Review: 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps'

On a parallel Earth in the space-age ‘60s, a family of superheroes find themselves having to save the world from the impending arrival of the planet-eating space god, Galactus, heralded by the apocalyptic appearance of a female Silver Surfer, just as Mr and Mrs Fantastic find themselves expecting their first child.  

The latest in the once-in-a-decade attempt at bringing the Marvel strip to the big screen – following on from a Roger Corman-produced unreleased ’94 film made available via bootleg, two innocuous Fox movies, a trip down the body horror route, and a couple of cameos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (John Krasinski’s Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Chris Evans’ Johnny Storm returning from the Fox Movie wilderness in Deadpool & Wolverine), this is their first official debut from the MCU production line as a setup for the next Avengers event.  

Those suffering from Marvel fatigue may find this to be surprisingly engaging by the end and it has a somewhat charming retro-futuristic style (think The Jetsons, Thunderbirds, and Pixar’s The Incredibles) and blue-tinted ‘60s-film look to it.  It certainly looks a lot brighter than Thunderbolts* released earlier this year.

Chap Re-views: Doctor Who - 'Rose'

Today marks the twentieth anniversary of Doctor Who to British television screens after sixteen years (barring a one-off TV Movie and the odd charity sketch) and as the latest "Whoniverse" era starring Ncuti Gatwa is something of a second reboot (the upcoming series is officially "Season Two"), I thought I'd do a rewatch of the 2005-2022 era (given its own section on BBC iplayer), starting with 'Rose' and finishing with 'The Power of the Doctor'.

I'd been a Doctor Who fan for a few years prior to it's return, having been introduced to it by my Dad with a DVD of 'The Five Doctors' and watching a fair amount of the series on VHS, DVD (remember the shop MVC?) and tape recordings of weekend morning omnibus showings on UK Gold. I'd also started collecting new issues the official tie-in magazine at the end of 2001 (I'd been given several 80s issues that I think belonged to my uncle but were kept at my grandparents' house). Funnily enough, a feature article in my first "new" issue speculated on what the show might be like when it came back. I had also listened to a few of the Big Finish audio adventures (starting on cassette!) and I'd watched the webcasts on the BBC website (they started as Real Player videos of audio dramas with illustrations before evolving into flash animations).  At the time, the closest thing I'd had to a "new series" was the webcast 'Scream of the Shalka' and, for a brief, Richard E. Grant was canonically enough the "Ninth" Doctor to have had his own chapter in the 40th anniversary coffee table book 'Doctor Who: The Legend'. I was very excited though when I read of the TV series being revived in a tiny newspaper item that had a picture of a Dalek.

On the night itself, I got my mum to prepare spam for tea (I think I wanted to recreate teatime in the 1960s). The episode opened and within the first few minutes, there was a technical error where some audio from something Graham Norton was doing managed to leak in while Billie Piper was being menaced by Autons. Also, our Sky signal was a bit glitchy so in one scene, the picture would freeze and then speedily catch up with the audio. I thought this was an editing technique they were using in the show.

Headwriter Russell T Davies had just 45 minutes to set out his stall of what a cult Sci-Fi show might be like in 2005 and the production team were rewarded with an overnight record of 10.81 million viewers.  In hindsight, updating the format from 25 minute serials worked in its favour - there's no cliffhanger to make us wait another week to see how this debut would conclude and it's not too long to bore new kids either.  At the beginning, we're plunged through Earth's atmosphere into the world of 19-year old shop assistant Rose Tyler and by the end, we have an alien called the Doctor (I missed the Nestene Consciousness calling him a Time Lord the first time round) and a teleporting, time-travelling police box called a TARDIS.  It's all you really need to know really and I rather wish it could be as stripped-down to the basics now as it was back then.

With that, Davies takes the basic format of the show and updates it for the next generation, giving us a companion who lives on a council estate and has a mum (rather like giving Tegan an aunt in the 80s) and a boyfriend and we have a Doctor who doesn't speak in RP (deliberately on Christopher Eccleston's part) and wears a V-neck T-shirt and leather jacket - but still, crucially, acts like a weirdo alien in human form. Davies and director Keith Boak then take these two and tries to cram in as much British iconography as possible - Big Ben! Royal Mail! Council estates! London buses! The London Eye! The police box! - a relic of a bygone era, both in the real world and on telly (gleefully explained as a disguise by the Doctor). 

We also get the sense that this new series has a history - this stranger called the Doctor has seemingly been popping up at different points in history, e.g. the JFK assassination (sensibly, Davies refrains from referencing past incarnations), and it's apparently not the first time that shop window dummies have come to life and attacked the public (at university, we had a whole lecture on Doctor Who in which they showed clips contrasting the Auton attack here and with the original in the '70s serial 'Spearhead from Space').

