Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, So now let's talk about the movie
Speaker 1: The Hour the Fantastic for the first steps. Now, if
Speaker 1: you notice that, I'm gonna pull it down so you
Speaker 1: can see both Charles and I are wearing our four hats.
Speaker 1: We had an opportunity, as we said early in the show,
Speaker 1: to go down to the Air and Space Museum here
Speaker 1: in Washington, d C. Where they had the grand opening
Speaker 1: of their Imax theater, grand reopening. Excuse me of their
Speaker 1: Imax theater.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Charles.
Speaker 3: We're still smaller than the air bussing. I have to
Speaker 3: keep referencing that because I'm like, it was nice. It's nice.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: I will also.
Speaker 1: Add and and and as I add this, this has
Speaker 1: nothing to do with how I felt about the movies.
Speaker 1: But I thought it was pretty cool. They gave us
Speaker 1: some swag. They gave us candy coupons at Cane with
Speaker 1: water and popcorn and candy whatever you want.
Speaker 2: I thought that was cool. Don't forget the popcorn.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, so they can give you think they gave
Speaker 1: you a closed bag.
Speaker 2: And they have what six options?
Speaker 3: Five six options?
Speaker 2: Yeah, they had cheddar and sod cream.
Speaker 1: Gave you options of candy, candy, like grab something to drink,
Speaker 1: grab your little hat and get it. Then sit down
Speaker 1: and watch this movie. And uh, this is the thirty.
Speaker 3: Seventh movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Speaker 1: Let me set this thing up because I don't want
Speaker 1: Charles thinking I'm disrespecting the Fantastic Four, because we have
Speaker 1: a we have a lot to say about this movie,
Speaker 1: the thirty seventh movie.
Speaker 3: In the Marvel Cinematic Universe and.
Speaker 4: The first in the sixth phase Phase six, Phase six.
Speaker 2: Okay, got you, thank you. That's a good point.
Speaker 1: Based on the superhero team, the Fantastic Four, produced by
Speaker 1: Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney. H We talked
Speaker 1: about it being in thirty seventh film and it's series
Speaker 1: in the second reboot of the Fantastic Four film series.
Speaker 2: The earlier one was two thousand.
Speaker 1: And five, and then they did another reboot in twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: so it's every ten years we keep trying to make
Speaker 1: the Fantastic Four. And we'll talk a little bit about
Speaker 1: that momentarily. The film was directed by Matt Shackman, who
Speaker 1: was in the house last night. I sat in the
Speaker 1: same row.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, he said, in our role last.
Speaker 3: Night, I walked by him at the end squeezed the
Speaker 3: show that I was like.
Speaker 2: Good job, Maddie, spoiler job.
Speaker 1: The film features an ensemble cast which includes Pedro, Pascal
Speaker 1: Vanessa Kirby, Ebon, Mars Bacarack, and Joseph Quinn as the
Speaker 1: titular team, alongside Julia Gardner and Sarah Niles, Mark Gastus,
Speaker 1: Natasha Lynn, Paul Walter.
Speaker 3: Hauser, what did I call her?
Speaker 2: Man? Thank you?
Speaker 1: Natasha Leone, Walter hay Hauser and Ralph. That's why we
Speaker 1: have Charles here, because Charles is always about names, all right,
Speaker 1: So Charles Kirkland Jr. The film focuses on the Fantastic
Speaker 1: four whos who must protect the nineteen sixties inspired retro
Speaker 1: futuristic world from a planet devouring cosmic being Galactus.
Speaker 3: Uh. And this is taking place now, this is key
Speaker 3: taking place on Earth eight twenty eight, right now. That's
Speaker 3: a that's a good detail.
Speaker 4: It's a very good detail because and I'll explain, because
Speaker 4: everything that we've seen in the MCU has taken place
Speaker 4: on sixty sixteen six six sixteen. I thought it was
Speaker 4: sixty two six? Is it sixteen sixes? I thought it
Speaker 4: was six sixteen? Okay, six one six. Okay, okay, all right,
Speaker 4: so everything we've seen is already comic books, but you
Speaker 4: know I remember numbers. Well yeah, okay, so yeah, we're
Speaker 4: in a different universe and what we're used to.
Speaker 2: And so you.
Speaker 1: Said in the first thirty six films, which happened in
Speaker 1: for the most part, and the MCU were all on
Speaker 1: planet six one six universe in the universe six one six,
Speaker 1: and now we're in universe eight two eight, correct to
Speaker 1: kick off phase six.
