Stealth vs Fantastic Four
This summer I have seen plenty of movies. Most of them probably the mainstream blockbusters: Star Wars, Batman Begins, War of the Worlds, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Kingdom of Heaven (possibly others but I can't remember them at the moment). This past week I added two more movies to this list of films, which means this summer I've spent between $50 and $60 on movies at the Theatre. Add to that movies that I've rented and I've seen quite a bit of movies.
Anyways, the movies I saw in theatres in the past week were Stealth and Fantastic Four.
***Warning - Spoilers will most likely be in these reviews.
Stealth:
First, the trailer for this movie was what first caught my eye (which is probably what it was intended to do). The basic premise of the movie was this: The USAF has set up a division of elite fighters (more elite than Top Gun, apparently) who are selected to train to fly the newest technology they have in aircraft: stealth fighters. Out of 200 pilots across the country that applied only 3 were selected (1.5%) to be trained to fight as a team. After training for a certain amount of time, they are informed of assignment into the field and a new team member. This member is an artificial intelligence designed to learn. It has all the abilities of the planes themselves but does not require a passenger to fly it.
So anyways, the AI plane, codenamed Tinman, is caught in a lightning storm, struck by lightning, which fuses its circuitry and somehow makes it self aware. The on-site techy doesn't know what's going on and isn't confident of Tinman's abilities/safety with the crew, but nevertheless, the Commanding Officer on the ship clears it to fly with the others. As you would expect it goes awry.
Situation?
Now you have a rogue stealth fighter with enough armament to launch a moderate ground assault that is no longer in control of those who let it go. What's worse is that it is heading to attack fictional targets (created for simulation test purposes while in experimentation stage) in Russia, which may lead to war.
Solution?
Send the three elitely trained stealth fighter pilots to track it down and bring it back to the aircraft carrier where it came from so they can make repairs.
Problem?
Tinman is able to successfully defeat one of the pilots by flying through a mountainous region and making the pilot crash into it. A second pilot has their plane damaged by debris from the first plane and has to bail out somewhere over North Korea, which currently has no diplomatic relations with Americans and will be hostile towards them. This leaves the leader of the team in the remaining stealth fighter, which is low on fuel, to try and bring Tinman back.
The rest of the movie focuses on the pilot gaining the trust and friendship of Tinman. War is averted; situation is returned to normal.
This movie had its corny elements where the pilots seemed to have larger-than-normal egos since they were considered the most elite pilots in the USAF and possibly the world. The action sequences and computer imagery/graphics/special effects were great. The plot, though, was fairly simple and generic for an action movie of this type; only the toys were different.
I'd give it a 3/5 - Good but not great.
My Movie Rating System
0 - This rating is given to movies I've walked out on (Traffic)
1 - This rating is given to movies I've felt like watching to see if it gets better. (Alexander)
2 - This rating is given to movies I at least found entertaining to watch the first time but would most likely not watch again. (Aliens vs Predator)
3 - This rating is given to good movies that I could watch more than once without looking at my watch or the time. (The Last Samurai)
4 - This rating is given to movies I thoroughly enjoyed watching and would watch twice in theatres if the occasion arose (different groups?). (Star Wars Ep. III)
5 - In order to get this rating, a movie would have to pretty much amaze me. There would have to be in there some elements that, well, stuck out, and made the movie an icon of its time. (For its time - The Matrix: First time I saw Bullet Time and thought about brain-in-a-jar theory, Sixth Sense - First movie I saw with a twist, etc...).
Fantastic Four:
This is yet another movie based on a Marvel comic series created by Stan Lee (who's other creations include Spiderman, X-Men and the Punisher - all of which have made it onto the silver screen).
Like the first Spiderman, XMen movies as well as Batman Begins (Batman is not created by Marvel, but by DC Comics), this movie focuses on the origin of these superheroes; that is, how they got their powers. Spiderman was bitten by a spider, the XMen are given them by genetics (are born with them and later develop them at puberty), and Batman creates his own special equipment to serve his purpose.
