Critics' reaction shows how far we have come...

Rating: 6/10 (10 July 2005)

...in producing quality adaptations of low-brow material(comic books). After the 2 Spider-man movies, X-Men, Sin City, and now Batman Begins, the bar has been raised on what to expect. Also, FF was made on a very short time line, with an unheralded director, and a B-list cast. In spite of these limitations, the movie I saw was very enjoyable, and it moved quickly.
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Now, this is far from the ideal FF movie. The problem is, how to use cinema shorthand to tell a story that has been 44 years in developing. Thus, we get a wife for Ben, whose only purpose is to demonstrate how tragic the Thing's transformation is. Doom has been included in the space flight in order to give him 1) reason to hate the FF, and 2) cause for homicidal insanity. Of course, what makes Doom in the comics so evil is the fact that he is perfectly sane, but cripplingly arrogant and proud, with blind lust for power. If the franchise goes for one or two more movies, the ending of "FF" indicates that we may next see Doom in a form much closer to his comic self. Man, would it be great to see Ben and Johnny wading into an army of Doom-bots!
Yet, we need to acknowledge what "FF" gets right. The costumes, the powers, the banter between the team members, and 4/5 of the cast are all about as good as one could hope for. Johnny is just perfect! Updating him to an extreme sports junkie is a great way to bring out his impulsive, fearless nature. The Torch is my absolute favorite part of "FF". Also, the scenes of Ben trying to live in a world too fragile for him are great! His interplay with Johnny is dead-on, and not overdone. Reed comes off too wimpy in the beginning, but he has the dedication and concern for others that makes him a strong heroic figure. The scenes of him working around the clock in his lab, complete with 2 days beard, are taken directly from numerous FF stories. His tussle with Ben is priceless, he really is Mr. Fantastic. Sue is radically changed, like Doom. Alba's casting is, for me, the weakest part of the movie. She was obviously cast for her name recognition and her ability to look quite fetching in a suit of unstable molecules. On the plus side, her Sue is a strong character, and she assumes the leadership role early on, when Reed is just befuddled. She is simply too young for this role.
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Another IMDb user commented that what is missing is the sense of wonder in the FF books, the feeling that we were going somewhere we had never been before. Fantastic Four, the comic, embraces the wonders of technology as a way to better ourselves, a force for good in the world. That kind of innocent optimism is somewhat out of style now.
When I heard all the negatives prior to release, I lowered my expectations for the "FF". I am a total Marvel freak, I started reading the comics in 1966, and I have all the action figures. I realize that big-budget movies involve compromise, and "FF" is not immune. The producers, in an attempt to draw the teen target audience, included some gags and music that will not age well. "FF" lacks the timeless quality of "Spider-man", the master template for good superhero movies. The changes to Doom especially have upset many of the comics fans. Yet, would this movie ever have been made without these concessions? The Fantastic Four is not a pop culture icon like Batman or Spider-man, recognizable to all but the extreme media-deprived. Overall, though, "FF" is a good summer movie, just not the best possible FF adaptation. I can live with that.