Artichoke Adobo
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Tripping the Light Fantastic Four
Key Words: Entertainment MyLife
 | I went to the Fantastic Four movie premiere over at Glorietta a couple of days ago (through the friendship and grace of my Radio RX-employed friend Ms. Ea Medel), sat myself down on the comfy theatre seats, and braced myself, ready to be dissappointed. The trailers seemed to scream "Worse than Hulk" to me. There was not one scene in the trailer that made me feel any form of anticipation. Well this movie exceeded my expectations, bringing forth a unique style that didn't try to use any of the formulae that prove effective for the recent great comic book movies (Sin City, Batman Begins, X-Men, and [shut up if you don't agree] Hellboy). The fact that I never liked the Fantastic Four made the fact that this movie successfully entertained me for a long two hours all the more surprising. |
I never liked the Fantastic Four
I think the FF had things stacked against them. They're comic strip heroes from 1961 with stupid ass codenames and boring costumes. Their powers are "normal" at best and there's absolutely no angst anywhere around them. They're the brady bunch of the comic book world and their time should've passed a long while back. Still, what made the movie so entertaining? Here are some lists:
---------------SPOILER ALERT------------------
4 Things I liked about the movie:
1. Mr. Fantastic was a nerd but his nerdiness was not boring.
Beyond the buffoon exterior and the not-so-overdone romantic angle, the Reed Richards of the movie was able to do something that the comic book Reed was completely incapable of doing... endear himself to the audience. While, true-to-form, movie-Reed was very much like the comic-book-Reed in that he was unbelievably smart and level headed, he also showed his limitations through the predicaments he gets himself in because he couldn't help but think things through before acting. Reed was funny in a very "Joey Tribbiani" sort of way.
2. The Human Torch humor
Johnny Storm was wise-cracking through battles and babes portraying the happy-go-lucky playboy in a very convincing way. The writers were even able to justify the existence of the stupid codenames from a very contemporary point of view. I loved the fact that Johnny gave each other member a lame-ass moniker (I mean you have to admit...Mr. Fantastic sounds like a sex-toy brand name) while giving himself something a tad cooler (pun intended... while "The Human Torch" is still ages behind codenames like "Marrow" or "Psylocke", it had it's own charm).
3. The art direction
For a New York movie, the coloring was ultra-bright and bubbly. And this again, I think, was intentional on the director's part. It helped differentiate the Fantastic Four saccharine heroes genre from the cooler, more violent (X-men, Daredevil, the Punisher), or more emotional (Spider-man, the Hulk) type of heroes. The art direction had "Light-hearted, deliberately campy comedy" written all over it.
4. Herbie was nowhere to be found!
I admit that I held my breath when I saw the Baxter Building. I kept waiting for Herbie the robot to fly in and spoil the experience for me. The Baxter building so accurately represented the Saturday morning cartoon of my misspent childhood that I half expected the Human Torch to disappear and the annoying robot to come in and be the Gungan of this movie.
 Smile kahit gutom. L to R: Tammy, Ea, Aki, Vanee |  Ako naman. |
4 Things I hated about the movie:
1. Jessica Alba
Don't get me wrong. While I enjoy looking at the Dark Angel Jessica Alba (especially that commercial where she was wearing a red dress and she gives this guy a smile and says "Me love you long time"--- but I'm digressing), this movie simply wasn't for her. She's no Sue Storm. It was distracting seeing such a recognizable TV fixture sporting a blond hair-do. Sorry Jessica... but you should've stopped at "Honey".
2. Victor Von Doom
Have they been fooling around with the continuity machines at Marvel? Can someone tell me if they re-did the Doom origin in the Ultimate Fantastic Four alternate series? I'm pretty sure it shouldn't have started this way. I don't mind the FF4 origins so much but I do mind Doom's new powers.
I loved how Doom was JUST AN EVIL GENIUS in the original story which allowed the plot to evolve into a battle of wits between two super geniuses. The metal skin and electric power took away a lot from the Doom persona that I have come to enjoy.
3. I didn't get to see Delamar
I've always wanted to see Delamar in person. I mean I listen to her almost everyday on the radio on my way to work (after I drop Mox off. She hates talk radio) but have never seen her in person. Well there was this one time, but all I saw was her back as they were giving out RX stickers along the Robinson's Galleria driveway.
Ea tells me both Chico and Delamar were sitting an aisle away from us. All I needed to do was turn my head and look, but even that seemed too much bother. Oh well, maybe next time.
Don't get me wrong, Delamar is (Mox pay attention ha?) far from being my crush (all I've seen of her are those Laser Hair Removal ads that she endorses). It's just that I wanna put a face to the name... to the voice on the radio. To tell you the truth I have some beef with the Morning Rush gang. They never seem to read my text messages. What?! Are my text messages not good enough for you?! K-Lite's "Talk Back" seems to like me well enough! You betta watchout!
4. FREE TICKETS!
Again, my special thanks to Ea for the free tickets. I'm starting to enjoy her job in Media. Comes with so much fringe benefits. Can't wait for the next Monster Movie Premiere!
All in all it was an enjoyable night. Hi to my movie mates... Aki, Vanee, Ea and Tammy. Libre niyo naman ako sa Big Buddha!
# posted by ManongGuard @ 4:20 PM 
Comments:
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i've seen chico and delamar in person, but i never bothered to approach them to talk or anything. heheh. well, delamar looks taller in pictures than in person, and chico has quite a number of "implants" (hooks, studs, etc.) on him. and at least, they've managed to read my text messages, and i've talked with her on the air. twice. :) though it's not like i or they know me any better that way.
also, that should be "4 things you *don't* like" in your second list of 4. :)
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also, that should be "4 things you *don't* like" in your second list of 4. :)
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