The not so Fantastic 4, but still not as bad as the 1994 version

Rating: 4/10 (7 July 2005)

I've got to learn to not get so excited when I see trailers for movies because it seems that one of two things happens: either they show too much of the movie and spoil too much, or, what they show is all of the good stuff. In this case, it's both. For some reason, I was blinded by the bright lights of the teaser, which lead to the trailer(s). With an up and coming cast, Gruffudd, Chiklis, Evans, Alba, and McMahon, I was stoked that the special effects would be the highlight of the film, as there were no high salaried actors in the bunch. With the exception of best known Alba, the rest haven't really established movie resumes.
Gruffudd just played Lancelot in 'King Arthur', Chiklis has done TV and received 2 Emmys for Best Actor in a Drama for 'The Shield' on F/X (a Fox network), Evans did an awesome job in 'Cellular' last summer, and McMahon is another awesome actor from the F/X network, as a plastic surgeon on 'Nip/Tuck'. It was funny to keep hearing him refer to plastic surgery after "the accident" in the movie. Chiklis, who likes comic books anyway, was a good cast for the gruff role of Ben Grimm.
All in all, I think the cast selection was excellent, as all fit their roles well, and were cookie cutter personalities from the comic books. Johnny was the cool guy everyone wants to be, Ben was the gruff sidekick that looked out for Reed and was constantly antagonized by Johnny, Reed was more concerned with his work than his relationship with Sue, and Sue was just there to look good. Victor/Dr. Doom was a good bad guy. I didn't like the ending with him, though.
Where the film went wrong, in my opinion, was the writing. The story was just weak. Yeah, it had to have a background, which was fine, but it never really climaxed. It had a few cool sequences, but again, it's all stuff we've seen in the trailers and commercials. Here's where Michael France and Mark Frost are to blame.
To make it simple, I'll spell it out for you: The Punisher and Hulk. And don't forget, Twin Peaks (what a weird series). In addition, if Tim Story is trying to make a directing name out of himself, stepping up to a movie with this high of a caliber potential won't work with writers like this. By the way, Tim Story was the 4th director assigned to this movie. The F/X were O.K., but no ILM. I would have hoped that Fox would have spent more there, than on salaries; I hope they didn't spend most of the budget on salaries. It had to have been the sets, in Canada. C'mon, what was Fox thinking? Story is BEST known for Barbershop, and Taxi? Sad, sad, sad.
I was unfortunately distracted because I was so NOT enjoying this movie, and was looking for continuity errors and ways to make fun of the film. I got a chuckle every time someone said, "Victor", referring to Dr. Doom's alter ego. I kept thinking to myself, "What's your Vector, Victor?"
Uh anyway, the costumes were cool. I liked The Thing's body makeup. (Why was his fiancé out in the street in a negligee?) Before the movie, you can enjoy the trailer for Transporter 2!
All in all, I'd strongly recommend NOT going to an evening show, and instead, hit a matinée and save SOME of your money. Better yet, wait until about September, and the $1.50 theater should have it.
Spoiler alert!!! (In my opinion, not really, because IMDb already has this noted in the credits, anyway.) Oh yeah, look for Stan Lee, as the mailman. He actually has a speaking role and a real character name in the credits, this time.
Flame off.