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Aug. 21, 2015

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‘Fantastic Four’                                                                                                                         ‘Straight Outta
                                                                                                                                               Compton’
                   by Senior Airman James Hensley                                                                   1/2
                                                                                                                                                              by Staff Sgt. Luther Mitchell Jr.
   Why one star you might ask? To be honest I should give it                  Your weekly guide
half a star for wasting my time, but that’d be a little harsh                  to entertainment                                             “Straight Outta Compton” is a movie directed by F. Gary Gray,
since the movie wasn’t down-right awful.                                                                                                 whose other works include “The Italian Job”, “Law Abiding Citi-
                                                                              Welcome to the Fly Over, Luke’s source for                 zen,” and “Friday.” Like his previous movies, Gray continues his
   I was going to write a review about how amazing “Dragon-                                                                              winning streak with by producing another highly rated movie.
ball Z Revival F” was but then I saw this movie and thought                  movie, book, video game, music and all things
I better warn the readers to save their money. If there are                  entertainment reviews. Using a four-point                      “Straight Outta Compton” tells the story of musical artists Ice
die-hard “Fantastic Four” fans of the comics out there hop-                  scale, the Thunderbolt staff provides in-depth              Cube (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), Eazy-E
ing Fox might have actually made a good effort on the big                    reviews allowing the viewer an opportunity to               -DVRQ0LWFKHOO'M<HOOD1HLO%URZQ-UDQG0&5HQ$OGLV
screen, guess again.                                                         decide what new and classic entertainment op-               Hodge), who together formed the highly controversial and ex-
                                                                             tions are worth their time. The Know a Critic               SORVLYHJURXS1:$
   I’ll start with the one good thing about this movie which                 section helps the reader choose critics who
was the character Ben Grimm/The Thing (Jaime Bell). The                      have tastes similar to their own.                              1:$IRUPHGLQLQ&RPSWRQ&DOLIRUQLDDQGSURGXFHG
character is finally shown as something almost likable in                                                                                music into the ‘90s. They were famous for the song “F***k tha
appearance and actually has a few moments that were kind                                   1/4 - Save your money                         Police” and because of their edgy lyrics were banned from radio
of cool. However, along with the rest of the cast and with a                                                                             VWDWLRQVDQGSHUIRUPLQJLQFLWLHVDFURVV$PHULFD1HYHUWKHOHVV
terrible dialogue that sounds like it was written by a child,                2/4 - Wait for Netflix release                              1:$VROGPLOOLRQVRIDOEXPVDQGJDYHELUWKWRDJHQUHRI´UHDO-
the movie falls short.                                                                                                                   ity rap” that has impacted people until this day.
                                                                             3/4 - Worthy of Dine-in Theater
   Taking a step back from the cast and characters and look-                                                                                The movie begins by introducing each member of the group and
ing at the story as a whole reveals it was a poor attempt by                 4/4 - Bombs on Target                                       establishing their identity before the grouped was formed. In the
Fox to keep the rights away from Marvel for the “Fantastic                                                                               ÀUVWVFHQHVWKHDXGLHQFHJHWVWRVHHKRZ(D]\(JRWPRQH\E\
Four.” If we ever get a good “Fantastic Four” movie, it’ll be                Know a critic                                               VHOOLQJGUXJV1H[WZHJHWDJOLPSVHRI'U'UH·VEHJLQQLQJVDV
from Marvel studios, not Fox.                                                                                                            a DJ and life at home with his mother. Ice Cube is shown writ-
                                                                                      James Hensley likes to                             ing songs in a notebook on a bus on the way home from school.
   The story ventures too deeply into the background of each                          give a movie a chance be-
of the main characters while never actually explaining any                            fore taking the critic’s word                         After a glimpse into each of their early lives, Gray starts to
of their motivations.                                                                 RQ LW +H HQMR\V ZDWFKLQJ                     EULQJWKHFKDUDFWHUVWRJHWKHUDQGZHVHHKRZ1:$VWDUWVWR
                                                                                      action, thrillers, shooters                        form. Dr. Dre is working as a DJ and producing music in the
   Reed Richards (Miles Teller) is the boy genius who comes                           DQG PRUH +H DOVR HQMR\V                      studio. He’s working with various artists, one of whom is Ice
up with the trans-dimensional travel device. It eventually                            gaming and dominates in                            Cube, who would go on to write most of the music for the group.
