{"id":279859,"date":"2026-02-08T01:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T01:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/279859\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T01:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T01:24:11","slug":"from-fantastic-four-to-the-batman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/279859\/","title":{"rendered":"From Fantastic Four to The Batman"},"content":{"rendered":"

People like to complain about Hollywood\u2019s endless stream of reboots and remakes, which seems to only be getting worse in the 2020s, but some of them have actually turned out pretty great. In the post-COVID era, Tinseltown is relying on safer and safer bets, and that means we\u2019re getting a lot of recognizable I.P. at the multiplex.<\/p>\n

Most of these reboots are terrible and uninspired; last year\u2019s Wolf Man reboot didn\u2019t work at all<\/a>. There are fantastic reboots just like there are terrible original movies. In the hands of a filmmaker with a singular vision, like James Gunn<\/a> or Matt Reeves, franchise reboots can be a wonderful time at the movies.<\/p>\n

The Fantastic Four: First Steps<\/p>\n

\"Pedro
\n Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards looking scared while holding Franklin in The Fantastic Four First Steps<\/p>\n

Since Roger Corman\u2019s unreleased low-budget effort, Hollywood has attempted to mount a Fantastic Four movie franchise three times: in 2005, in 2015, and in 2025. After the first two miserable failures, it was third time lucky for Marvel\u2019s first family. The MCU\u2019s Fantastic Four reboot<\/a> is visually stunning, emotionally engaging, and perfectly in line with the hopeful tone of the original comics.<\/p>\n

The Fantastic Four: First Steps breaks away from the MCU\u2019s established house style with a dazzling retrofuturistic \u201860s aesthetic, and breaks away from Earth-616 to explore an alternate universe where the world is a unified utopia. First Steps nails the casting of the ensemble, it nails the optimism of the team, and it nails the notoriously tricky \u201cComing of Galactus\u201d storyline.<\/p>\n

The Invisible Man<\/p>\n

\"Elisabeth
\n Elisabeth Moss in the shower in The Invisible Man<\/p>\n

Leigh Whannell\u2019s reboot of The Invisible Man has almost nothing in common with H.G. Wells\u2019 source material. It goes its own way and tells its own story, and the movie is all the better for it. The Invisible Man is a haunting portrayal of the trauma of domestic abuse.<\/p>\n

After escaping from an abusive relationship, Elisabeth Moss\u2019 Cecilia begins to suspect that her ex is stalking her with the sinister power of invisibility. The titular invisible man proves to be a really powerful horror metaphor for the specter of abuse hanging over a survivor.<\/p>\n

Ghostbusters: Afterlife<\/p>\n

\"The
\n The four original Ghostbusters in Ghostbusters: Afterlife<\/p>\n

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a legacy sequel<\/a> both in front of and behind the camera. It\u2019s a revival of the Ghostbusters franchise directed by the original director\u2019s son. Jason Reitman\u2019s reverence for his dad\u2019s work on the original movies bleeds into Egon Spengler\u2019s granddaughter\u2019s quest to resurrect his ghostbusting business.<\/p>\n

Paul Feig\u2019s reboot failed because it tried to recapture the magic of the original classic; Reitman\u2019s reboot succeeds because it does something else entirely. It\u2019s a story about family, and it works beautifully.<\/p>\n

The Toxic Avenger<\/p>\n

\"The
\n The Toxic Avenger looking grizzled<\/p>\n

Macon Blair\u2019s Toxic Avenger reboot was in the can for a couple of years before it finally secured a distributor, because it was considered to be much too graphic and gory for public consumption. But that\u2019s exactly what The Toxic Avenger needs; it\u2019s a goopy, grossout B-movie.<\/p>\n

Blair isn\u2019t interested in deconstructing The Toxic Avenger with a gritty reboot; he set out to make a bloody, bawdy, honest-to-God Troma movie, and he absolutely nailed it. Much like its predecessor, The Toxic Avenger reboot is a quintessential midnight movie.<\/p>\n

Superman<\/p>\n

\"Superman
\n Superman looking angry in front of fire and a building in the DCU Superman movieWarner Bros.\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

