As good as the Spider-man & X-Men movies? no. Better than Daredevil, the Hulk, The Punisher, & The Blade trilogy? Yes.

Rating: 6/10 (11 July 2005)

The Fantastic 4 has a bad rap. People think the previews look horrible, The effects look horrible, Etc. Etc. My advice is this. If you want to see a thinking man's comic book film then see either of the Spider-Man or X-Men films. If you want to go see a fun, leave your brain at the door, light hearted, semi-funny comic book film then go see The Fantastic 4. Basically in my opinion it's a live action Incredibles. The plot is pretty simple. 5 people (Reed Richards, Sue & Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm, & Victor Von Doom) go on a mission to space to explore a cosmic storm that they think could hold the key to curing diseases. Well they thought wrong as they get caught in the cosmic storm that unleashes radiation on them all giving them super powers. Reed gains the ability to stretch as his body becomes like rubber, Sue gains the powers of invisibility and can create invisible force fields, Johnny gains the ability to control fire as well as fly and turn his whole body on fire, Ben becomes this "thing" that looks like orange rock, and Von Doom becomes disfigured and has the ability to control electricity. Reed, Sue, Johnny, & Ben use their powers for good, while Von Doom uses his powers for evil. The 4 take up the names Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards played by Ian Grufford), The Invisible Woman (Sue Storm played by Jessica Alba), The Human Torch (Johnny Storm played by Chris Evans) & The Thing (Ben Grimm played by Michael Chickless, from my hometown Lowell, Ma.). Von Doom becomes Dr. Doom and tries to destroy The Fantastic 4 as the media has dubbed them. The F.F. is a classic superhero vs. the super villain story. Just like the comic book the film becomes lighthearted and funny when the story starts taking itself to seriously. the special effects on Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, and especially on The Human Torch are awesome. I (before going into this movie) thought the the Thing looked horrible. Seeing him on the big screen he looks a lot better than he does on the small screen. Chris Evans & Mike Chickless nail their roles perfectly. They had to have read a lot of the comics to get into their characters. Grufford & Alba are a little stale, but then again so are Reed Richards and Sue Storm. I can't remember the name of the actor who plays Doom but he was actually my biggest problem. Dr. Doom is the Magneto of The Fantastic 4. He's the Joker, or Lex Luthor if you will. Basically he's their biggest enemy. He needed to be more menacing. I'm not saying he was bad I'm saying he could have been better. Doom is the reason this movie doesn't rank higher than The rating I give it. All in all Though The Fantastic 4 is fun, an a good time at the movies. I hope there is a sequel. I think it will do good enough to gain a sequel. The again does that really matter? I mean the Flintstones got a sequel for crying out loud. I hope the screenwriters just make Doom a more menacing villain that he should be and that might put the Fantastic 4 franchise un track with the Spider-Man, & X-men franchise. On a scale of 10 I give the Fantastic 4 a 6 1/2 out of 10. Go to the movies, leave your brain at the door, and have a good time. Like I said if you enjoyed The Incredibles, you'll enjoy the Fantastic 4.