WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.080 --> 00:00:06.320 Oh he is bot. 2 00:00:06.960 --> 00:00:07.960 It's shoot time. 3 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:10.560 People say, good money to see this movie. 4 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:12.160 When they go out to a theater. 5 00:00:12.439 --> 00:00:16.160 They want cold sodas, pop popcorn, and no monsters in 6 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:17.199 the protection booth. 7 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:19.160 Everyone pretend podcasting isn't boring. 8 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:21.000 Don it off. 9 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:43.159 Famous around the world. Please welcome the. 10 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:56.039 Fantastic four, Mister, fantastic, Invisible woman, human torch. 11 00:00:57.320 --> 00:00:59.359 I love you Johnny and the thing. 12 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:01.759 Hey, what time is it? Say today? 13 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:03.600 That's not really something I say. 14 00:01:05.239 --> 00:01:06.719 It's coming time. 15 00:01:07.159 --> 00:01:14.319 That's just in the cartoon. Never late for Sunday dinner. 16 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:15.840 Let's see. Hey, what time is it? 17 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:17.560 It's dinner time. Get inside. 18 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:25.840 I herald the beginning. 19 00:01:28.359 --> 00:01:29.719 I harold your end. 20 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:34.239 I harald. 21 00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:40.239 Galactus. 22 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:42.400 What is that? 23 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:44.640 Get us out of here? 24 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:52.400 Friend, always say, I don't know. 25 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:57.480 The clock is ticking. 26 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:01.319 We are going to find a solution. We are going 27 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:05.159 to make it right. You don't want to just crush him, 28 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:11.360 hide that. The four of us will face the danger. 29 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:14.319 We will protect you. 30 00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:21.240 Family. It's about connecting to something bigger than yourself. 31 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:26.319 Who face it together. 32 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:28.520 As a family. 33 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:40.400 What time is it bad? 34 00:02:40.759 --> 00:02:43.280 No? What time is it bad? 35 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:46.639 No? Johnny, I don't want to die. 36 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:06.360 Welcome to a special crossover episode between the Projection Booth, 37 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:08.879 the Culture Cast, and Midnight Viewing. I'm your host. Mike 38 00:03:08.919 --> 00:03:11.280 White Jovini once again is the host of the Culture Cast. 39 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:13.439 Mister Chris Stashue. 40 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:17.080 To quote one of my favorite characters from Superhero Dumb 41 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:19.159 in general, it's Babylon time. 42 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:22.840 Also, all the way from Midnight Viewing is Father Malone. 43 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:26.800 Gentlemen, I invite you to die with your own On. 44 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:29.199 This episode, we are looking at the twenty twenty five 45 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:32.840 film Fantastic four First Steps, which is actually the fifth 46 00:03:32.919 --> 00:03:36.360 ree tread in this franchise where we're looking at for 47 00:03:36.680 --> 00:03:39.840 superpowered beings who protect the Earth or Earth A two eight, 48 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:43.599 this time from Galactus, who is not a big gas cloud. 49 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:47.240 That's good. There's not a lot of origin story, but 50 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:49.360 it's more of a look at the fourth year going 51 00:03:49.400 --> 00:03:52.439 into the fifth year of the team's existence. And we 52 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:56.039 will be spoiling this discussion like crazy. So if you 53 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:59.680 haven't seen Fantastic four First Steps, haven't watched the bootleg 54 00:03:59.800 --> 00:04:03.240 that floating around out there with the French subtitles, turn 55 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:05.199 off the podcast, come back after you've gone to see 56 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:08.639 the movie. I know it's not like that exists. Chris 57 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:11.120 what's your history of Fantastic Four. I'm very curious about that. 58 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:13.199 We've talked about that on the Superman episode, so a 59 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:16.000 couple weeks later, what's your history with Fantastic Four? 60 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:20.480 So The Thing is one of my favorite superhero characters period, 61 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:22.959 just something about him, and like the portrayal in the 62 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:26.040 comic books, I really enjoy the portrayal in the movies. 