A Fair Enough Adaptation

Rating: 6/10 (9 August 2015)

As a comic book adaptation, Fantastic Four is average, at best. As a flick that is unrelated to Marvel Studios, it's a premise that could really work and one that could be seen as a fairly decent film. While it is nowhere near to the standard of some of the more recent Marvel movies, it is a fun piece in itself, and to some extent you can imagine that it would exist in the same universe as Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy.
This is not to say that this film isn't flawed- it is, mainly in terms of the climax (Doom just doesn't feel like a particularly threatening villain or even a real foil to the efforts of the team- more like an inconvenience, really), but it still is enjoyable in some parts.
The performances are actually quite good. Gruffudd is a nice choice for Richards and Alba is more than passable as Sue, but I really love Chiklis and Evans. When I picture the Thing, I can imagine that a man like Chiklis would be playing him, and the same goes for Evans with Johnny Storm. Yes, he's more remembered for Captain America, but he's still great in this role.
The characterisations do make some kind of sense. It's understandable why Ben would have a strong yearning to change back due to his appearance, but it also makes a kind of sense for Reed and Sue, too- they're scientists, so maybe they want to be recognised for their intellects and not their physical feats. While I normally don't like superhero movies where supers complain about having powers, I admittedly understand why they wouldn't really want them here (but that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy Johnny's love of his abilities).
The special effects are really well done, especially the Human Torch's "flaming on", as it were. I particularly love to see films using prosthetics in the place of CGI, so the Thing's rocky exterior is a highlight for me.
The only real negative for me is the climax. I don't really mind that there isn't a lot of action because, to me, Fantastic Four is a character-driven piece, but when it does roll along, it's a tiny bit anticlimactic. One of the things that irks me about comic book movies (and movies in general) is the whole "Remember that thing that we said (in passing, a half-hour ago) is probably a bad idea? Well you need to do it now." It bugged me in Iron Man 2 with the repulsors and it really bugged me here with Johnny's supernova effect. The final fight happens in five minutes, then boom! Doom's frozen and he's on a ship to Latveria. If Doom had been built up a bit more as a threat and not just as a fly trying to get at the proverbial cake, this could have worked. The final fight in Avengers Assemble took about a half-hour and it was epic. When it only lasts five minutes a la Iron Man 2 (and yes, even Thor to a small extent with the Destroyer), it's such a big letdown.
That said, Fantastic Four is a passable flick. Watch it on a flight to entertain yourself or even when it's on the telly- it's not compulsory viewing, but it is a nice little piece that works in isolation from the Marvel mythos.
If you forget that it's a Marvel movie, it's a fine flick.