Great way to spend an afternoon at the movies.

Rating: Null/10 (10 July 2005)

I've never been a fan of the Fantastic Four and frankly did not give this movie much of a thought back when I heard a movie was being made about them. Having been a comic book fan for 30 years, I have always enjoyed the Human Torch and the Thing in their own adventures or when teamed up with another character but the Fantastic Four itself always left me flat. I have read many issues over the years but it has never really hooked me in. My kids actually wanted to see this movie more than I did (apparently there is a newer cartoon series around that got them excited about it) and so I took them on opening day to sort of get it over with.
I was pleasantly surprised.
The movie loosely follows the origin of the team and does well to illustrate the relationship between the characters. The love/hate relationship between Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm, Ben's role as Reed's protector while at the same time blaming him for his situation, Sue Storm's unreturned affection for Reed, Reed's reluctant role as leader and analytical but naive reasoning. Reed's relationship with Victor Von Doom. It's all in here. There are many little things tossed in for comic fans as well... Doom's return to Latvia (presumably as ruler), Ben's raincoat and fedora, Johnny sky-writing the flaming F4 signal in the sky (which goes way back to the 1960s comic books), and a few other nice touches.
Although the story is flawed in parts... the whole Ben Grimm/Doom transformation part was not very well thought out. But other parts are very well done... I really like the way the relationship between Reed and Doom was explained and how the Doom character developed. Although in this movie does take it's fair share of artistic license such as Doom being with the F4 when exposed to the cosmic storm (which was not the case in the comics). I usually don't like when they fundamentally change things like this in comic-to-movie adaptations but here it actually works very well and helps explain why the relationship between Reed Richards and Dr. Doom is so venomous.
The acting ranges from acceptable to pretty good. Michael Chiklis was very good in both the Ben Grimm/Thing roles running the gauntlet of emotions from self-pity to reluctant hero pretty well. Jessica Alba was good but it was a little hard to believe that she would be chasing Ioan Gruffudd but did give this movie much needed sex appeal. Ioan Gruffudd did an acceptable job as Reed Richards albeit a bit bland which I'm not sure if Gruffudd's acting or the character itself is just bland. Chris Evans also did a very good job providing the humor elements and reckless nature of Johnny Storm. Julian McMahon did a splendid job as crazy old Dr. Doom and his fall from grace was well portrayed if a bit hurried. Limited screen time kept me from fully enjoying the Dr. Doom character.
All in all, while not perfect, this movie is a great way to spend a lazy summer afternoon. It's a fun movie with great visual effects, a decent story, and generally good acting that keeps the action humming along at a good clip. The movie plays very well for kids.. both my kids liked it very much. If I had to judge this movie against other Marvel movies I would put it above the Hulk and a little behind the first Spiderman movie and of course far above Daredevil and the Punisher.