I want to think that the troubles FANTASTIC FOUR had behind the scenes are to blame for the film that we ended up with. Ultimately, I don't think the film is all bad, just the last act. It seems that that three-fourths of the film wants to be straight-forward sci-fi involving the joy of scientific discovery, while also having complex relationships interwoven with the main players. Then, these relationships would be further complicated when the inevitable accident occurs which bestows fantastic abilities upon said characters. So, within the resolution, the different threads are resolved while the undercurrent of the joy of scientific discovery remained.
At least, that's where I thought it may have been going (and, to be honest, that suggestion was fairly unpolished). Instead, all of these different points were set up with no real resolution. The movies stumbles into a "superhero" ending that is completely unearned by what came before. Every major character point is buried under this, seemingly in an attempt to give the fans who were vocal about their resentment with the film the ending they wanted. What that ended up accomplishing was making a film with all the possibility of being an interesting piece of "gee-wiz" sci-fi adventure cinema into a slog of a film with superheroics tacked on the end. It's all a bit depressing.
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In recent years, horror has seen a sort of resurgence with an eye for appreciation for the aesthetics and craft of what came before. THE FINAL GIRLS continues that trend, and manages to make a larger comment on the power of cinema. It even leans itself into the same space as CABIN IN THE WOODS and SCREAM with its awareness and deconstructions of the tropes of the "slasher" sub-genre of horror as well as thoughtful gags involving the very structure of cinema.
This is accompanied by some outstandingly dynamic camera work that seems to come from the Sam Rami school of cinematography, but isn't a mere imitation. It takes the elements he worked with and expands on them, the camera sometimes whipping side to side with a blur, or twisting and looping over itself and moving through a room on each character and their reactions. Overall, though the beginning is a bit clumsy as it never really finds its footing until about fifteen to twenty minutes in, this film is something I can recognize as yet another brilliant work out of this new breed of horror directors.
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