Fantastic Four (2005) 20th Century Fox/Sci-Fi-Action-Adventure RT: 106 minutes Rated PG-13 (sequences of intense action, some suggestive content) Director: Tim Story Screenplay: Michael France and Mark Frost Music: John Ottman Cinematography: Oliver Wood Release date: July 8, 2005 (US) Cast: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon, Kerry Washington, Hamish Linklater, Laurie Holden, David Parker, Kevin McNulty, Maria Menounos. Box Office: $154.6M (US)/$330.6M (World)
Rating: ***
As a superhero movie, Fantastic Four isn’t an epic like Superman, Spider-Man, X-Men 2 or Batman Begins. It’s not a complete dud like Catwoman, Elektra and Batman & Robin either. No, it’s more on the level of Daredevil, Ghost Rider and Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s fun and enjoyable, but in the back of your mind you’re thinking that the Marvel superhero team, who debuted in 1961, deserves bigger and better than this.
Fantastic Four, directed by Tim Story (Barbershop), isn’t the first attempt to bring the comic book foursome to the big screen. Schlockmeister Roger Corman gave it a shot in ’94 with a low budget piece that never got released. That one is a curiosity at best. This newer one has a bigger budget, better special effects and bigger actors. What it doesn’t have is a big story. Most of this Fantastic Four is an origin story that ultimately gives way to the teams’ first big showdown with their main archnemesis. It has some big ideas, but they’re not treated in a big way.
The Fantastic Four are as follows: Dr. Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Gruffudd, King Arthur), Sue Storm/The Invisible Girl (Alba, Sin City), her brother Johnny Storm/The Human Torch (Evans, Captain America) and Reed’s best friend Ben Grimm/The Thing (Chiklis, The Shield). Their super-abilities are: Reed can stretch his body like elastic, Sue can turn invisible and create force fields, Johnny can engulf himself in flames and fly and Ben aka “The Thing” is a rocklike creature with superhuman strength. They gain their superpowers after being exposed to a cosmic energy cloud during a mission in space.
Also affected- physically and mentally- is Dr. Victor Von Doom (McMahon, Charmed), the wealthy industrialist that funded the mission. He becomes Dr. Doom who can produce bolts of electricity due to his body transforming into an organic metal. The accident leaves him disfigured which he hides with a metal mask. He blames Reed and company for it and begins plotting revenge.
What you need to know about the Fantastic Four is that they function like a family unit. They don’t always see eye-to-eye on things, but they always have each other’s backs when it counts. A subplot has Reed rekindling his romance with Sue who’s involved with Victor as the movie begins. His problem is that he sees things only in terms of science; emotions appear to elude him. That’s why Sue left him in the first place. Johnny is something of a hot shot who loves the publicity that comes with his newfound powers. Grimm was always one to rely on physical strength. His new appearance brings an end to his engagement to one girl, but it allows him to hook up with a good-natured blind girl named Alicia (Washington, Django Unchained). As you can see, Fantastic Four has the human element going for it as well as cool special effects and action scenes.
The centerpiece of Fantastic Four is an awesome sequence on the Brooklyn Bridge where the team makes their first public appearance when they restore order after a traffic pile-up during which a fire engine teeters precariously on the edge. I know, we’ve seen it all before, but it’s still kind of cool.
What I like about Fantastic Four is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s total goofball fun! It has a sense of humor with Johnny constantly cracking jokes about Ben’s appearance. The actors do a good job with their roles. McMahon oozes sufficient menace as Von Doom. The special effects are very good. The movie’s only real problem is its weak storyline. But since it’s an origin flick, we can overlook that. I don’t really mind that Fantastic Four isn’t great. It’s a good movie and sometimes that’s enough. Who says that all comic book movies have to be epic or overly serious?
