Someone left the Fantastic out of the Four...

Rating: 7/10 (28 June 2005)

Take one of Marvel Comics best super-teams and basically throw out the basic guiding principles that made the Fantastic Four a good read over these last 40-some years and that is what you end up in this film adaptation.
Granted one had to change a few details to get all the players changed as quickly as possible, but fans of the comics are sure to cry foul that the origin of the classic Dr. Doom is tied with the creation of the Fantastic Four! Fans of the comics know that Dr. Doom never worked with Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) in the same organization. The well know origin of Dr. Doom starts off when Reed and Victor van Doom are together in college. Victor gets disfigured in an lab accident that he believes that Reed interrupted. Victor heads out in the world to seek more power than mere science can give him and he discovered mystical powers and takes the armored form of Dr. Doom.
This film throws Victor into the same accident that caused the Fantastic Four to be created.
But instead of getting disfigured, this Victor von Doom is merely scarred and yet he goes around wearing a metallic mask without the rest of the famous body armor of Doom. The whole presence of this Dr. Doom makes people laugh, where as the original Dr. Doom was considered by many as one of the top ten most dangerous villains in the Marvel Comics universe.
The strange mix of CGI and non-CGI proves a bad combo in this edition of the Fantastic Four! Mr. Fantastic, the Human Torch, the Invisible Girl/Woman are represented with CGI powers.
But the Thing is merely an actor in makeup and unfortunately looks more campy than someone that should scare the normal populace or be any real threat.
Not up to par with the kind of effort that the previous Marvel Comic films, Spider-man or the X-men received!!! Fans of the Fantastic Four may want to rent this one...