Acceptable, but not Memorable

Rating: 7/10 (18 July 2005)

Well, I broke down and saw the Fantastic Four the other day. Now I'll begin by saying that I am a fan of the comics. I work in a comic shop, I regularly receive "Marvel Knights 4" (A fantastic four book) as well as "Ultimate Fantasitc Four" (another F4 title). But as a movie goer, I know that I need to keep an open mind when going to see films. Especially films adapted from pre-existing media. So My fiancée and I broke down and went to the theater.
So, all in all I must say there were aspects I was quite glad they touched on and others that I was a bit disappointed about.
The story basically touches on the Fantastic Four's roots. Fleshing out the character development that made Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic)< Sue Storm (Invisible Woman), Ben Grimm (The Thing), and Johnny Storm (The Human Torch II) into super heroes. It also shows the emergence of their rogues gallery beginning with Victor VonDoom, who becomes (you guessed it) Dr. Doom. It deals with the science experiment gone awry, the rising popularity of the 4, the downfall of VonDoom and the eventual Final Battle.
I won't ruin the end but I have to say, comparable to battle scenes in the Comic, this one was spot on (albeit short). If anything the movie really touches on the human aspect and problem solving that usually fills the pages of the Fantastic Four Comics. Not all comics are for kids, much less nothing but nonstop actions. They are mediums to tell stories, and usually F4 deals with the issues of Reed and His Gang and how they overcome popularity, bankruptcy, global terrors, etc. The movie captured this aspect perfectly, but the storyline itself is questionable.
As most movies like this do, it tries to squeeze all the best an most popular stories it can into one film. Usually acquired at the expense of comic continuity. And whereas many of us comic fans can say that certain story aspects are out of order, we have to realize that no movie can be completely true to the books all in one sitting. It is nearly impossible for a movie to take another media's concept that has had a history such as F4's and put it into a 3 hour film. it's not do-able. It is the same problem that the movie "Watchmen" will be faced with: How can you make a 400 Page Graphic novel into a 3 hour film, and still do the original story justice? It can't really be done. So whereas I do give some "props" to the way the story for F4 was handled, I also have the comic geek inside of me saying "NO NO NO! That's not supposed to happen until much later!" In any case, the movie does a fine job of rendering the story as believable, and many fans will recognize many aspect of the Four's plight.
Casting wise, I was never too keen on casting Michael Chiklis as the thing. I personally thought he should've been played by Brad Garrett (of Everybody Loves Raymond). He had the size and most definitely the voice that would've been perfect. Plus the fact that the Thing is small in the film and is lacking in his huge eyebrows truly put me off. But after seeing the movie my little nitpickiness became a moot point. Chiklis wasn't at all disappointing and the rest of the cast seemed to do just as well. I know we've all had reservations about Jessica Alba (especially when Naomi Watts would'dve been a lot better) and actors Like Iaon Guffard and Chris Evans who are relatively Unknown. But let's keep in mind everyone has to get their break somewhere and just because unknown names signed on to a product that garners millions of comic fans, we shouldn't hold it against them. The only person in the cast that truly disappointed me was the portrayal of Dr. Doom. by Julian McMahon. Dr.Doom has always been portrayed as a mad doctor, and on top of that a very angry one at that. The voice, I feel, was not creepy and evil enough. It should've been closer to Darth Vader, rather than just regular old Julian McMahon. It took me out of the moment, and was a very unfortunate choice.
Overall, I'll give the movie a 7 out of 10. Not just for effort, but also for the fact that that it was miles away from the Corman film of the same name. Jeez, have you seen that "movie"? Wow. Anyway, the film is well put together. The casting is odd but by far not abominable as many people on the Message Boards have stated. And as for the comic fans, don't bash it because you feel it's your job. Try it, you might like it.