Better than you assumed

Rating: 7/10 (14 July 2005)

Every once in a while, and with comics-based movies in particular, fandom-at-large makes a unilateral decision to hate a film that won't be released for months. Science has yet to explain how this phenomenon occurs, although we're pretty sure that Harry Knowles is involved. Such a case is Fantastic Four. For several months now, Internet fandom has been condemning it sight unseen, holding it up as an example of how a comics film should not be made, all based on a few promotional images.
Well, the movie is actually out now, and guess what? It's not bad at all. It is, in fact, pretty good. It's not brilliant film-making, and it won't be making any "ten best of the year" lists, but it really doesn't set out to do so. The only job this project had was to bring a classic, fun, somewhat goofy superhero comic to the screen, and the translation is more or less perfect. Anyone who feels that the four central characters are lacking anything is reading way too much into the comics.
It is, of course, going to be compared to the great superhero films like Superman, Spider-Man, and X2. However, the one movie this compares most closely to is probably Ghostbusters. While rarely outright comedy, it keeps a light tone, and chooses to focus on character-based moments rather than action. Anyone expecting two hours of The Thing kicking holy butt is going to be disappointed. This is a movie based, almost to a fault, on the tone of the classic Lee/Kirby comics of the sixties. The group squabbles amongst themselves, struggles to find their identities, copes with sudden celebrity, and does the right thing for no reason other than that it's the right thing.
What works here is that Michael France, Mark Frost and Tim Story know these characters. From the first moment they're on screen, anybody who's a fan will recognize them. They've been perfectly captured, and many of the moments from the classic issues that made these characters who they are are transcribed almost exactly.
While the film-makers are slavishly faithful to the heroes, the villain took a bit more rejiggering. I believe they've done a decent job of making Doctor Doom fit into the story more naturally, but it will probably be the hardest pill for fans to swallow. His transition from self-obsessed corporate raider and jilted lover to straight-out supervillain is a bit rocky, and could have used a bit more work.
Speaking of rocky, The Thing's look has been the subject of much disdain. The issue of bodysuit vs CGI probably isn't going away anytime soon, but I have to champion the suit. It looks decent enough, and Chiklis' ability to perform through it is impressive. A CGI character would have robbed us of his physical performance, and the other actors' ability to play off of him. The interactions between Chiklis and Chris Evans as Johnny Storm are particularly good.
In the end, this is not a movie that will challenge anyone's preconceptions of what a comics translation ought to be, and it isn't on the artistic level of Donner's Superman or Raimi's Spider-Man 2. It's a light, fun and very entertaining adaptation of a light, fun, very entertaining comic. I'd call that a success.