63 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:28.279 I think has been more spot on in most of them, 64 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:32.240 at least in those Yowen Grufford, Chris Evans, Jessica Alba 65 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:35.600 Fantastic Four movies which I saw. I have seen every 66 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:40.319 Fantastic Four movie that has been released in theaters, including 67 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:44.199 Fan for Stick, which not many people saw that shit 68 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:46.480 in theaters. There was a reason for that I saw 69 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:49.240 in theaters. You're a masochist. That's the word I would use. 70 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:51.360 And this is one other thing. And Father Malone I 71 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:53.959 think mentioned this when we were recording Maybe or Off podcast. 72 00:04:54.519 --> 00:04:57.639 Not only is the Thing one of my favorite superhero characters, 73 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:01.480 Read Richards as the Maker is my favorite comic book 74 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:04.360 villain I think period. In terms of Marvel. It's literally 75 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:06.360 what if Reid Richards was just like, I'm the universe 76 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:08.360 of smartest man, and I could do whatever the fuck 77 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:12.199 I want, And he's just like practicing genocide. And he 78 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:15.199 becomes so smart and gets so much knowledge into his 79 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:18.240 head that his brain and skull essentially become like an 80 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:21.399 ancient alien skull. His head head becomes like conical, his 81 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:22.639 brain grows so much. 82 00:05:23.399 --> 00:05:25.879 Let's not forget during Civil War whose side he was on. 83 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:29.959 I think, if you're gonna do a Fantastic Four movie, 84 00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:34.439 this is the right place to start. However, and I'm 85 00:05:34.439 --> 00:05:37.000 saying that in terms of the setting, I think, in 86 00:05:37.079 --> 00:05:40.560 a lot of ways, this is marvel going. Man, wouldn't 87 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:41.959 it have been nice if we had done a period 88 00:05:41.959 --> 00:05:44.800 piece with the Fantastic Four in two thousand and nine 89 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:48.279 or ten. I liked the setting. I liked the world 90 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:52.959 that this movie took place in. However, this movie was 91 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:56.160 an hour and fifty five minutes, and there are parts 92 00:05:56.199 --> 00:06:00.160 of this movie that drug and the plot of the 93 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:05.040 movie and the way that the conflict resolves, and a 94 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:09.959 lot of the Deus X teleporter bridges is just there's 95 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:12.800 some stuff that doesn't seem as well integrated into the 96 00:06:12.920 --> 00:06:15.360 story as I was hoping they would be. And there 97 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:18.480 are parts of this that I'm like, I'm glad that 98 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:20.839 we're doing this version of the characters, and there are 99 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:23.120 other things where I'm like, I'm a little disappointed that 100 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:27.000 we're doing these versions of the characters. And by the 101 00:06:27.160 --> 00:06:29.160 end of the movie, once we see where they end 102 00:06:29.240 --> 00:06:33.480 up going with everything, I think I'm hopeful for where 103 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.519 the second or third steps go. If that's in fact 104 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:38.480 what the movies are beyond this one. Who knows if 105 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:41.399 they keep the Spider Man naming conventions. And I know 106 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:45.199 John Watts was originally going to direct these movies, so 107 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:47.000 I wonder if there is going to be a little 108 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.879 bit of the Spider Man naming conventions. But all that 109 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:52.879 to say, I think for the most part it's one 110 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:55.199 of the better Marvel movies we've had in a while. 111 00:06:55.560 --> 00:06:58.240 It shows a lot of reserve where other Marvel movies 112 00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:01.600 of its similar ilk have not, including something as recently 113 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:04.600 as Thunderbolts. But I think at times it may plays 114 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:08.040 it a tad too safe. Look, it's twenty twenty five. 115 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:10.519 We know where the MCU is effectively headed. In the 116 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:13.319 next couple of years. We're almost at year twenty of this. 117 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:15.800 I'm assuming by year twenty of this we will have 118 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:19.639 a whole new thing with all new people, which is 119 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:22.720 what they've talked about and they've alluded to. And now 120 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:25.120 seeing that thing at the end of the movie is 121 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:27.279 just like it sets in. Oh my god, we're like 122 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:31.600 right back here in like twenty and eighteen nineteen again effectively. 