"What's the worst that could happen?"

Rating: 4/10 (2 January 2006)

Most Marvel Comics' fans complain that The Incredibles ripped-off The Fantastic Four, and while they are right, when it comes to the movies, The Incredibles was entertaining while Fantastic Four was not. Fantastic Four relies on one-liners and special effects to carry the movie, not trusting the story and bombarding the viewer with quick scenes and supposedly funny lines. Cheap jokes about an invisible girl can only go so far, even for the target audience of pre-pubescent boys. The radiation cloud of doom inflicts unknown damage to five scientists who travel to space in hopes of finding the key to life, rendering each person with radioactive powers. Michael Chiklis, who is usually a good actor, gets very little to do in this movie expect to sulk around and say dumb things like "It's clobberin' time" or "Look at me, I'm huge!" as The Thing, and his talents are wasted. Jessica Alba was good as the cute starlet in Sin City, is adequate here as The Invisible woman, while her brother is some guy who catches on fire (Chris Evans) and hates the fact that he cannot use his powers to pick up chicks. He is by far the most annoying character in the movie. The other super hero is Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) who tries to find the cure to the super hero problem while trying to figure out his relationship with the women of his life. The evil doer is again a Darth Vader like manipulator, this time it's Dr. Doom (Nip/Tuck's Julian McMahon), and like most movies, the villain is the most interesting character in the movie. His motivations are clear, and all of his actions relate to his wants as a selfish business mogul. The movie isn't bad, it's just predictable and at times boring. The special effects are solid, though lack any thrills. Perhaps for the inevitable sequel, the movie-makers will give the Fantastic Four more to do than just utter one-liners. If they want to know how it's done, they should go rent The Incredibles.