In the span of the show's history, it's the first companion's introduction story in quite sometime in which it's presented from their perspective rather than the Doctor arriving somewhere and meeting someone new. As with Ian and Barbara in 1963, so to is Rose in 2005 someone through whom the audience experiences the story vicariously. By the end of it, the show's real USP is time travel and, like Rose, we're off on the trip of a lifetime. No longer was this show just something my dad and uncle watched and I inherited like an heirloom. Now, it could be my show too and my life wouldn't be the same without it. The Doctor was back and he was taking me with him.

Rec(h)ap: The 'Saw' Movies (2004-2021)

With a new Saw movie imminent, I thought I'd do a recap of all nine (!) previous entries. Spoilers ahead... 

Saw (2004)

The original (not counting 2003's short that gave us the reverse bear trap) and arguably still the best. A very simple setup - two characters chained up in a disused bathroom with a corpse in between them and a building mystery of how they got there, with flashbacks gradually fitting the story together like a jigsaw puzzle. As the mystery deepens, we find out more about the characters and tensions mount until a climax that delivers one headfuck after another. The least gruesome of the series, it somehow makes the unthinkable use of a hacksaw to escape imprisonment all the more tough to watch. And then we get That Twist. It's not perfect (Dr Gordon's marriage troubles don't get much detail) but it works as a standalone with a vicious payoff and takes its time (unlike a lot of the sequels). Director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell would both later go on to create the Insidious movies. 

Saw II (2005)

The first sequel, which pretty much sets the tone of things to come, giving us the grungey-grimey look of much of the series. The first of four entries to be helmed by Darren Lynn Bousman and almost acts like an audition piece rather like the plot itself kinda acts like a trial run for Amanda being Jigsaw's successor. It opens with a pale imitation of the reverse bear trap but instead the device will slam shut around its victim's head rather than tearing it open.

We also meet Jigsaw properly and it's the most sadistic portrayal that series star Tobin Bell gives us, grinning as he promises that "there will be blood". It builds from the first film by giving us more victims and going from one room (to which we return in a good twist) to a whole house. It's also the first film to play around with time and editing by revealing that two plot lines aren't necessarily taking place concurrently. Shorter than the first film, it's the first that feels a bit quick.

Saw III (2006)

The third and "final" of a trilogy scripted by Leigh Whannell, it's also - for me - still the most gruesome, with some nastiness right from the outset (Detective Matthews' improvised use of a toilet lid to escape imprisonment and Jigsaw's personal favourite trap, The Rack). It brings back some human drama by having a married couple (although we don't know that yet) playing separate-but-linked games that build to an explosive finale. The first entry to get the series the "torture porn" label with news stories of people fainting in cinemas (watching it on DVD, I found Jigsaw's brain surgery fascinating, myself). Despite the tease of a cliffhanger, it rounds off the Amanda storyline and very explicitly kills off Jigsaw and could have ended the series there (were it not for the introduction of Detective Hoffman).

Saw IV (2007)

The first post-Jigsaw entry with the promise that the games will continue (a clever use of the cassette tapes, thanks to the opening autopsy). Watching it the first time, I'd forgotten Hoffman had even been in the previous film. It sets up a new game for another previous supporting character and we're supposed to be led to believe that it takes place over the course of 90 minutes during which new characters are introduced, multiple traps are played out and numerous police interrogations take place. We also get Jigsaw's origin story so it functions as both a sequel and a prequel. Playing around with time again, having it revealed to be taking place concurrently with Saw III for the most part does little to serve the story except to help explain how they got to Jigsaw's body in the first place.

Saw V (2008)

The first I saw in the cinema and the one where the series feels like it's ground to a halt. The "fatal five" game is reduced to a subplot while Agent Strahm investigates Hoffman and it feels entirely perfunctory (at least the final part of it does involve saw blades and is pretty nasty). As with Saw IV, we get an origin story through flashback as we find out how Hoffman came to be Jigsaw's apprentice. It does start to feel like Tobin Bell is making a cameo in his own series, though.

Saw VI (2009)

Something of a return to form for the series - by far, the most interesting of the Hoffman movies, even if the Hoffman storyline is the least interesting thing in it. This time, Jigsaw is taking on American health insurance (from beyond the grave, thanks to pre-recorded videos in which Kramer himself appears). By dealing with an important social issue, it might have made for an interesting Blumhouse take on the series. The final twist for William Eastman's game is a good one ("It's not MY game!"). Again, with a story arc moreorless wrapped up, they could almost have ended things here.

