THE FANTASTIC FOUR Finally Gets Its Trailer

To be totally honest, this long-awaited trailer for Josh Trank’s The Fantastic Four doesn’t do it for me at all. But every response I hear seems pretty positive, so I’m just going to go sit in the dunk tank on this one.

Let’s just examine what we have here. This movie clearly wants to be taken seriously. You have your sorrowful piano music, your deep narration, and your shots of people looking serious. The notion that these kids are about to get physical handicaps rather than superpowers rings through this whole thing. The trailer’s tone seems to be marching them toward a machine that cuts off their arms and legs in the name of scientific exploration.

That’s a novel approach, one that could work if we really learn to like these tykes. It’s hard to say because tone is about the only thing getting sold here. The characters don’t really speak, and the superhero stuff is muted as well. We see the fire guy light up briefly. Stretch guy does his stretching offscreen. Rock Man gets two very vague shots, Invisible Lady is just a regular lady (or she’s actually in most of the shots, but you just can’t see her), and Doctor Doom will have to wait for a later reveal.

As always, I would love to be wrong. We'll find out when the film opens August 7.