Entertaining enough

Rating: 6/10 (18 December 2006)

There is something in 'Fantastic Four' I have been waiting for: a superhero who thinks his superpowers are really cool, even calling his new fitting suit a "costume". I know that Robin from 'Batman Forever' had the same thought, but he had no superpowers, just a lot of gadgets, a mask and a cape. Some x-men maybe shared the thought as well, but the negativity against mutants made it different there. So, back to 'Fantastic Four' and the reason I bring this little thing up at the start of this review. Although this may not be a flawless entry in the superhero-genre, it is one that has some new ideas. Together with entertaining characters and story, some humor and nice visual effects what can go wrong in a superhero movie?
Nothing really, as 'Fantastic Four' proves. As did 'Blade', 'X-Men', 'Spider-Man', 'Hellboy' and even 'Daredevil'. These films are not flawless but made in the right way, finding out not only how to work as a comic book but also as a movie. 'Blade', 'X-Men' and 'Spider-Man' all got sequels that were better, showing they had learned. For a first film 'Fantastic Four' brings the right stuff, for its sequel it has to improve. But that's for later.
The story centers around four heroes all with their own power, which they got from radiation while being in outer space. I spare you the details. The leader is Reed (Ioan Gruffudd) who is elastic. His love interest is Sue (Jessica Alba), the invisible girl with some extra powers. Her brother is Johnny (Chris Evans), who can turn into a fireball. Last but not least there is Ben (Michael Chiklis) who has turned into a man made out of rock. He is the muscles from the group. The villain is Doom, once named Victor Von Doom (Julian McMhaon), once lover of Sue, also infected with the radiation. I guess that is all you need to know.
The powers and villain are interesting enough to keep our attention while the human story behind the heroes makes it more interesting than it could have been. I could have done without the love story between Reed and Sua, but you simply got to have it these days. Near the end the film is rushing a little, but they took quite the time to get the story underway. To keep the movie withing the two hours it seems like a wise decision. Further than these things I have little complaints, especially considering this is the first 'Fantastic Four'-effort. If the characters develop and the humor stays the same, we might have something here when the sequel arrives.