A Fantastic Film!!!!

Rating: 9/10 (6 May 2009)

Fantastic Four is certainly by no stretch of the imagination anyone's favourite superhero film. Perhaps that's partly to do with the fact that the Fantastic Four aren't your conventional superheroes by any stretch of the imagination. Their a dysfunctional 'family' of sorts with no 'secret identities' and masks to hide behind, no identity issues and certainly not quite so unbelievably noble and heroic (at least not in the beginning). The truth is that Fantastic Four is certainly not meant to be a serious superhero film or an epic or anything like that. The Fantastic Four are not meant to be larger than life legends like Superman or Spiderman. They are ordinary flawed human beings who are either over-awed, freaked out or downright depressed over their newfound abilities. The film itself is supposed to be a 'fun film'. If it appears campy, then that's the intention of the screenwriters. Because lets face it, there are enough epic tales of the spawning of great heroes (Superman, Batman Begins, Iron Man) and enough tales of super-beings tormented by their powers and by the world (The Incredible Hulk, the X-men trilogy), so its fitting that there is at least one film that is more light-hearted and has a 'coolness' and 'feel good' factor about it. One of the more appealing aspects of the film are that its protagonists don't have any complex characterization like most superheroes have. Their characters are an open book to us right from the start and their reactions are quite predictable throughout the film. Reed Richards (Ion Gruduff) is the cautious ever-analytic scientist who is curious and concerned about the team's mysterious new powers. Sue Storm (Jessica Alba) is the mature and orderly woman who detests the abnormality of her's and her friends predicament. Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) is easily the team's source of comic relief; he's the hot-headed youngster who enjoys his powers. Ben Grimm (Michael Chilkins) is the film's tragic hero who hates his transformation into the monstrous 'Thing' but gradually comes to accept his powers. Grimm is the only character whose characterization drastically changes and evolves over the course of the film. If the film has a flaw, its in its villain, Victor von Doom (Julian McMahan). While the idea of linking the Fantastic Four's origins with that of their archenemy is a pretty good idea, and the changes in Doom's backstory makes his rivalry with Mr. Fantastic more apparent, Doom's characterization and motivation itself is pretty lacking. We understand that he is a man craving for power, but what he intends to do with that power apart from killing people and damaging public property is never clearly explained. The final fight sequence between the Four and Doom, though pretty exciting, could have been longer and more elaborate. Instead, the Fantastic Four beat Doom in something like five minutes! which is thoroughly dissatisfying. All in all, Fantastic Four is a great film if you accept it for what it is and overlook its minor flaws.