Having not read the comics on their origins, I will only be able to describe how they got their powers according to the movie itself. A team of four scientists (Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm) accompanied by their rich sponsor, Victor Von Doom, to Doom's space station where they will be able to monitor the effects of a cosmic radiation storm on human cells (assumingly a sample). When the storm hits the station, its apparent shielding fails and they are knocked unconscious. Later they discover that they have super powers and the only thing that they can wear that allows them to stay clothed while using their powers is the suits they were wearing on the station. *gasp!*
Reed is given the power to stretch his body and takes on the name Mr. Fantastic - the leader of the F4.
Susan is given the power to make herself invisible - but not her clothes unless she's wearing the suit. She takes on the name the Invisible woman and can also project forcefields around objects to either protect them or contain them.
Johnny is able to heat his body to temperatures approaching Supernova (that happens when a star explodes), which is about 3,500,000,000K and fly too. He calls himself the human torch.
Ben Grimm is turned into a huge rock-like being with immense strength. He is simply called The Thing.
Victor Von Doom, also is affected by the cosmic radiation, which turns his body into a metallic alloy harder than diamond or titanium. He also is able to control electricity/lightning energy.
After they figure out their powers, Doom decides he wants to get ride of the other four. So he freezes Mr. Fantastic (Rubber becomes rigid when froze), launches a heatseeking missile at the Human Torch, changes The Thing back into Ben Grimm (which is what Grimm wanted at the time after losing his wife), and tries to choke the life out of the Invisible Woman. Long story short, he fails, and they stop him.
This movie focused more on the characters playing/dealing with their powers and their dis/advantages. Namely, The Thing. Grimm's wife leaves him after seeing his new appearance and he finds himself an outcast because of it. Susan learns she can't really wear any other pieces of clothing if she doesn't want to be seen. Johnny loves his powers and tries to make them work. Reed is more conservative with them.
Like Stealth, I enjoyed the special effects they had in this movie, but found the plot rather lacking. The humour element in this movie was good and it was a good movie to watch for those who are interested in the comics. Beyond that, this movie wasn't great but it wasn't bad.
3/5
Anyways, the movies I saw in theatres in the past week were Stealth and Fantastic Four.
***Warning - Spoilers will most likely be in these reviews.
Stealth:
First, the trailer for this movie was what first caught my eye (which is probably what it was intended to do). The basic premise of the movie was this: The USAF has set up a division of elite fighters (more elite than Top Gun, apparently) who are selected to train to fly the newest technology they have in aircraft: stealth fighters. Out of 200 pilots across the country that applied only 3 were selected (1.5%) to be trained to fight as a team. After training for a certain amount of time, they are informed of assignment into the field and a new team member. This member is an artificial intelligence designed to learn. It has all the abilities of the planes themselves but does not require a passenger to fly it.
So anyways, the AI plane, codenamed Tinman, is caught in a lightning storm, struck by lightning, which fuses its circuitry and somehow makes it self aware. The on-site techy doesn't know what's going on and isn't confident of Tinman's abilities/safety with the crew, but nevertheless, the Commanding Officer on the ship clears it to fly with the others. As you would expect it goes awry.
Situation?
Now you have a rogue stealth fighter with enough armament to launch a moderate ground assault that is no longer in control of those who let it go. What's worse is that it is heading to attack fictional targets (created for simulation test purposes while in experimentation stage) in Russia, which may lead to war.
Solution?
Send the three elitely trained stealth fighter pilots to track it down and bring it back to the aircraft carrier where it came from so they can make repairs.
Problem?
Tinman is able to successfully defeat one of the pilots by flying through a mountainous region and making the pilot crash into it. A second pilot has their plane damaged by debris from the first plane and has to bail out somewhere over North Korea, which currently has no diplomatic relations with Americans and will be hostile towards them. This leaves the leader of the team in the remaining stealth fighter, which is low on fuel, to try and bring Tinman back.