Saw 3D (2010)

The last gasp of the series's original run (and it was planned as a two-parter). Opening with a callback to the original Saw by teasing the fate of Dr Gordon (his return in this film could have been handled in multiple ways), we then watch a game taking place in a shop window with characters that have nothing to do with the rest of the film (unless you listen to the Director's Commentary) and it's never referred to again. The main game concerns someone who became a celebrity through pretending to be a Jigsaw survivor and it makes an interesting subject (and arguably a fitting one to save for last). And again, it's the most interesting part of the film while the cops run around chasing Hoffman (Chad Donella brings some fun as Gibson, though). Perhaps also fittingly, the new player also fails the game in pretty much every single round.

The only one shot in 3D, resulting in different lighting, it doesn't serve the film much (one trap involving eyes does give us some creepy POV shots though). Directed by Kevin Greutert, it's almost hard to believe it's from the same guy who gave us the fairly decent previous entry. We also get an entirely pointless dream sequence which pretty much gives away how Jill Tuck's storyline is going to end (showing us later how the reverse bear trap works kinda takes the suspense out of the original too).

Tobin Bell's appearances in flashback are little more than cameos by now and in the end, the series ends where it began in the bathroom. Meh. 

Jigsaw (2017)

A bit of a soft reboot and coming out a few years after the series ended, we have a new game being played with Jigsaw's inexplicable resurrection. It strips away the baggage of the previous entries and Bell is the only returning actor (his seemingly impossible onscreen entry is wonderfully eerie). The first in a while to play around with time (you can start to guess it during the course of the film), it functions as another prequel by revealing the central game to have been one of the earliest to have taken place (taking place in a barn, it's perhaps a bit of a stretch, not to mention the use of more modern-looking TV sets). I initially found it to be more of the same but it has grown on me and it adds an interesting aspect to the Jigsaw character - what if he was your neighbour?

Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)

Another attempt to reboot the series, with yet another apparent Jigsaw copycat - but this time with their own voice, puppet, and method of knocking out victims. John Kramer is now just a photograph and given a couple of mentions. There are some decently nasty traps (notably those involving shattered glass and a blade behind the neck) but I'm not sure I can take Chris Rock all that seriously in it (for me, he'll always be the Thirteenth Apostle in Dogma) but Samuel L Jackson brings some star quality (although sticking on a moustache for flashback scenes does look silly). I do like that the new killer is almost a bit of a Wesley Crusher-ish "nerd" and there's a potentially interesting way the series could go. It would be a shame if nothing else came of this or 'Jigsaw'. 

TV: 'Man vs. Bee' (Netflix)

 

The latest family-oriented comedy with Rowan Atkinson bumbling around is a Netflix production that, curiously, is cut into nine 10-minute chapters when it could just as easily be watched as a feature without the constant interruptions to play the next episode. The good news, however, is that is is surprisingly a lot funnier than the trailer made it out to be.

Atkinson plays a divorced everyman who takes a new job as a house-sitter for a wealthy couple's swanky home (including their dog, Cupcake) whilst they are on holiday and finds himself pestered by a local CGI bee - a simple setup that could fill a half-hour short but is instead stretched to at least three's worth. It opens with Atkinson on trial for the damage caused as a result of his attempts to dispose of his enemy before - in a wearing plot device - flashing back to where the story originally starts in order to see how it all leads up to the present situation.

At any rate, it's a lot funnier than the last Johnny English film (his performance is something of a synthesis of English and Bean) and what makes it an interesting watch is not only to cringe at very expensive property damage but also Atkinson's attempts to paper over the cracks.

It makes for good, mostly clean, family fun (there are a couple of gags involving Atkinson's crotch that I could have lived without) and would make pleasant enough Christmas viewing as an omnibus feature on BBC One.

'Obi-Wan Kenobi' (Disney+) - The first episodes

SPOILERS AHEAD….

 

Presenting its status as a television series, the premiere episode opens with a skippable recap showing a montage of clips from the prequel movies establishing the relationship between Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), the latter’s fall to the dark side, and Kenobi’s subsequent exile along with Anakin’s kids.

 

Ten years later, we find Kenobi going by the name of Ben and living in a cave and working in a meat factory (did any of us imagine Obi-Wan might’ve had to have a job?). We see his day-to-day routine of working the production-line, going home on what’s basically a flying bus and cooking for himself at home in a scene not unlike Rey’s introduction on Jakku in The Force Awakens. But as it transpires, he’s not the only Jedi on Tattooine when some fascistic “inquisitors” arrive on the hunt. Not having yet seen the animated series Rebels, I didn’t feel I’d missed out when these new villains – led by the Grand Inquisitor – are introduced. Said Jedi may well be one of the “younglings” that escapes the massacre of Order 66 in the Jedi Temple in the opening scene (perhaps unfortunate timing for the release, given recent the latest tragedy in America). When Kenobi isn’t working, he’s keeping a distant eye on young Luke Skywalker and, rather like Father Christmas, delivers him a toy overnight.  Uncle Owen (Joel Edgerton) pays him a visit to warn him to stay away.