123 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:34.439 So I enjoyed it. But I think there's plenty for 124 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:36.720 us to talk about in terms of the shortcomings of 125 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:41.439 the movie. But I think overall, best Marvel movie in 126 00:07:41.560 --> 00:07:45.680 a while. Yeah, best Marvel movie in the last five years. Yeah, 127 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:47.560 I don't know about that. There have been a lot 128 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:50.040 of decent Marvel movies, if not great Marvel movies that 129 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:51.680 have come out in the last five years. But in 130 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:53.959 terms of this, to answer the initial question, Mike, in 131 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:56.199 terms of doing a Fantastic four thing and my history 132 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:58.879 with it, this is the best Fantastic four movie I've 133 00:07:58.920 --> 00:08:01.600 ever seen in theaters. So that's a distinction that it 134 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:04.839 has over the other three times I've been in a 135 00:08:04.920 --> 00:08:08.480 theater watching these same characters do similar things. 136 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:10.680 And Father malonew about yourself. 137 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:13.680 Growing up in the seventies, I read a lot of 138 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:16.360 Marvel as a kid up until about teenage of them 139 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:19.600 when I decided that horror comics were the way to go, 140 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:23.199 and I didn't have any fealty to any comic book 141 00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:26.560 company after that, but definitely Marvel as a young kid 142 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:30.000 and Fantastic for us made for children almost and when 143 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:32.279 I was reading comics in the seventies, I was effectively 144 00:08:32.360 --> 00:08:35.440 just reading the original run from the sixties, So it 145 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:38.120 was all of this kind of material that ends up 146 00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:44.679 in this movie, which is bright and shiny and cosmic. Now, 147 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:48.159 I never really had much use for the Fantastic Four. 148 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:50.639 I always loved their peripheral characters. I think they have 149 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:53.240 some of the best villains in Marvel. One of them 150 00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:55.159 is on display here for the first time Moleman On 151 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:57.960 who I just I love as a character Harvey Elder. 152 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:02.000 But more than that is Galactis. But more than Galactis 153 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:05.159 is the character noorin Rad, the Silver Surfer, who is 154 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:08.440 one of my maybe top five Marvel characters of all time. 155 00:09:08.840 --> 00:09:13.000 Just the existentialness of that character, the dilemma that he 156 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:15.480 finds himself in, which is fully on display here, which 157 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:18.720 I really appreciated. The first Fantastic Four movie I saw 158 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:20.519 was in ninety seven, when I got a bootleg of 159 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:24.200 the Corman produced flick, which we just reviewed over on 160 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:27.080 my show just a few days ago. And then obviously 161 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:32.320 Yowen Griffiths. That's how you pronounced that it's Welsh friend Griffiths. 162 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:36.080 Those two movies, those were garbage. Even worse than that 163 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:40.559 was the Josh Strank thing. Who on fucking planet are thinks? 164 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:43.279 A dark and twisted version of the Fantastic for his 165 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:45.799 Way to Go? It is literally the shiniest and brightest 166 00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:50.799 of the Marvel titles. I had no expectations for this movie. 167 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:53.840 All the trailers I saw I did not respond to 168 00:09:54.120 --> 00:09:58.039 at all. I didn't quite understand the Paeder Pascal casting, 169 00:09:58.679 --> 00:10:02.120 and the rest of the cast seem good to me, nevertheless, 170 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:06.559 so my expectations were zero. This to me was one 171 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:09.120 of the best superhero movies I've ever seen, honestly, not 172 00:10:09.320 --> 00:10:13.480 only the best film from Marvel since Endgame, but one 173 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:17.799 of the best overall. Whatever praise I heaped upon Superman 174 00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:22.200 for making a cinematic comic book, this one puts that 175 00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:26.480 to shame. This is a fully realized world, with all 176 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:30.080 of the pieces fitting together very subtly. In some places. 