Does the FF have what it takes to become the fifth major superhero franchise?

[Kevin Roegele]

We've had Superman, Batman, X-Men and Spider-Man....the heavy-hitters, the big boys, the major superhero movie franchises. Does the FF have what it takes to be next? The potential is certainly there, and you don't get much better source material than the FF comics.

For me, it comes down to two things; scale and action. The original movie felt almost cosy compared to the epic scale of other superhero flicks (not a criticism). If you look at the big franchises, those movies are huge in scope.

Secondly, for the FF franchise to suceed it needs better action, more spectacle, more money shots. Cutting edge wow-factor, and genuine action movie thrills.

And it looks like Rise of the Silver Surfer has both of my points covered. Superhero sequels, for some reason, tend to be much better than sequels in other genres, with movies like Superman II, Batman Returns, X2 and Spider-Man 2. FF2 already looks superior to the original.

I do like the first movie a lot, however I do feel Story & co need to take the whole thing up several notches to make this into the next big superhero franchise - and reach the potential of a Fantastic Four movie.

 

[Carp Man]

I think this movie will make up for the 1st in spades. I've seen the pics that Fox had pulled, and I am highly impressed. This movie looks sharp, and polished. The sets look better, the Thing costume looks better. Jessicias hair is fine. Everything about this movie so far from the trailers, to the photos looks sharp. I saw the picture of the Doom costume, and I must say it is a vast, vast improvement over the 1st Doom costume. I think most will be pleased. Not all, because you always have the nit pickers. This movie will be the suprise of the summer. I think it will hit with the kids. The'll go nuts over the Surfer. The trailer with SM 3 will be the key. If they come out an eye popping, jaw dropping, hell yea trailer, skys the limit for this film.

 

[Nokio]

I think in someone else's hands the film could've been a monster hit. Their's no reason why the incrediables should've beat f4. Unfortuantly FOX has proven to care little for the franchise except to cash in a good trend. I remeber an article sometime back after the success of Spiderman and Xmen to expect studios to flood the market with comic based films. Sadlt their will be some big misses due to the studio screwing up. I don't know how well ROTSS will do, but it won't make as much as I could've made due to FOX starting the franchise off with a sub par film and possibly putting out a sub par sequel to a sub par film. I'm not a fortune teller and the trailer looked great, but the changes and things I heard may be a huge let down. A good traler doesn't equal good film. I've been fooled before and FOX was the culprit.

 

[Dragon]

I've been saying this since FF1 was in production. The FF should and could be the Star Wars for this generation.

In the comics Stan and Jack regurlarly generated epic stories with the team. They didn't just face villains. They faced leaders of civilizations- worlds. God-like beings. Moleman and his subterranean world. Latveria, Atlantis, The Inhumans and their Great Refuge. The Negative Zone.

These films should be seen as great sagas, not just superhero action movies.

 

[Agent 194]

They were after all, "The World's Greatest Comics Magazine." Even as a kid I innately knew this was more than mere hyperbole/over dramatization on Stan's part. I knew this to be true! For this fact alone it deserves the world's greatest comics movie treatment.

 

[gerbstat]

I'd like to say yes, but I'm not inclined to think it will attain the success that Superman, Batman, X-Men and Spidey have enjoyed. The Fantastic Four broke new ground and changed the industry, but they were quickly overshadowed by the success of Spideman and his exposure to the public consciousness. Superman and Batman had the benefit of having been around since the late 30's, which gave them a chance to become pop icons.

If this film really scores and the merchandising starts penetrating the minds of our children and tweens, it may catch up.

 

[Kelly]

Have no idea at this point, ask me June 16th.

 

[3dman27]

i think the FF has what it takes if the fox suits can mind thier own buisness that is

 

[coreymb16]

I think this movie will make up for the 1st in spades. I've seen the pics that Fox had pulled, and I am highly impressed. This movie looks sharp, and polished. The sets look better, the Thing costume looks better. Jessicias hair is fine. Everything about this movie so far from the trailers, to the photos looks sharp. I saw the picture of the Doom costume, and I must say it is a vast, vast improvement over the 1st Doom costume. I think most will be pleased. Not all, because you always have the nit pickers. This movie will be the suprise of the summer. I think it will hit with the kids. The'll go nuts over the Surfer. The trailer with SM 3 will be the key. If they come out an eye popping, jaw dropping, hell yea trailer, skys the limit for this film.

True, Spider-Man 3 wll be the key to the movie's success based on the fanbase Spider-Man has and Spider-Man 3 is one of the BIG 3 in May. FF:ROTSS does look like an epic movie to me. This can either be a Spider-Man 2 or X2: X-Men United in terms of box office numbers. We will really be surprise come June 15th.

 

[Spade]

Don Payne seems to have taken a rather ill-received first film and made it into something worth watching, and Tim's vision for the films doesn't seem to be shaping up half-bad. There are two issues, though. The first is that the first film wasn't highly thought of, so it's sort of hard to build an epic trilogy of a saga upon such a shaky start. The second is that 20th Century seriously kills the positive hype for this film every time they involve themselves in the creative process- even if it's not suggesting Johnny be flameless or having a maskless Doom, the negative buzz Fox creates through overinvolvement has sunk the bar yet again.

I'd love to say the history of this film franchise and the studio producing it can be ignored for the quality, but even that is under par. It's up to Story, the studio and Payne to have made this film one worth calling an epic...and I'm hard-pressed to find anything outside of a teaser that even hints at such a phrase.

