It was just a few weeks ago that this column looked at the resurrection of the superhero movie, something I largely attributed to the success of the Iron Man franchise — its billions in box office provided a sort of force field that allowed other, lesser-known, projects (Ant-Man, anyone?) to get off the ground. But as anyone who has ever picked up a comic knows, even the strongest force field has to give way at some point.
We might be seeing a crack in the shield this week as Fantastic Four (or, if the studio marketing team has their terrible way, Fant4stic) hits area screens. The new film, directed by Josh Trank (Chronicle), is both the the third film in the Fantastic Four series and the first; the first two were so poorly received that this third installment is a complete reboot of the franchise, revisiting the origin story of the superpowered quartet. They are, in short: rubber man, rock man, fire man, invisible girl. Together they work to defeat a former friend who has become a powerful foe.
There are new actors in all the roles — Miles Teller, star of indie hit Whiplash, leads as “Mr. Fantastic” Reed Richards — but when the heroes are the FF, the actors may not be the issue. The bigger issue is that the Fantastic Four have long been the Glenn Miller Orchestra of superheroes — they were talented and they always got the job done, but there was always an air of do-gooder to their derring-do. There was rarely a hint of the unpredictability or danger one might find in the X-Men or, to push the metaphor, Count Basie.
Time will tell if Fant4stic (okay, why not go with it?) will be the hit the studios are hoping it will be — a sequel is said to be scheduled for 2017. In the meantime, comic fans looking for something a bit meatier to dig into would do well to check out the Netflix series Daredevil. Based on the classic comic about a blind lawyer with a lively night gig as a crime fighter — full disclosure, this was my favorite book as a young comic reader — the show breaks new ground in how these tales are told. By giving viewers a full (and commercial-free) 13-episode season all at once — encouraging not only binge viewing but also close, repeated viewing — the effect Netflix has created is more akin to that of a richly envisioned miniseries, or the drawn out yet contained stories of something like the BBC series Sherlock. (See also House of Cards and Orange is the New Black for an idea of what Netflix is trying to do.)
Charlie Cox (Boardwalk Empire; Stardust) stars in the title role, and while he is really quite remarkable as the man behind the mask (if you were disappointed by the 2003 Ben Affleck movie, you owe it to yourself to watch the Netflix series), it is Vincent D’Onofrio who steals the show. As Wilson Fisk — aka Kingpin, an eerily calm crime lord — he captures what made the villain so imposing while dispensing with everything that made him ridiculous. The result is the best and most sympathetic “supervillain” to hit the small screen in years.
Also this week: on Friday and Saturday night in Shelburne Falls, Pothole Pictures will screen Bridge of Names at the town’s Memorial Hall theater. Directors Liz Foley and Peter Hobbs will be on hand at both shows to discuss their work, which was filmed in locations around the Pioneer Valley. Described as “a romantic adventure with a metaphysical twist,” it tells the story of a punk rocker looking for direction. When he meets up with a small-town preacher — or more precisely, when he falls for the preacher’s under-age disciple — all hell breaks loose. Shows start at 7:30 p.m., with live music on the Hall stage beginning at 7 each night.
And for the early birds, Amherst Cinema is offering a Saturday morning screening of Winged Migration, the breathtaking 2001 documentary that offers viewers a startling close-up view of the migratory patterns of birds. We all know that birds fly south for the winter, but few have any idea of what that truly entails. Here, director Jacques Perrin uses flocks trained to ignore the camera crew, along with new lightweight cameras, to unobtrusively record these remarkable journeys. The show starts at 10 a.m., but will stay in your head for days to come.•
Jack Brown can be reached at cinemadope@gmail.com.