177 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:32.279 When we're talking about tell us some of the dark side, 178 00:10:32.279 --> 00:10:34.480 we alway talk about the economy of those scripts. You 179 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:36.679 said it, Chris, this movie is two hours. This movie 180 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:38.159 it moves so fast. 181 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:41.320 One hour and fifty five minutes. Dude, it's wild. It's 182 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:44.360 a less than two hour Marvel movie in twenty twenty five. 183 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:47.919 This movie starts four years in, catches up fucking immediately 184 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.879 to where we are, and gives us an incredible fucking 185 00:10:50.919 --> 00:10:55.559 dilemma and actually pulling off the fucking impossible in that 186 00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:59.559 it made Sue Storm one of the most powerful and 187 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:02.840 interesting characters, whereas she has always been the most underwritten 188 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:06.480 and boring Marvel characters. I loved the movie. I actually 189 00:11:06.600 --> 00:11:08.080 seen it twice. I saw it last night and this 190 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:09.240 morning I went and saw it again. 191 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:11.720 But did you buy the eighty dollars popcorn book? 192 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:15.679 One for display, one for eating. 193 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:19.639 Large, if not oversized, comical portions of cereal out of. 194 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:22.480 No just for eating all of the popcorn on planet 195 00:11:22.519 --> 00:11:23.840 Earth in one sitting. 196 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:25.200 I hunger. 197 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:28.960 What about you, Mike White? What's your experience in history 198 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:30.399 with the fan four sticks? 199 00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:33.879 Fantastic four might have been one of the first comics 200 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:38.399 that I read. I remember specifically, my folks had a 201 00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:40.919 rental property and they were doing a lot of fixing 202 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:43.480 it up before we could have renterists move in. I 203 00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:50.039 remember sitting around and reading an issue of The Fantastic Four, 204 00:11:50.279 --> 00:11:52.399 and I swear it was right around the time of 205 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:56.360 the Iran hostage crisis, because I remember there was a 206 00:11:56.799 --> 00:12:02.879 parody song of Barbaran the Old Surfs Bomb Iran, Bomb Iran, Yes, 207 00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:05.320 and that was playing on Dick Purtin and I was 208 00:12:06.039 --> 00:12:09.080 listening to that and reading this comic book. So very 209 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:12.159 strange memory of that, but yeah, they were some of 210 00:12:12.200 --> 00:12:15.440 the first folks that I read as far as comic superheroes, 211 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:18.200 and like you said, fout them alone, they're perfect for kids. 212 00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:22.200 And it's just this kind of candy colored world that 213 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:25.240 they lived in, at least back in the sixties. And 214 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:30.399 I love this retrofuturism vibe that they have with this 215 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:35.840 where things are analogue but they really shouldn't be. Things 216 00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:39.480 like Herbie with the tape deck in his head and 217 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:42.720 how he's got different programs on tapes and everything. And 218 00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:46.159 when you see the Fantastic Car zooming through the city, 219 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:49.200 you get to see like a robot dog walker or 220 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:51.799 these little tiny cars that they have, and I'm just like, 221 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:55.200 I love this world. I really like this Earth A 222 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:58.600 two eight that they have, where it feels like because 223 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:02.279 of the Fantastic Four coming to be, or maybe just 224 00:13:02.360 --> 00:13:04.919 because of the way that the world played out, things 225 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:08.840 are running differently, and we don't have transistors, we don't 226 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:13.559 have the smaller technology. We still are using blackboards and 227 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:16.960 things that are very analogue, and I really like that. 228 00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:18.879 I like the look of this and that kind it 229 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:22.240 is so different thinking about that Josh Trenk version where 230 00:13:22.440 --> 00:13:24.320 so much of it just took place in a fucking 231 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:27.679 warehouse and it was just dark all the time, and 