Thanks for what???
Dec. 28th, 2005 09:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ffuturesJust watched the Fantastic Four movie and wondered about something. Two or three times in this film the Four are shown being thanked for saving the day, saving lives, etc. But if you look at what actually happened, the main reason why those lives are in danger is that the FF were there.
For example... the big crash on the bridge. Caused by the Fantastic Four. One guy would have committed suicide if they hadn't been there - instead there was a huge pile-up, property damage probably in the tens of millions, quite possibly several deaths and injuries, and a seriously damaged bridge that would have to be closed for months.
Pretty much the same thing happens at the climax - most of the damage is done by the four, not Dr. Doom. It isn't Doom that chooses to puncture a swimming pool, or throw a car at a bus. It isn't Doom that risks setting fire to the atmosphere.
I could go on, but it's all like that. There seems no reason for their sudden popularity, nor for the sudden unpopularity of Victor.
It wouldn't have been hard to write a script that treated the characters with dignity but still gave rational reasons for them to be regarded as heroes, but it feels like the screenwriters simply didn't bother.
Not recommended.
For example... the big crash on the bridge. Caused by the Fantastic Four. One guy would have committed suicide if they hadn't been there - instead there was a huge pile-up, property damage probably in the tens of millions, quite possibly several deaths and injuries, and a seriously damaged bridge that would have to be closed for months.
Pretty much the same thing happens at the climax - most of the damage is done by the four, not Dr. Doom. It isn't Doom that chooses to puncture a swimming pool, or throw a car at a bus. It isn't Doom that risks setting fire to the atmosphere.
I could go on, but it's all like that. There seems no reason for their sudden popularity, nor for the sudden unpopularity of Victor.
It wouldn't have been hard to write a script that treated the characters with dignity but still gave rational reasons for them to be regarded as heroes, but it feels like the screenwriters simply didn't bother.
Not recommended.
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Date: 2005-12-29 06:25 am (UTC)Well, it's all a matter of perception - how is the public to know that the guy was going to jump off the bridge as opposed to jumping into traffic and causing a pretty bad pileup anyway? He didn't look like he was going to be too coherent for a while... and then, by the time news crews got there, they don't see the events that led up to the pileup (admittedly mostly Ben Grimm's fault), but Johnny shielding the one kid, Sue holding the worst of the blast back with a force field, Reed saving the one fireman like a human bungee, and the Thing hauling the fire truck back onto the road. Given the public status of the FDNY since 9/11, especially the last two televised events would tend to tilt the public in their favor more than not.
"Pretty much the same thing happens at the climax - most of the damage is done by the four, not Dr. Doom. It isn't Doom that chooses to puncture a swimming pool, or throw a car at a bus. It isn't Doom that risks setting fire to the atmosphere."
Again, the public isn't privy to how the fight starts (although even then, I believe it's actually Doom that throws himself and Grimm out of the penthouse), but does get to see Doom specifically targeting NYPD patrol cars with his electro- (charged particle?) beams; the FF has already been getting positive media play, so they won't really get criticized for whatever means they use to take down somebody who so clearly marks himself as the bad guy.
But yes, one does get the sense that their hero status is more luck than anything else.