Speaker 2: Correct?
Speaker 1: Wow, all right, I just wanted to make sure I
Speaker 1: set it up for the audience, go ahead.
Speaker 4: And it's perfectly logical wide because if it were, if
Speaker 4: the Fantastic Four were part of six one six, people
Speaker 4: be like where they were, where they've been, because we've
Speaker 4: been going through some stuff here. They're fighting a guy
Speaker 4: that is going to destroy the world.
Speaker 1: You know, why can't you have about he's destroying trying
Speaker 1: to destroy the world in eighty two.
Speaker 2: Eight and eight to eight, not in six one six.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but in six one six we did fight a
Speaker 4: guy that was trying to destroy the well in the universe.
Speaker 2: We got colde we got colds go ahead, man.
Speaker 4: So yeah, that is a really good setup to let
Speaker 4: us see how this world is totally different in how
Speaker 4: the Fantastic Four, who's been by the time we joined
Speaker 4: them in this film, they've been a team for four years,
Speaker 4: so they kind of take that Superman approaches. We're not
Speaker 4: giving you the whole origin story. We just want to
Speaker 4: drop you in the story and.
Speaker 2: Let you roll with it.
Speaker 4: And so I really appreciate that because again we've all
Speaker 4: seen it. We we know what's happening. And then they
Speaker 4: moved to some of the things that have happened to
Speaker 4: them and how they got to where they are, So
Speaker 4: we get to see this developed team come together and
Speaker 4: fight again a foe that they've never experienced before. These
Speaker 4: literally in this world, the Fantastic Four are the protectors
Speaker 4: of the Earth. There's no other superhero team that we
Speaker 4: know of this on A two eight, and so they're
Speaker 4: beloved because they save everybody, They work for everybody. They're
Speaker 4: not they don't have to face so well, why are
Speaker 4: you don't you fight for the United States versus.
Speaker 2: Europe or fighting a mole man?
Speaker 4: Well that's you know, as another story, but even that part,
Speaker 4: you know, they didn't give you that story. I mean,
Speaker 4: they didn't give you that battle. They just gave you
Speaker 4: the story and let you roll with it, so which
Speaker 4: was very interesting how they presented it. So I mean,
Speaker 4: am I supposed to say give my review of this film?
Speaker 2: Of what I thought?
Speaker 4: I think that this film is very successful in everything
Speaker 4: that they attempt, the story as well put together. The
Speaker 4: actors are very credible in their roles, the relationships and
Speaker 4: seem genuine by everyone that's in the plot. They even
Speaker 4: flesh out the characters like the thing and the human
Speaker 4: torture in a way that we hadn't seen before and
Speaker 4: in previous films they are much simpler, but they have
Speaker 4: depth in this film, which I really appreciate it because
Speaker 4: I'm I'm a big fan of the of the comic books,
Speaker 4: and for those of us who are big comic book fans,
Speaker 4: there are a couple comic book references that happened in
Speaker 4: the movie that'll keep us excited. But this is a
Speaker 4: story that is kind of that is based on the
Speaker 4: comic books, but it is really completely original. So I
Speaker 4: thought it was very successful. I thought it was done well.
Speaker 4: Eric Pearson, Jeff Kapman, Ian Springer and Kat would write
Speaker 4: this story and I think they do a good job.
Speaker 4: I really enjoyed the movie, and I'm going to save
Speaker 4: my grade for after you give yours.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Charles.
Speaker 3: That was very well done, I wrote. And you know,
Speaker 3: I thought that the film, which featured a mid nineteen
Speaker 3: sixties tone, Matt Shackman and his production team really lean
Speaker 3: into the production design of the film, which I thought.
Speaker 2: Really really worked, really really well.
Speaker 3: I'd shared with Charles and we had a very heated
Speaker 3: conversation early this morning pre show. He did the way.
Speaker 3: I was like, Charles, you man, you never mind, but
Speaker 3: I was.
Speaker 1: I said that two times we talked earlier in two
Speaker 1: thousand and five, and then I think in two thousand
Speaker 1: and seven they did fantastic for the Rise of the
Speaker 1: Silver Surfer, and then twenty fifteen they came back and
Speaker 1: did another rebook, awful reboot.
