakking grim, there's still humor and playfulness.
* Changing the background. Okay, here's where we get into the real nitty gritty of why Marvel Studios is succeeding and most of the outside Marvel properties are floundering. The bottom line is, Marvel Studios has made a real, concerted effort to update the classic characters, character who were, frankly, second or third string characters in terms of the comics' popularity, and make some of the most beloved films in recent years. The reason they've done this is that they really looked for the core, essential pieces of who and what these characters are and made minimal changes so that they would fit in the modern world.
By all rights, Captain America should NOT have worked for modern audiences... but it did because it wasn't afraid to stay true to its roots. It's an unabashed love letter to the "Greatest Generation" and to the ideals that America is supposed to have been founded upon. Captain America, himself, is, in many ways, a relic, one that should not be so beloved in an era where most of our popular heroes are, at best, swathed in shades of grey.
The problem that I see Sony and Fox as having with making these characters work for more than just the teenybopper crowd (which is pretty much the group that seems enamored of the Amazing Spider-Man movies), is that I think they're genuinely embarrassed by them. However, superhero movies are making money, so they feel compelled to cling to these properties, wondering how Marvel Studios can make it all look so ********* effortless. What they forget is that while there is a committee at Marvel Studios, if not all of them, then at least a LOT of them, genuinely love these characters and want to do right by them in film.
