The Fantastic Four: First Steps | A Bad Rebirth, A Good Newborn
| Matt Shakman’s star-studded reboot is a study of contrasts. As a modern superhero franchise, it’s too comicbook-ish to be an effective movie, writes Rahul Desai .
| | | | | Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby | | | | I REMEMBER BEING TRAUMATISED by the mediocrity of The Fantastic Four (2005) and its Silver Surfer sequel (2007), back when superhero movies were still in the ‘Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man ’ era. One of my first thoughts, as a red-blooded male teenager, was: Is Jessica Alba really worth the fuss? The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a considerable step up from both the 2000s debacles and the 2015 disaster (I bet you didn’t remember that one — well, neither do Michael Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell and Miles Teller). Granted, that doesn’t take a lot of doing, but as an MCU movie that absolutely ‘needed’ to be made to thicken the chaos of the next Avengers movie, it’s not the worst thing. It’s not the best thing either, but when did Marvel ever pretend to be ambitious within its anti-cinema aesthetic? The Emmy-nominated Martin Scorsese will tell you more. Get your Marvel fix on OTTplay Premium for only Rs 149 per month. Grab this limited time offer now! With Pedro Pascal (as Reed “Mister Fantastic” Richards), Vanessa Kirby (as Sue “Invisible Woman” Storm), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (as Ben “The Thing” Grimm) and Joseph Quinn (as Johnny “The Human Torch” Storm), Matt Shakman’s star-studded reboot is a study of contrasts. As a modern superhero franchise, it’s too comicbook-ish to be an effective movie. Let me explain. Like several of its Marvel co-workers, The Fantastic Four is essentially unfilmable; it’s written and conceived to be imagined and customised as per the personality and creativity of the youngsters who read them. The plot revolves around the retro-futuristic heroes having to save 1960s Earth from being ‘devoured’ by a hungry and villainous space god named Galactus. The Silver Surfer (female this time) is Galactus’ enforcer. | | | Sarzameen: Ineffective Thriller With No Voice
| Every frame of Sarzameen is dunked in staleness, and Kayoze Irani’s filmmaking is worryingly absent: there's no staging, no build-up, no arc, no inspired casting. Ishita Sengupta reviews.
| | | | | Cast: Kajol, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Ibrahim Ali Khan | | | | KAYOZE IRANI'S Sarzameen , comes in the long line of films that sacrifice a decent idea at the altar of inept filmmaking. It is one of those political films that props itself up to make a statement but lacks both the spine and the bite to articulate its politics. Kannan Iyer’s Ae Watan Mere Watan (2024) is a recent example, also backed by Dharma Productions, where the voice of the maker got lost in the chaos of commentary. But if Sarzameen is to be believed, Irani has no voice. This, of course, is not wholly true. Before directing his feature debut, Irani helmed one of the better shorts in the uneven Netflix anthology Ajeeb Daastaans (2021) . There was genuine sensitivity on display even when aided by a persuasive cast. Four years since, nothing of that remains. Sarzameen could have been directed by a tree, and I still wouldn’t be surprised. Every frame of the film is dunked in staleness, and the dialogues are woefully clunky, like an AI is talking to another AI. Psst...Sarzameen is currently streaming on JioHotstar. Watch it here with your OTTplay Premium subscription. Here are some examples. When an army officer sacrifices his child for the country, his tearful wife says, “ Mujhe mera bachcha chaiye; tumhare liye woh operation hoga, mere liye woh mere jeene ki wajah hain ” (I want my child back; he might be an operation for you but he is the purpose of my life”); later when the same man thinks back to his childhood and being told off by his father for being too weak, characters speak like this: “ Tum yeh wardi pehenna chahte ho lekin nahi pehen paaoge, kyunki kamzor log iss wardi ke layak nahi hote. ” (You want to wear the uniform, but you will not be able to because weak people are not worthy of it ). Honestly, the whole film could have been an email. | | | The one newsletter you need to decide what to watch on any given day. Our editors pick a show, movie, or theme for you from everything that’s streaming on OTT. | | Each week, our editors pick one long-form, writerly piece that they think is worthy of your attention, and dice it into easily digestible bits for you to mull over. | | In which we invite a scholar of cinema, devotee of the moving image, to write a prose poem dedicated to their poison of choice. Expect to spend an hour on this. | | | Hindustan Media Ventures Limited,
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