Speaker 2: Oh you admit that one. Oh yeah, I told you
Speaker 2: Michael B. Jordan as Johnny and Human Human Torch.
Speaker 1: I just said for the record that I Tim Gordon
Speaker 1: didn't like either of these versions of the earlier films
Speaker 1: right either iteration and as a guy that didn't read
Speaker 1: the comics, Which is why it's fascinating that Charles and
Speaker 1: I have these conversations around comic book films. I may
Speaker 1: not have read the comics, but I get to watch
Speaker 1: the movies that you present, right, so they sometimes they're
Speaker 1: based on comics. I just heard you say that this
Speaker 1: one is a wholy original story, So okay, either way,
Speaker 1: it still works for me because I'm still.
Speaker 2: Watching a movie now.
Speaker 1: In my mind, before I even went in to watch
Speaker 1: the movie, after the first two attempts by Fox to
Speaker 1: make these stories, I was like I used to always say,
Speaker 1: especially when the MCU started, I was like, Man, if
Speaker 1: Marvel lever got their hands on the Fantastic Four, I
Speaker 1: think they could do a really, really good job with
Speaker 1: this because Marvel really excels in storytelling, right, So that
Speaker 1: aspect of the film, I was absolutely right. Now, I'll
Speaker 1: also say that my feelings about the three previous films, the.
Speaker 2: Bar was so low.
Speaker 1: Marvel just had to show up and just give me
Speaker 1: a story and it would have worked, right, So let's
Speaker 1: just start there that I went in even with my
Speaker 1: popcorn and my candy and my drink and my Fantastic
Speaker 1: four hat, and I was like, man, they just put
Speaker 1: a story on the screen. This is a win, right,
Speaker 1: So I'll go in and watch the movie. And I
Speaker 1: also loved the fact that previously I just found that
Speaker 1: these characters were just boring because the first three times
Speaker 1: I've watched these characters, there was really they really didn't
Speaker 1: capture the right tone of how to tell the story
Speaker 1: of the Fantastic Four.
Speaker 2: Right, even though you don't know what the story.
Speaker 1: Doesn't really matter, because my point is is that when
Speaker 1: you ask me to watch something, I'm looking at execution, cinematography,
Speaker 1: production design, costume design.
Speaker 3: Screen I'm listening to the screenplay.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at how to score, I'm looking at all
Speaker 1: the elements that make up a project, right, whether it's streaming,
Speaker 1: whether it's on the big screen. And Marvel, of course,
Speaker 1: really does a very good job because.
Speaker 3: There are a lot of comic geeks that.
Speaker 1: Work at Marvel, So even when they're telling original stories,
Speaker 1: there's still enough stuff sprinkled in. Like there's a great
Speaker 1: scene that happens earlier.
Speaker 2: In the film.
Speaker 1: I think Sue is going to the United Nations to
Speaker 1: do an address, and I didn't understand what was happening
Speaker 1: is they're pay in the audience.
Speaker 3: There's a certain character from a nation.
Speaker 1: Who's absent, who's absent, And I was like, everybody like, who,
Speaker 1: So I said what happened?
Speaker 3: And they told me I went, oh, yeah, okay, so
Speaker 3: that makes sense.
Speaker 1: So mar Marvel does a really good job of the details, right,
Speaker 1: And I thought that the story actually worked. I was
Speaker 1: told a little bit about the movie by somebody who
Speaker 1: had watched it earlier this week, and he was actually
Speaker 1: right that, you know, if you're going in looking for
Speaker 1: like huge action, this is not really a movie. This
Speaker 1: is sort of an origin story to build up because
Speaker 1: later on in the MCU, they're gonna be things that
Speaker 1: we learn in this story that will help us when
Speaker 1: we get the film thirty eight, thirty nine, forty, et cetera. Right,
Speaker 1: But I thought overall, the chemistry, which you didn't use
Speaker 1: that word, it was like, you know, they got a
Speaker 1: little the chemistry between these characters I thought really worked well.
Speaker 1: I thought that for all of the bluster of two
Speaker 1: hours of this film, there's literally only like about eight
Speaker 1: or nine speaking parts of different people of the speaking
Speaker 1: through the whole movie.
Speaker 2: If you really think about.
Speaker 1: It, it's a fantastic for their press agent, the adversary below.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's not.
