One year ago today, Fant4stic was released.

It seems like just yesterday that I sat in an empty theater on a sunny Friday afternoon and witnessed one of the strangest superhero movies ever. Not worst. Strangest. Maybe even misguided. I didn't hate this movie like almost everyone else did. It had plenty of positives, such as the cast, cinematography, design, and even the tone of the first act. Sadly, it also had its fair share of negatives. It wanted to be one thing (a dark, gritty body horror), but studio interference forced it to be another (an action-packed superhero movie with out of place quipping). I don't blame Josh Trank for the way this movie turned out. He had a clear vision, like most directors do, and 20th Century Fox hacked his vision to pieces in the editing bay, without his involvement, nonetheless. The lesson studios can learn from Fant4stic is to leave the Director's vision alone, or else you'll end up with a poorly-edited mess of a movie that is confused as to what it actually is. If the recent failure of Suicide Squad is anything to go by, studios have not yet learnt this lesson. Hopefully they do soon, as the world will be better for it.