 

[Kelly]

I think this movie will make up for the 1st in spades. I've seen the pics that Fox had pulled, and I am highly impressed. This movie looks sharp, and polished. The sets look better, the Thing costume looks better. Jessicias hair is fine. Everything about this movie so far from the trailers, to the photos looks sharp. I saw the picture of the Doom costume, and I must say it is a vast, vast improvement over the 1st Doom costume. I think most will be pleased. Not all, because you always have the nit pickers. This movie will be the suprise of the summer. I think it will hit with the kids. The'll go nuts over the Surfer. The trailer with SM 3 will be the key. If they come out an eye popping, jaw dropping, hell yea trailer, skys the limit for this film.

That is only a key to getting people in the seats....that has nothing to do with whether the movie is worthy of a franchise or a movie of epic scale. The key to that has already been done, and it remains to be seen until June 15th, whether or not it is a movie of quality, epic, and worthy of a franchise such as the ones listed.

 

[Spade]

That is only a key to getting people in the seats....that has nothing to do with whether the movie is worthy of a franchise or a movie of epic scale. The key to that has already been done, and it remains to be seen until June 15th, whether or not it is a movie of quality, epic, and worthy of a franchise such as the ones listed.

I'm in complete agreeance. Fox would be stupid to advertise parts that are weak in the film in any trailer for FF2, so the final cut really will be the final say on the film (unless Fox makes the erroneous error yet again of showing more than half of the movie in a trailer).

 

[Carp Man]

That is only a key to getting people in the seats....that has nothing to do with whether the movie is worthy of a franchise or a movie of epic scale. The key to that has already been done, and it remains to be seen until June 15th, whether or not it is a movie of quality, epic, and worthy of a franchise such as the ones listed.

NO. The trailer is to get butts in the seat ? I had no idea that's what it was for. It will be epic, and take its place in comic to movie history. No question in my mind IF, and this is a big if, Fox does not edit the **** out of it, like they did the 1st one. If that happens, if they give a highlight reel, then all bets are off.

 

[Vartha]

I was hoping it would with this film. FF, Doom and Surfer are as Iconic as the rest, I hoping this film is up to those standards.

 

[Mercurius]

I was very impressed by SS in the beginning, but now I suppose it will only get in line with the first one, as an example of a failed project that had great opportunities to be, let's say, fantastic.

 

[Hunter Rider]

The franchise is playing catch up after the lackluster first movie but the material is there for this sequel to ascend the franchise to the next level,i honestly feel Iron Man will be the next one to join the big 4 though

 

[Casius--J]

The franchise is playing catch up after the lackluster first movie but the material is there for this sequel to ascend the franchise to the next level,i honestly feel Iron Man will be the next one to join the big 4 though

I agree, Iron Man looks to be a big one.

Material wise fan4 def has the potential to be huge, its just the case of if the film makers express this material correctly!

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

My jury is out for the most part right now...so much remains to tbe seen. But I'm still leaning towards optimism that this film will be superior to the first.

 

[Chaos Bringer]

the previews have done little to satisfy me.
the 1st one got me in the theatre and it was awful. wretched. waste of $.
i'll see the 2nd one, but likely on DVD.

 

[thegameq]

The source material does, but the approach by Fox and Story is somewhat lacking.

When studios realize that the same things that make the comicbooks great (story, written and visual artistry) are needed to make the movies great,we will see a huge jump in the quality of these films.

But as long as the mentality remains to mostly cash-in with as little financial risk and commitment as possible, the genre will continue to suffer. It still kills me how studios clamour to gets the rights to these properties, then balk at the cost to produce them--HELLO! they're comicbook movies dumbass! What did you think you were getting the rights to, another cop, FBI, CIA, etc. movie?

I was talking to a close friend the other day and we found it really stunning that there are really only two comicbook movie franchises that managed to get it right--that actually succeeded at being "comicbook" movies. After all these years and so many attempts at comicbook films only Superman and Spider-man have gotten it right. (I omitted the Miller graphic novel translations on purpose--I think those films are going to spawn something new and exciting in the film industry)

I still wait for the day when I will see a true representation of the X-men and their universe on film. Ditto, Batman--I would love to finally see Batman on screen in all his noir-ish fantasy glory.

Just to add to my comment, I also think the talent pool of directors for these types of films is shallow. Think about it, minus the big name fantasy film directors, who is there? Most of the big name guys will probably command big $$$ or will simply be to busy with their own projects. There are the smaller Raimi type directors but many of them have fallen off the map so to speak.

 

[3dman27]

l.ightning strykes i like your take on hyper in your avatar

 

[Victarion]

Well, if they follow up on Gah-Lak-Tus cloud with the real dude in 3, it will be in the top 5, 4-sure!

 

[Theweepeople]

I want FF2 to be a good movie just like I wanted with X3 and I got burned. I won't be fooled by Fox again. When the reviews on Ain't it cool news come out I will know if FF2 is worth seeing in the theaters. I would like to hope for the best but, right now I expect the worst.

 

[terry78]

It's a possibility. They took a gamble utilizing someone that's only done comedies, but then again, they did the same with Favs and Iron Man, but he's a geek favorite so he gets a pass. I honestly think Fox had their hands in this franchise way too much, and that while Story isn't 100% suited for it, he honestly knows the characters and wants to do them justice, while at the same time having to give in to the whims of the studio and some of the fans.

 

[gambitfire]

I want FF2 to be a good movie just like I wanted with X3 and I got burned. I won't be fooled by Fox again. When the reviews on Ain't it cool news come out I will know if FF2 is worth seeing in the theaters. I would like to hope for the best but, right now I expect the worst.

Normally i'm in agreeance with you but I think i'll go and make up my own mind instead of reading what to some Hardcore fanboy, who cannot forgive the slightest deviation, has to say.