As we continue our analysis on review bombing, we are taking a look at the recent 2015 adaptation of Fantastic Four as a subject of review bombs. As one of the less popular Marvel films, the Fantastic Four franchise has had multiple reboots and adaptations through the years. However, the recent reboot received incredibly negative reviews before and after the film’s release. Let’s take a look on how review bombing impacted this film.
The Fantastic Four franchise was one of the lesser known, early Marvel film franchises. The Fantastic Four was a Marvel comic series dating back to its first issue in 1961 (Buxton). The Fantastic Four film from 2005 was the first film adaptation of the 1961 Marvel comic following the sequel in 2007, Fantastic Four: The Silver Surfer (IMDB). While both of these earlier films received mediocre ratings, with the 2005 film receiving an average of 5.7 stars and the sequel receiving 5.6 stars on IMDB, it was the most recent reboot that received a shockingly low average of 4.2 stars on IMDB User Ratings. While the Fantastic Four franchise is not wildly popular compared to other Marvel franchises such as The Avengers or X-Men, the low ratings can be contributed to a variety of factors.
One of the main reasons for the early review bombs had to do with the casting of Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch. As a founding member of the Fantastic Four, The Human Torch is the first ever character introduced in Marvel Comics in October 1939 (Dietsch). He is a significant superhero and arguably the start of the Marvel Universe so many were eager to see who would play this role for the reboot. Once again much of the review bombs came solely from Jordan’s casting as a Black superhero when Torch was originally described in the comics as white, with blond hair and blue eyes (Holmes). Many cited the stray from the original comic book description as a reason for negative reviews even before the release on Rotten Tomatoes. More so, reasons such as the film was trying to reach a “racial quota” or be “politically correct” was cited in reviews (Holmes). Jordan’s thoughts regarding his casting backlash is quoted below:
“Turns out this is what they were saying: ‘A black guy? I don’t like it. They must be doing it because Obama’s president’ and ‘It’s not true to the comic.’ Or even, ‘They’ve destroyed it!’” (Holmes).
So, was the film actually deserving of some of these negative reviews? Sadly, yes. Many review bombed films had unjustified, negative reviews while still being an overall great film. While we can applaud the film for slightly diversifying the character adaptation, this film fell short in key aspects of what makes a truly good film. Many sites cited pacing issues due to continuity errors from multiple reshoots on set, poor character development across main characters, and the lack of action shots (Holmes). Even though it did face many review bombs unrelated to the plot, a lot of negative reviews came just for the fact that it was not a good film which is valid.
Although review bombing is a phenomenon that happens in so many films that try to include diversity and inclusion. Fantastic Four was a victim of this trend but it is also important to note that sometimes negative reviews can have merit. Not all films with diverse casts, crew, and plot are well made and those critiques are valid.
Sources:
Buxton, Marc. “The Fantastic Four Comics: Where Do You Start?” Den of Geek, 9 Aug. 2015, https://www.denofgeek.com/comics/the-fantastic-four-comics-where-do-you-start/
Dietsch, TJ. “Look inside the First Marvel Comic Ever.” Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Entertainment, 9 May 2019, https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/look-inside-the-first-marvel-comic-ever
“Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer.” IMDb, IMDb.com, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486576/ratings/?ref_=tt_ov_rt
“Fantastic Four.” IMDb, IMDb.com, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120667/ratings/?ref_=tt_ov_rt
Holmes, Adam. “5 Big Reasons Why ‘Fantastic Four’ Bombed at the Box Office.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 11 Aug. 2015, https://www.businessinsider.com/why-fantastic-four-bombed-2015-8
Holmes, Mannie. “Michael B. Jordan on ‘Fantastic Four’ Casting Backlash: I’ll ‘Shoulder All This Hate’.” Variety, Variety, 23 May 2015, https://variety.com/2015/film/news/michael-b-jordan-fantastic-four-casting-backlash-shouldering-hate-1201504000/
