another comic book movie

Rating: 5/10 (13 July 2005)

when they started to make the movie versions of comic books, i was all for it; but now over the idea. the first lot of comic book movies were done very well; spiderman, X-men, and lately Sin City, but all the others are so lacking in substance, which is the case for Fantastic Four.
I wasn't a big fan of the book or series, though i think Doctor Doom is the best villain ever. Julian McMahon played him very good, but his acting was not as great as on Nip/Tuck.
The rest of the cast, Gruffud, Alba, Evans and Chiklis were no where on the same level as McMahon. Gruffud seemed miss casts as Mr. Fantastic, over exaggerating all his arm movements and twitches. Alba played Sue OK, but didn't seem comfortable in some scenes. Evans was so obnoxious, that his comic relief wasn't funny. Chiklis was OK as the Thing, but couldn't believe the scenes where he was trying to come to grips with his looks.
The only time this movie had an emotional kick to it was when they were emotionally fighting with another; with Doom trying to play them against another. But the amount of bad one liners, bad action sequences and hurried end covered the emotional core between all the characters.
The special effects were another flaw of this movie too. The effects for the human torch didn't seem believable; it didn't look like fire. When the invisible girl disappeared, keeping her outline so you could still 'see' her wasn't a good idea. When Mr. Fantastic stretched it also didn't seem real. though the up side was how they made the thing with a suit. He actually seemed like a rock and looked like he was indestructible. Though the best was the make-up for Dr. Doom. That was just wonderful. The metallic hand had to be the best effect in the movie.
Overall, this isn't bad, but its nothing spectacular. This is just a little bit of escapism that will entertain for two hours.