232 00:13:27.879 --> 00:13:30.720 this we're out in the daylight. Even the stuff with 233 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:35.480 Harvey Mouleman is pretty bright once we get down into 234 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:38.759 the subterranean world that he goes in. There's some light 235 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:41.720 in there. It's not just dark the entire time. And 236 00:13:41.799 --> 00:13:46.519 then having Paul Walter, how oh, he is so great, 237 00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:50.399 so much, he is so good. 238 00:13:51.480 --> 00:13:53.679 Don't be mad at me, Johnny, I didn't dress you. 239 00:13:54.759 --> 00:13:59.559 It was so nice having more Sue Storm in here, 240 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:03.240 because I really feel like, at least those Tim Story 241 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:08.039 movies were so much about Johnny and the Thing, and 242 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:10.679 we've got a pretty good amount of the thing, and 243 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:14.799 here it's tough. You've got four very strong characters and 244 00:14:14.919 --> 00:14:18.120 you're trying to balance all of them, and I think 245 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:19.000 they do a good job. 246 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:19.919 I really. 247 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:22.879 If anything, I think read Richards might be a little 248 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:26.519 bit opaque as far as his motivations and things, but 249 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:28.679 I think that works well with him. It's almost like 250 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:31.559 he's on the spectrum or something, and I'm really okay 251 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:34.360 with that. And I'll tell you I just before we 252 00:14:34.440 --> 00:14:38.960 started recording, just realized that Johnny Storm is Eddie from 253 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:42.399 Stranger Things. I could not put my finger on where 254 00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:45.799 I knew him from. Really don't get a good beat 255 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:48.399 on Johnny Storm in this one other than he's a 256 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:50.519 pretty smart guy, but he hasn't given the credit that 257 00:14:50.600 --> 00:14:53.600 he's due, and that he actually figures out that whole 258 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:56.720 alien language. I'm pretty happy about that. I thought that 259 00:14:56.840 --> 00:14:57.399 was pretty great. 260 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:01.799 He is an eighty from Chris Johnny's the good one. 261 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:04.799 That's perfectly fine, though, because again when people get bent 262 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:07.080 out of shape about portrayals in the movies, my response 263 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:09.240 tends to be, at this point in my life, if 264 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:11.799 you've read comic books at any point, there's no one 265 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:15.480 there are singular standard bearers of the characters. If we're 266 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:18.440 talking about like the singular Earth of the comic books 267 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:21.279 in the Marvel comics, because like in the Marvel movies, 268 00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:25.279 there is one more or less decided upon Earth that most, 269 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:27.000 if not a lot, of the things take place on. 270 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:30.639 But there's plenty of variations on this character. Joseph Quinn's 271 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:34.120 character is very different in a I would say an 272 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:36.799 updated way, because I'm not sure that kind of character 273 00:15:36.840 --> 00:15:41.159 would really fly. I think he'd be way too easy 274 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:43.519 to write in a way that the audience wouldn't want 275 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:45.559 anything to do with him, and they'd be put off 276 00:15:45.639 --> 00:15:46.039 by him. 277 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:49.679 The Johnny Storm, the Chris Evans Johnny Storm was insufferable, 278 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:52.360 but it was Chris Evans, so we put up with it. 279 00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:55.200 If you continued that character with anyone else, you would 280 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:56.720 want to murder him basically. 281 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:57.960 And look at what happened to his character in What 282 00:15:58.039 --> 00:16:01.039 Wolver in a Deadpool? I mean perfect if they traded 283 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:03.000 in that. They made it a point to be like, yeah, 284 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:06.720 this guy's kind of a fucking turd too, But again, 285 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:09.200 like it works for that movie's benefit. Here it's this 286 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:13.039 is a softer, more gentle Marvel for a gentler time. 287 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:18.159 I like this portrayal of Johnny Storm because he's always 288 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:22.679 portrayed as the hot head showboat of the four, but 289 00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:26.240 you know, ultimately what he