transports him and the others to another world where there’s                          the Titanfall multiplayer                          :KHQ'U'UHLVEDLOHGRXWRIMDLOE\(D]\('UHDVNV(D]\(
power in said planet that transfers to him and the rest of the                        game and the Halo fran-                            if he would be interested in getting into music. Reluctantly, he
team, along with Dr. Doom (Toby Kebbell). Reed, Dr. Doom,                             chise. He’ll take you one-                         DJUHHVDQGWRJHWKHUZLWK'M<HOODDQG0&5HQWKHJURXSIRUPV
Johnny Storm (Michael Jordan, not to be confused with the                    Hensley  on-one, but believes the
basketball legend), and Ben use the device to be the first                                                                                  *UD\ GRHV D JRRG MRE RI EULQJLQJ HDFK PHPEHU·V SHUVRQDOLW\
WRWKHSODQHWEHIRUHWKHPLOLWDU\FDQWDNHWKHSURMHFWDZD\                 UHDO WHVW LV WHDP ÀJKWLQJ +LV JDPHU WDJ RQ ;ER[  to the screen and revealing things about their nature you didn’t
IURPWKHPIRU1$6$                                                         Live is Overwhatch. That’s right, it has an extra “h.”      know. Eazy-E is portrayed as a light-hearted guy, very different
                                                                                                                                         than the tough, gangster images shown on television. We see the
   So, instead of the space cloud from the last “Fantastic                                                     Luther Mitchell is        work ethic of Dr. Dre and the lyrical genius and aggressiveness
Four” movie which gave them their powers, pools on the                                                     D MRXUQDOLVW ZKR HQ-       of Ice Cube.
planet explode when touched and give each member of the                                                    MR\V ZDWFKLQJ PRYLHV
team their classic, unique powers.                                                                         His go-to genres are             The movie deals with the issue of representation in the music
                                                                                                           suspense-thrillers and        industry, and this is captured in Eazy-E’s relationship with Jerry
   Sue Storm (Kate Mara) didn’t go with the team, and what                                                 comedies. When he isn’t       Heller (Paul Giamatti), co-founder of Ruthless Records. Ruth-
I found funny was when the transport device containing                                                     in the gym pumping            less Records was owned and operated by Eazy-E and produced
the rest of the team is returning, it sent out a shockwave                                                 iron or writing a story,      1:$·VÀUVWWZRDOEXPV+HOOHUFDPHWR(D]\(LQWKHPRYLH
of power which gave her invisibility and force field powers                                                he likes to read every-       and offered to get him started in the music business. Heller
while knocking her unconscious. Really the only thing in                                                                                 wanted 20 percent for his part and Eazy-E would take the rest.
common between the characters throughout this movie is                        Mitchell Jr. thing from philosophy                         7KLV DUUDQJHPHQW ZDV JRRG DW ÀUVW KRZHYHU PHPEHUV RI WKH
the device they worked on together. The reason I say this is                                                                             group, particularly Ice Cube, had problems with it and tried to
because after the device gets used and they get their powers,                                              to romance. He has nu-        warn Eazy-E that it was a bad deal. Blinded by loyalty to Heller,
they each do their own thing.                                                merous books on his Kindle and bookshelf at                 Eazy-E ignores Ice Cube, and Cube leaves the group. Dr. Dre
                                                                             home. The “Art of War” by Sun Tzu is a classic.             DOVROHDYHV1:$
   Any movie about superheroes has to have an equal or more
powerful, iconic villain. If the villain can be cheered for in the                                                                          The rest of the movie deals with the solo career of Ice Cube, Dr.
VOLJKWHVWWKHQWKHDFWRULVGRLQJDJUHDWMRE/RNLWR7KRU                                                                          Dre founding Death Row Records and Eazy-E’s illness and death.
Red Skull to Captain America and so on. Dr. Doom is the                                                                                  ´6WUDLJKW2XWWD&RPSWRQµÁRZVZHOOIURPEHJLQQLQJWRHQG
classic villain to the “Fantastic Four” but this movie shows so
little of him and dumbs him down to the basic villain whose                                                                                 8QOLNHRWKHUORQJPRYLHV,·YHZDWFKHGWLPHÁHZGXULQJWKLV
motivation is world destruction. You can’t feel anything for                                                                             movie. There is so much to the lives of these characters, that it
the character because there’s nothing in depth about him.                                                                                could easily have been a great, three-hour movie. This movie
                                                                                                                                         ZLOOOHDYH\RXZDQWLQJWRNQRZPRUHDERXW1:$DQGWKHOLYHV
   With the villain being less than average and the heroes                                                                               of those “Straight Outta Compton.”
being pathetic and not working together until the last 30
minutes of the movie, this attempt falls flat on its face. The                                                                              7KLVÀOPLVUDWHG5IRUODQJXDJHWKURXJKRXWVWURQJVH[XDOLW\
climax of the movie was so short and boring it felt as though                                                                            nudity, violence and drug use.
it was tacked on at the last minute.
                                                                                                                                           “The story of pioneering L.A. gangsta rappers N.W.A.
   ,I \RX GHFLGH WR VHH LW E\ WKH HQG RI WKH PRYLH \RX MXVW                                                              (as dictated and co-produced by the now-bazillionaire
might be left with the feeling you wasted your time. My                                                                                  N.W.A.’ers themselves), “Straight Outta Compton” is
take-away is, don’t see this movie in a theater. Wait for the                                                                            among the most potent rags-to-riches showbiz movies
1HWIOL[UHOHDVHDQGWKHQLI\RXKDYHDQKRXUDQGDKDOIWR                                                                            ever made.”
kill, still don’t waste your time.
                                                                                                                                                      a'DYLG(GHOVWHLQ1HZ<RUN0DJD]LQH
   This film is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and
language.
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