Speaker 1: A lot of there's not a lot of not a
Speaker 1: lot of dialogue like not a lot of characters. It
Speaker 1: really centers on these four individuals and what they have
Speaker 1: to do to kind of move it along in a
Speaker 1: two week now Here is where we diverge, right, because
Speaker 1: going into this, Shane I thought, this is the fourth
Speaker 1: comic superhero movie of the year, right, and.
Speaker 3: Let's be let's just call it what it is. I
Speaker 3: was not a big fan of.
Speaker 1: Captain America A Brave New World, and I really wasn't
Speaker 1: a big fan of Thunderbolts, right. I really like Superman.
Speaker 1: I really thought that what James Gunn did with Superman
Speaker 1: was amazing. And I see this film by virtue what
Speaker 1: I told you about. It's an origin story and we're
Speaker 1: going to build up these characters later for them to
Speaker 1: do amazing stuff. For me, I still think Superman is
Speaker 1: the best comic superhero film in the first.
Speaker 2: Half of the year. That's my opinion, right.
Speaker 1: And I had to go back in and change my
Speaker 1: grade on this movie because I had it rated as
Speaker 1: high as Superman. I was like, Superman is better. It's
Speaker 1: just a better movie at this stage. Now, I can
Speaker 1: be wrong that later on the Fantastic Four could develop,
Speaker 1: like maybe in Part two, maybe Part three, when there's
Speaker 1: some more adversaries and some more action. Maybe we got
Speaker 1: a different story. This story is good. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: it's bad. It's easily the best of the Fantastic Four
Speaker 1: iterations that has been out there.
Speaker 2: Marls, Marls. The thing with this, you know, the cast
Speaker 2: is superb.
Speaker 3: I thought, you know, the whole sixties aesthetic works really,
Speaker 3: really well.
Speaker 1: It's a well done movie. So having said that, I
Speaker 1: gave it a B, a straight beach straight B. I
Speaker 1: had it at a B plus, but then I had
Speaker 1: Superman at a B plus and it's not Superman.
Speaker 2: A Fantastic Four B.
Speaker 1: Now I know there are hardcore comic fans who are
Speaker 1: like Tim, you don't know what you talk about. You're trimping.
Speaker 1: All I can watch, Charles is what you give me. Right,
Speaker 1: So there's no more to it, no less. I'm not hating,
Speaker 1: why says I'm glad to see that the Fantastic Four
Speaker 1: is finally brought into the MCU and it's.
Speaker 3: Actually treated with some love. It looks good, it plays well,
Speaker 3: it's got a short run time.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of positives. It's just not a lot
Speaker 1: there other than the origin set up.
Speaker 3: For me.
Speaker 1: Now I'm looking forward to what they can do with this,
Speaker 1: and I'm positive that no one marvel with you know,
Speaker 1: there's two part.
Speaker 3: Avengers they coming up is this Secret Wars and then.
Speaker 4: It's it's Doomsday first and Doomsday and then what secret Wars?
Speaker 2: Okay, there, you know, So I gave it a B.
Speaker 2: So what did you give it?
Speaker 4: I wanted to give it an A minus, but I
Speaker 4: stayed with the B plus. And I look back and
Speaker 4: I say, it's the same grade that as Superman. But
Speaker 4: unlike you, I think that this film is superior in
Speaker 4: theme and tone than to Superman, because there were some
Speaker 4: things about Superman that just didn't line up. For an instance,
Speaker 4: they really were mad with Superman because he was an
Speaker 4: alien coming to this planet, but they didn't have a
Speaker 4: problem with Hawk Girl and she's an alien it come
Speaker 4: to the planet and she's in.
Speaker 2: Part of the Justice Gang. Why what did she get
Speaker 2: into that kind of hate?
Speaker 4: So there, I mean, there were some things that I
Speaker 4: felt like that happened in Superman. Superman is a great film,
Speaker 4: but I think that as the time that goes by,
Speaker 4: that some of the themes that were relevant and important
Speaker 4: that Superman express will have dissouaited and the themes that
Speaker 4: are in The Fantastic Four about family and hope and
Speaker 4: and building the community, those things are going to last.
Speaker 4: And I think that over time that this movie will
Speaker 4: be last a lot better. It will communicate, you know
Speaker 4: how you say, sometimes the movie doesn't age well. I
Speaker 4: think that The Fantastic Four will age a lot better
Speaker 4: in its in its story because it is more of
Speaker 4: a universal theme that people will be able to relate to,
Speaker 4: not just now, but in the future.