represents is the sort of 290 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:31.519 teenager of the family, and there are other aspects to him. 291 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:35.639 I loved that he figures out the translation of the 292 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:38.919 Zenla language in this. At the same time, he is 293 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:41.440 really annoying, you know what I mean. It's played for 294 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:43.360 laps and everything, but if you were living with that guy, 295 00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:45.200 you would want to punch him all the time. 296 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:48.159 Well, I'm just glad that the thing isn't such a 297 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:52.240 sad suck, like, oh my god, look at me, read 298 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:55.080 look at me. I'm so ugly. Oh god. And the 299 00:16:55.159 --> 00:16:57.960 only person that thinks I'm cute is a blind lady. 300 00:16:58.200 --> 00:16:58.960 Oh god. 301 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:02.320 There's no way a woman would find this man attractive. 302 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:06.559 Fuck you, he would, she wouldn't. He's literally a superhero. 303 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:10.400 Bozo's like, it's self explanatory. You're gonna tell me it's 304 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:13.440 because Natasha Leone has a really deep voice. That's why 305 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:15.640 it's actually the other way around, Ben Grimm When she 306 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:16.440 opens her mouth. 307 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:20.240 Because I don't want to hear that she's so cute. 308 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:25.839 She rained in all her regular Natasha Leone here. It's 309 00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:29.680 not the sort of broad from Brooklyn. It's a different character, 310 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:31.039 my god got. 311 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:33.839 They got Natasha Leone to play less to type than 312 00:17:33.880 --> 00:17:35.640 she normally does, let's put it that way. 313 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:37.680 And I love that he's like the one of the 314 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:40.400 few that I know of Jewish superheroes, and that he's 315 00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:43.440 very proud of his heritage, the whole thing of growing 316 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:46.559 up on Yancey Street. But it's not like they're overplaying 317 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:49.119 that either. It's not like he's, oh, I remember when 318 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:52.160 I was growing up. It's instead of yeah, I grew 319 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:54.799 up over there. Nice small thing. And to give him 320 00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:57.759 the little taste of he's a really good cook and 321 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:01.440 that's his science. I think can figure out the languages, 322 00:18:01.640 --> 00:18:04.519 and Red can do all of these calculations. But here's 323 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:06.240 been in the kitchen cooking. 324 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:08.279 With Herbie and he's a fucking hell of a pilot. 325 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:11.119 What you're talking about, how he's always been portrayed before 326 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:14.240 is the sad, sack lonely guy who's just loveluren. We 327 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:16.640 get that in one scene. Speaking of the economy of 328 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:20.079 the script, it's him watching himself on television and seeing 329 00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:21.640 what he used to look like. And they just cut 330 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:24.039 to and what's amazing to me in this was it's 331 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:27.000 a shot of a CGI face in a reflection of 332 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:30.440 a window with a television on it, and you can 333 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:33.559 see all the emotion. You see how sad he is 334 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:35.839 about this, because that's when he looks over at Natasha 335 00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:38.319 Leona decides to walk away. I got all of that, 336 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:42.880 didn't need him crying about it for scene after scene, I. 337 00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:45.839 Think, and this is again me just speaking broadly because 338 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:49.559 in the cases of something like Fantastic Four or Superman 339 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:53.240 or Spider Man or Batman, we have had so many 340 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:55.759 retreads of this that we can go they did it better, 341 00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:57.279 and they didn't have to do it, and I don't 342 00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:01.319 feel obligated. Fantastic Four once again proves that the audience 343 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:05.039 at this point, mind you, maybe not fifteen twenty years ago, 344 00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:08.319 and I understand why they have now proved. I think 345 00:19:08.359 --> 00:19:11.680 once again the audience are not fucking