James Gunn\u2019s DC Universe<\/a> arrived fully formed last summer when Superman flew into theaters. Rather than building the world from the ground up like the MCU, the DCU dropped us in at the deep end, like we\u2019d picked a random issue off the shelf and immersed ourselves in Superman\u2019s day-to-day.<\/p>\n

Gunn did a really great job of making this movie feel like a typical week in Superman\u2019s life, torn between his two lives and struggling to do good in the face of the incessant evil and corruption of the human world. After a decade of drab, dreary Superman movies, Gunn\u2019s bright, colorful reboot felt like a breath of fresh air.<\/p>\n

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves<\/p>\n

\"The
\n The cast of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves laying on bones.<\/p>\n

Although it bombed at the box office, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is one of the best big-budget tentpoles of the past few years. It dusted off a franchise that had never really worked on the big screen and turned it into a fast, fun, wildly entertaining ride.<\/p>\n

The latest D&D movie owes a lot to comedic Marvel blockbusters like Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy. But when that formula works, it really works \u2014 and in Honor Among Thieves, thanks to a solid script, a game cast, and well-paced direction, it really works.<\/p>\n

Top Gun: Maverick<\/p>\n

\"Tom
\n Tom Cruise smiling while driving a motorcycle in Top Gun Maverick<\/p>\n

Before Top Gun\u2019s sequel was released, it seemed unnecessary and, frankly, destined to fail. But then, Top Gun: Maverick blasted onto the big screen at Mach 10 and left those naysayers exhilarated and speechless.<\/p>\n

Top Gun: Maverick is one of the most riveting cinematic experiences ever created. The roar of the engines rumbled the handrests. The speed of the planes slammed you into the back of your seat. Watching Top Gun: Maverick in a theater was like going on a rollercoaster (in a good way, not a Scorsese-bashes-Marvel way).<\/p>\n

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem<\/p>\n

\"The
\n The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles standing together, holding their weapons, and ready for combat in TMNT: Mutant Mayhem<\/p>\n

Until Mutant Mayhem revitalized the franchise, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stories hadn\u2019t focused much on the \u201cteenage\u201d aspect of these characters. But talking turtles who do martial arts and eat leftover pizza in a New York sewer will only sustain so much storytelling and character development.<\/p>\n

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg saw an opportunity to depict the Ninja Turtles as actual teenagers, grappling with real teenage issues. Mutant Mayhem is as much a touching, relatable coming-of-age movie as it is a superhero actioner.<\/p>\n

Godzilla Minus One<\/p>\n

\"Godzilla
\n Godzilla from Godzilla: Minus One destroying a city.<\/p>\n

Writer-director Takashi Yamazaki brought the Godzilla franchise back to its postwar roots in Godzilla Minus One, and it resulted in the franchise\u2019s best entry in decades. The later movies lost sight of the symbolism, but Godzilla was originally conceived as a metaphor for the horrific effects of nuclear war.<\/p>\n

If you removed Godzilla from the equation, Godzilla Minus One would still be a compelling story about Japan recovering from devastation. But, of course, Godzilla is there<\/a>, and the kaiju sequences are an awe-inspiring blockbuster spectacle.<\/p>\n

The Batman<\/p>\n

\"Gordon
\n Gordon and Batman stand together in Gotham PD in The Batman<\/p>\n

Matt Reeves distilled the character of Batman into a perfect cinematic character study. The Batman is a moody detective story that accurately depicts Bruce Wayne as a sleep-deprived weirdo who hardly ever wants to take off the cowl, and depicts Gotham as a crime-ridden cesspool ripped straight from a classic 1970s neo-noir.<\/p>\n

Robert Pattinson\u2019s Dark Knight is appropriately awkward and antisocial, Greig Fraser\u2019s cinematography is appropriately gloomy and grainy, and Michael Giacchino\u2019s score is appropriately somber and melancholic. The Batman is a bit overlong and overcomplicated, but it captures the exact right mood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People like to complain about Hollywood\u2019s endless stream of reboots and remakes, which seems to only be getting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[146,85,46,397],"class_list":{"0":"post-279859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}