Fantastic Fun

Rating: 8/10 (10 July 2005)

I've never seen so many critics so very wrong about a movie. Ignore the critical drubbing -- this movie is lots of fun. It's fast paced, it's funny, and it's well-acted by a terrific cast (kudos to Gruffudd, Chiklis, and Evans, who are pitch perfect). Here's a comic book movie that doesn't bore you with attempts to be Hamlet. It embraces its pulp origins, and goes about its business with sincerity and its tongue firmly in cheek. It's not perfect -- the Human Torch's "rock video" moments bring the film to a screeching halt on a couple of occasions and there's a few sequences that don't quite work -- but these are minor gripes. This is a sunny, big-hearted, good-natured movie that kids and adults alike will enjoy.