A terrible, but bearable film

Rating: 2/10 (13 December 2005)

The spoiler is just that the heroes beat the villain. But I figure I'd better warn people all the same. So now you can read on without any fear.
Given that Fantastic Four went down to a megre two screens a day after the first week, I had very low expectations for this film when my brother rented it on DVD. Yet I still managed to be disappointed. I was never a fan of the comics. Sure I owned a few copies, but I never read them. The reason? There far better super heroes out there. At least the film conveys this aspect of the comics well. The Invisible Girl is no match for Violet of The Incredibles who shared the same super powers. Sure, The Incredibles came some years after the comics, but Pixars film is far better. Also, her need to control her emotions to channel her powers is just too similar to Storm of the X-Men. But enough about their powers, the characters themselves were just bland. The screenwriter wasn't able to develop a total of five lead characters who all need to discover their powers and deal with them in a substantial way. Instead, the film relies on the characters dialogue to spout about how they feel, rather that show how they develop and adjust in any significant way. Not to mention the actors are bland, unable to inject any charm or compassion into their characters. They seem to be relying on the special effects to convey their characters - and the CGI is second rate to better films such as Spiderman or Sin City. But the biggest grievance I have - and it's a biggie - is that the main appeal of a comic book film adaption is to see the heroes conflict and battle with the villain, and eventually triumph after going through a life changing development that gives them the strength to kick ass. If you're going to deviate from this formula, your name had better be Christopher Nolan, who put off the reveal of Batman until an hour into the film. But this film was not directed by Nolan. The main conflict of the film comes from within the heroes ranks as they argue with one another and deal with their powers in different ways. But an argument between superheroes isn't the most cinematic of events. And then there's the finale - the Fantastic Fours' ONE and ONLY battle with Dr. Doom. They win of course. ON THEIR FIRST BATTLE. It all seems so pointless after all this build up with the heroes inner turmoil and the Dr. Doom rising up to assume his position as the villain that it should end so abruptly. Very disappointing. Of course, the last scene implies that it may not be over for Dr. Doom, but given the box of success (or lack of) and the quality (or lack of) for this film, I doubt we'll be seeing Fantastic Four 2 anytime soon.