Best Marvel Comic Adaptation Yet? It's a Possibility

Rating: 9/10 (17 July 2005)

Having three kids (14, 12, 10) means compromising on movie choices. I wanted to see "War of the Worlds," and my youngest overruled it saying it would be too scary. So, the kids talked me into FANTASTIC FOUR. I must admit I never cared for Marvel Comics as a kid (I preferred JLA and GREEN LANTERN), so I wasn't all that keen about seeing this film.
I was completely wrong.
The film was fantastic, no pun intended. Yes, there could've been more action, but this wasn't meant to be an action film. It was an origins story, and it was a pretty darned good one at that. The actors, in particular, gave a good deal of believability to what I always considered one of the most ridiculous comic concepts (i.e. cosmic rays causing super powers).
In fact, I daresay the acting is what drew me into the film. All five leads are simply incredibly believable in their performances. Ioan Gruffudd does a wonderful job of capturing the naiveté of a scientist. He's completely unaware that he's being used throughout the film, and this flaw endears his character (and the performance) to us. Jessica Alba gives a lot of depth to what could be a superficial role (I loved her reaction to her brother's nicknaming her "I'm the Invisible GIRL?!") Chris Evans captures the fireball free-spirit of the Human Torch, and Chilkis ends up being incredibly emotive under all that rock. Julian McMahon captures the slide of Victor von Doom from evil manipulator into outright evil insanity with perfection.
Storywise, it's an origin piece, so there's not always a lot of action. But the pathos of the Ben Grimm character, his personal crisis of a wife who leaves him over his crisis, von Doom's capitalizing on this crisis/weakness, and then the irony as he meets a young black, blind woman reminds him that things could be worse. I couldn't help but wonder why the incredibly talented Chilkis would've taken part in the movie as the opening sequence rolled. By the end of the movie, I couldn't help but applaud his decision to do so.
So I have to ask myself, is this the best Marvel Comics adaptation yet? *sigh* I thought both Spiderman 1, and I liked X-Men 1&2 were really good. I thought Daredevil was unnecessarily criticized, just as several comic aficionados are doing with this one. But in all honesty, I didn't want to go back and see those movies again. And I didn't bother watching Spiderman 2 until it was released on DVD. But I want to go back to see Fantastic Four again. So yeah, this one works for me. And if you go into the theater without the preconceptions, I think you'll be in line with me, too.