 

Meanwhile, we cut across the galaxy to Alderaan and meet the child incarnation of Princess Leia, played by Vivien Lyra Blair, who fittingly somewhat brings to mind Natalie Portman in Leon.  At this point, it almost feels like a whole other show or film (a Princess Leia origins movie wouldn’t have been a bad idea) but soon it provides a contrivance to get Kenobi to interrupt his exile and go off-world (I’d have otherwise been content with the thought that he spent the near-two decades piddling around in the desert). Kenobi soon faces a choice not unlike the one later faced by Luke as he eventually reluctantly accepts a call for help but it takes a death to get him there.

 

Part II concerns his trip to a planet that recalls the “ground level” of Coruscant in Attack of the Clones as he tries to evade the inquisitors whilst he goes on his mission.  Eventually, he learns a terrible truth about someone from his past (no prizes for guessing whom) and we end on a haunting final twenty seconds that leaves us signing up for Part III. 

 

It’s all pretty engaging stuff and hopefully won’t turn out to be a slog like both seasons of Star Trek: Picard, another show that brought back another fan favourite out of retirement.  This, however, feels like it’s made by people who love and respect the mythos and in some ways is managing to rehabilitate the prequels.

 

Welcome back, Ewan McGregor.  It’s been a long time. 

 

A long time.

Review: What If? & Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Over a year ago, I started watching the Defenders shows on Netflix in prep for the upcoming Spider-Man film and at time of writing I’ve about three-and-a-half seasons left.  In light of the imminent release of the new Doctor Strange film, I skipped ahead to the “Phase 4” shows on Disney+ from WandaVision to What If?  The latter is a nine-part animated series of roughly half-an-hour each and seemingly follows on from the ending of Loki Season One with the Marvel Cinematic Universe branching out into various alternate timelines (in light of Spider-Man: No Way Home, seemingly a way of explaining the various screen incarnations of Marvel heroes over the decades).  Each episode starts off with a premise asking “what if” – for example – Agent Carter became the hero that Captain America originally was.  As it turns out, the episodes aren’t entirely self-contained and they all eventually pay off in a two-part finale in which our various heroes across the dimensions are rounded up for a showdown with the Big Bag – and a very, VERY, cosmically Big Bad it is too (the moment the arch-villain breaks the literal fourth wall is one of the scariest I can recall in the MCU’s history).  In some way, the series is better served by animation rather than the usual CGI spectacles.  The universe has never been more imperilled and the onscreen destruction has never been more epic.  I’m not a fan of the melding of traditional hand-drawn 2D animation with 3D movement, which has an uncanny valley-like effect like CGI humans.  It generally makes for an enjoyably disposable Saturday morning cartoon.

 

Saturday morning is probably the best time to see the new Doctor Strange film.  Original director Scott Derrickson (whose first film I enjoyed) now sits as an exec producer and Sam Raimi returns to the director’s chair, fifteen years after Spider-Man 3.  After a teasing opening sequence, the film becomes rather like one of his Spider-Man trilogy with our hero (Benedict Cumberbatch) seeing his would-be love interest being married off to someone else (there’s no turnaround fleeing the altar this time) before an action sequence with a bug-eyed monster storming the city that recalls last year’s The Suicide Squad from DC.  Here, the good doctor and his sidekick Wong (Benedict Wong) run into the mysterious America Chavaz (Xochitl Gomez), a girl whose superpower is that she can jump across the various dimensions of the multiverse.  She comes to the attention of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), whom we last saw becoming the Scarlet Witch in TV’s WandaVision.  She wants to use Chavez’s power to find the universe where her imagined sons from the TV series are living real lives and assume her role as their mother.  It’s up to Strange and Wong to protect Chavez and this leads to a trip across various timelines, dark magic, and trans-dimensional bodily possession.  One particular sequence sees a trailer-teased crossover with another Marvel property and some all-to-brief cameos from characters old and new.

 

My initial problem with the MCU had been how every film seemed like a homework assignment in that you had to see everything in order to understand how it all paid off down the line.  With this – having seen most of the films only once at time of writing – it gets harder to keep track of all the characters and events so I’d start struggling to place returning faces.  I also retain a nostalgic preference for two thirds of Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy in which the characters felt like real people facing real-life problems rather than cartoon characters on a production line.  It’s generally good fun though and its transition into PG-13-friendly horror (more Drag Me to Hell than Evil Dead) just about nudges it into four-star territory.  And it has the best post-credits bit since Spider-Man: Homecoming.