stupid. The audience 346 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:14.559 knows the audience can do a little legwork on their own. 347 00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:17.400 And even if we don't have forty five minutes of 348 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:21.240 the movie for setup of the origin story, which it's 349 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:23.200 there is like a fair amount of setup in this movie, 350 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:25.079 but it's not origin story setup at least not of 351 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:27.319 a certain kind. It's an orgin story of a different kind. 352 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:30.680 Frankly, they give us that fucking like little documentary at 353 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:32.160 the beginning. It's so fucking. 354 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.359 Brilliant in this day and age, It's like, instead of 355 00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:36.559 showing us the whole damn thing, just give it the 356 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:39.759 both points, give us the cliff Notes version for fuck's sake, 357 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:42.400 and it works just as well, because once again, if 358 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:44.680 you're able to do it economically, get away with it. 359 00:19:44.920 --> 00:19:47.480 Spider Man did it rather well. Superman did it rather well. 360 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:49.839 This did it rather well. They aw trafficked in the 361 00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:53.160 same thing, like the backstories just peppered in throughout the movie, 362 00:19:53.480 --> 00:19:55.960 and so it works better and doesn't feel so stilted 363 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:56.759 in terms of the flow. 364 00:19:57.240 --> 00:19:59.400 You know, I think did it the best and kind 365 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:01.440 of started to off this idea of we don't have 366 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:05.240 to show everything. Is that Edward Norton Hulk where it 367 00:20:05.400 --> 00:20:08.200 was just like the opening credits, We're going to show 368 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:11.599 you the whole thing very quickly, and then we carry 369 00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:13.599 on with the movie. We don't have to do the 370 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:17.640 origin story every frickin' time. How many times do we 371 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:20.119 have to see Peter Parker get bit by a radio 372 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:24.319 active spider. I'm glad that those home movies that they 373 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:26.640 had just went away from all that stuff. 374 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:29.519 How many times have we been to fucking crime Alley, 375 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:32.599 for God's sake? And what I liked about this opening 376 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:35.279 and that little documentary where they give us the origin 377 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:38.079 without giving us the origin, is that at no point 378 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:40.640 do we get to go out into space and see 379 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:43.839 the cosmic rays hit them and watch this and that happit. Instead, 380 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:45.599 we watched them take off and then we see a 381 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:48.119 ship crash and then the Thing's hand punch its way 382 00:20:48.119 --> 00:20:50.519 out of the craft. That's all we needed for the 383 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:53.960 origin there. The other thing I loved about the opening is, 384 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:56.640 like you said, it's bullet points. We get like the 385 00:20:56.759 --> 00:20:58.960 greatest hits of what they've been doing for the past 386 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:02.119 four years, like the inter missions where the Thing is 387 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:06.640 hauling a burning tanker by its anchor chain into a harbor, 388 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:09.559 and then Johnny Storm is putting out fire at an 389 00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:12.480 electrical plant, And all I could think was, like, any 390 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:15.880 one of these sequences would be the giant sent piece 391 00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:18.559 on any of the other Fantastic Four movies up until here, 392 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:20.279 and they're just like burning through of them. At the 393 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:22.839 beginning The other thing I noticed in the power plant 394 00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:26.240 sequence when there's a crew on the ground who salute him, 395 00:21:26.519 --> 00:21:29.640 thanks Johnny Storm. The two guys in front, the one 396 00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:31.880 saluting him and the one standing next to him, that's 397 00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:34.519 Jay Underwood and the fellow who played the thing in 398 00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:37.559 the nineteen ninety four version, and then Alex Hyde White 399 00:21:37.640 --> 00:21:40.079 and I think Jessica Stop I think her name was. 400 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:42.960 Those two are reporters later in the movie. So that 401 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:44.920