Geeky Fantastic Fun

Rating: 6/10 (23 December 2005)

As one of the precious few that actually saw the bootleg Roger Corman train-wreck from the early 90's, I'm glad to say that the 2005 movie is a vast improvement and is lots of fun. I'm not an expert on these Marvel heroes, but I do know the story and background and I thought they did a nice job and had some fun with it.
For those of you not familiar with these characters, you have 5 scientists who all have their DNA altered when a space experiment goes haywire. Reed Richards can now stretch his body to incredible lengths, Sue Storm can become invisible, Johnny Torch (?) can fly and become fire, while poor Ben Grimm turns into a walking rock pile known as the Thing. The 5th scientist becomes evil, and Dr. Doom is born. The metamorphosis of these guys are done with humor and toung in cheek.
The acting in Fantastic Four is really nothing special to say the least and the story is loaded with plot holes, but were not talking Shakespeare here. This is a popcorn film. I think if F4 was done on a more serious level, like the Corman version, this movie would be a disaster. Buts it doesn't take itself too seriously and it's more like the Spider-Man films and not as serious as the X-Men films. For the comic book geek who likes their heroes to stay true to their origins and story lines, they'll probably hate F4. For the fan of a good popcorn film, this film is a good time. (***)