An honest opinion

Rating: 10/10 (26 July 2005)

Let me begin by saying I've been a fan of FF since my childhood, and actually I've collected nearly all their issues, specials, crossovers, whatever, that have appeared in print, since #1 to Ultimate, Reborn, Imaginauts, Unstable Molecules, Galactus Trial, Unthinkable, you name it.
Obviously, I've been anxiously waiting for this movie to be released, and was absolutely eager to get to watch it. I did get a copy of the infamous, never-released Roger Corman's FF movie, and had high expectations about what could be done with 20+ times the budget.
Finally, I did read a lot of postings here in IMDb, and a lot of reviews at Rottentomatoes and other sites, including Ebert's, Berardinelli's, etc.
Well, last Saturday I got tickets for my wife, daughter, and myself, to finally see this movie at the theater. I must say I was pleasantly surprised to discover that indeed I liked the movie, a lot, and best of all, my wife, who's always been reluctant to go see superhero movies, found her exception in this one: she really appreciated the family-oriented interaction, the attempts at gentle, well-natured humor, and the characters' attitude in general. In her own words, at the end of the movie:
"Gee, I was fearing I wouldn't like this at all, I usually don't understand superheroes movies, they're so complicated with so much techno-babble and so much angst and pathos and such. But this one is actually funny ! I didn't get it at first with that accident in space and all such, but Johnny and Ben were really marvelous, so fun and lively, they were actually believable, real."
Indeed. I do agree. Johnny and Ben were absolutely nailed, and they heavily reminded me of the very first issues, say #1 to #20, what with Johnny always playing silly tricks on Ben (like the scene in the movie when Ben's asleep and Johnny is tricking him into splashing some cream on his face), like Ben's aspect, which is not the enormous, forehead-ridged colossus of the later incarnations, but the much smaller, blob-like original Ben. Also, in the earliest issues, Johnny was a fan of car racing, always taking risks and having a number of accidents, including burning out his 'civilian' clothes. That happens in the movie almost exactly, and I found it in close agreement with both the spirit and the actual events in the earliest comics.
As many of you know, Ben started as a regular-sized, muddy-looking blob of a thing, then his skin gained 'definition' with the passing years, getting bigger and more brick-like, then he finally muted to an even bigger, stronger, spiky-looking self. If you're accustomed to Ben v2.0 or Ben v.3.0, you may find the movie's Ben disappointing. But certainly, he looks very much like Ben v1.0, and this movie is centered in FF's origin, i.e., earliest issues.
Same for Johnny. Some people complained about the extreme sports takes, but it certainly goes pretty well with Johnny's attitude and hobbies in the earliest issues. Also, you can't realistically expect a young person to throw himself from a skyscraper without a flinch unless you've previously made it clear that he loves extreme sports and is unafraid of such activities. After we've seen he's fond of risky things, we can believe he would do such a thing. Were he depicted as a run-of-the-mill young man, perhaps liking baseball or basketball or something, making him jump from that height without hesitations would seem unnatural in the extreme.
But I don't want to try and explain my point of view on everything. Yes I noticed a lot of small flaws, inconsistencies, some bits of bad acting, some not-so-nailed events and attitudes, not to mention Dr. Doom's contrived origin, probably forced because you can't really explain both FF's origin AND Dr. Doom's origin at any worthwhile length, yet still have time in the movie for anything else to happen.
But in the end, when all's said and done, I found myself enjoying this movie very much, I actually laughed with many of the jokes and good-natured, simple humor, and I think they really have succeeded in faithfully portraying the family spirit of the very first, earliest issues of the FF. They were pretty much naive and simple back then, and this movie is in close agreement to that. By the end of the movie, I could easily accept that Ben, Johnny, and Sue were the real FF I've come to love, and though Reed and Viktor could do with some tuning, they do not detract excessively from the enjoyment.
In conclusion: a worthy experience, can be improved of course, but it's great family fun just as it is. I did laugh, my family was pleasantly surprised, it made for a wonderful round of comments while dining, and it reminded me of how much I liked those simple 60's antics. Seems a lot of people liked it too, the theater was full (2nd week here), and everyone was happy and cheering at the end.
A thumbs up, and definitely recommended.