Good Yarn, Good Story

Rating: 6/10 (17 August 2005)

When I was a kid, Marvel Comics were my faves. The names of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were almost magical to me. And yes, I read, and liked, the Fantastic Four.
FF were different from a lot of comic book heroes for a number of reasons that were well depicted here in the film.
First, and maybe most obviously, there were four of them. Instead of a single powerful character, like Superman or Batman, we had a group of Four. It has been remarked again and again that the TV show Friends was distinctive in the same way: a breakthrough comedy in which an ensemble of 6 equal characters are "the Star". Well, FF was in many ways like Friends: a super ensemble.
Second, the heroes were all so very human. Lots of very human foibles and weaknesses. That comes through very well in this film.
Third, the experience of the heroes is more important than the heroism of the heroes. This is conveyed by the film very well. When Sue Storm steps forward in the space station to look out over the earth from high, high above, we see her face reacting like ... well, like almost any of us would react: astonished, grateful, delighted. The scene is very unoriginal, yet it's set up with flawless adherence to the spirit of the situation, and we are conducted with a true story-teller's love of story through the brief but telling scene.
Similarly, the *experience* of gaining their new "powers" is conveyed with humor and authenticity and who among us can't feel the same sense of adventure and terror and horror and fun that our heroes experienced as they grew into their new selves.
The *pattern* of correspondence and discordance between new powers and character is very striking. Two of the Four gain correspondent powers; two gain discordant powers.
Correspondent are Johnny and Ben. Johnny, fiery, rash, brash, hotheaded, becomes the Torch. Ben, strong, rough, gruff, becomes the powerful Thing.
Discordant are Reed and Sue. Reed, the intense and flexible scientist, becomes "Stretch", sending his body into extraordinary feats of relaxation and flexibility. Sue, the extraordinary beauty, finds that her most salient power is to become invisible, her beauty hidden from even the most piercing eyes.
All four of the Fantastic Four "mesh" in ways that tell us that the Four who related with balance and humor before the Great Change, will continue to relate with balance and humor after the Great Change.
Finally, to embed the new experiences of the Fantastic Four in the heart of New York, with tributes to the NYFD and NYPD clearly reminding us of these heroes of 9/11, is to help universalize the transformative experiences that they, and we, have undergone. No one has planned for the changes that have taken place: yet all have labored to accommodate those changes and make them part of who we are as we experience ourselves, and our life, on a daily basis.
I think this is one of the distinctive gifts of the Comic Book world: to help us see life in broad, bold strokes, so that we are forced to lift our eyes above the dust and grit and see the big picture, the big themes.
Unfortunately, this is a two-edged sword. Comics are cool, but their broad strokes cloy and tire and ultimately bore very rapidly. The movie could have been half as long as it was, and I would have been well satisfied.