The rest of the movie focuses on the pilot gaining the trust and friendship of Tinman. War is averted; situation is returned to normal.
This movie had its corny elements where the pilots seemed to have larger-than-normal egos since they were considered the most elite pilots in the USAF and possibly the world. The action sequences and computer imagery/graphics/special effects were great. The plot, though, was fairly simple and generic for an action movie of this type; only the toys were different.
I'd give it a 3/5 - Good but not great.
My Movie Rating System
0 - This rating is given to movies I've walked out on (Traffic)
1 - This rating is given to movies I've felt like watching to see if it gets better. (Alexander)
2 - This rating is given to movies I at least found entertaining to watch the first time but would most likely not watch again. (Aliens vs Predator)
3 - This rating is given to good movies that I could watch more than once without looking at my watch or the time. (The Last Samurai)
4 - This rating is given to movies I thoroughly enjoyed watching and would watch twice in theatres if the occasion arose (different groups?). (Star Wars Ep. III)
5 - In order to get this rating, a movie would have to pretty much amaze me. There would have to be in there some elements that, well, stuck out, and made the movie an icon of its time. (For its time - The Matrix: First time I saw Bullet Time and thought about brain-in-a-jar theory, Sixth Sense - First movie I saw with a twist, etc...).
Fantastic Four:
This is yet another movie based on a Marvel comic series created by Stan Lee (who's other creations include Spiderman, X-Men and the Punisher - all of which have made it onto the silver screen).
Like the first Spiderman, XMen movies as well as Batman Begins (Batman is not created by Marvel, but by DC Comics), this movie focuses on the origin of these superheroes; that is, how they got their powers. Spiderman was bitten by a spider, the XMen are given them by genetics (are born with them and later develop them at puberty), and Batman creates his own special equipment to serve his purpose.
Having not read the comics on their origins, I will only be able to describe how they got their powers according to the movie itself. A team of four scientists (Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm) accompanied by their rich sponsor, Victor Von Doom, to Doom's space station where they will be able to monitor the effects of a cosmic radiation storm on human cells (assumingly a sample). When the storm hits the station, its apparent shielding fails and they are knocked unconscious. Later they discover that they have super powers and the only thing that they can wear that allows them to stay clothed while using their powers is the suits they were wearing on the station. *gasp!*
Reed is given the power to stretch his body and takes on the name Mr. Fantastic - the leader of the F4.
Susan is given the power to make herself invisible - but not her clothes unless she's wearing the suit. She takes on the name the Invisible woman and can also project forcefields around objects to either protect them or contain them.
Johnny is able to heat his body to temperatures approaching Supernova (that happens when a star explodes), which is about 3,500,000,000K and fly too. He calls himself the human torch.
Ben Grimm is turned into a huge rock-like being with immense strength. He is simply called The Thing.
Victor Von Doom, also is affected by the cosmic radiation, which turns his body into a metallic alloy harder than diamond or titanium. He also is able to control electricity/lightning energy.
After they figure out their powers, Doom decides he wants to get ride of the other four. So he freezes Mr. Fantastic (Rubber becomes rigid when froze), launches a heatseeking missile at the Human Torch, changes The Thing back into Ben Grimm (which is what Grimm wanted at the time after losing his wife), and tries to choke the life out of the Invisible Woman. Long story short, he fails, and they stop him.
This movie focused more on the characters playing/dealing with their powers and their dis/advantages. Namely, The Thing. Grimm's wife leaves him after seeing his new appearance and he finds himself an outcast because of it. Susan learns she can't really wear any other pieces of clothing if she doesn't want to be seen. Johnny loves his powers and tries to make them work. Reed is more conservative with them.
Like Stealth, I enjoyed the special effects they had in this movie, but found the plot rather lacking. The humour element in this movie was good and it was a good movie to watch for those who are interested in the comics. Beyond that, this movie wasn't great but it wasn't bad.
3/5
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