Very true to Marvel comics and lot of upside

Rating: 7/10 (6 May 2007)

Whenever you see a movie which so many people hate or love so much, the truth is somewhere in between (usually). for this one, the hate mongers are pretty much in their own little world, and whatever they hate is too personal for them to describe, because this movie was extremely true to the comic book (for the most part), it was entertaining, action packed, and focused on the characters. Quite frankly, though I'm not an ardent fan, I can't find fault with this film. The comic book Fantastic Four focused on the characters even more than the powers. The genius Reed who can stretch his body as if there were no bones, but like the blob of the movies; the Invisible Woman, his wife Sue, the glue who keeps them together; and the rivalry between the superstrong grotesque Ben and the Hollywood fireball Johnny Storm. The movie doesn't deviate at all from these characters. Like the comic, it focuses on them. The comic book had several bad guys who fought them. And as in one famous comic quote, there is no law against trying to take over the world, and the Thing's famous response "that wouldn't do much good against Galactus, though. He don't want to take over the world, he just wants to eat it." Since Galactus was the most interesting of the villains, and Annihilus the second most, and then there were still the Frightful Four, the Mole Man, the Molecule Man, and others more powerful than Doom, a lot of people may have wanted them in the movie, but Doom was the personal enemy of Reed and his three friends. So the first movie would have to deal with Dr. Doom. And since the comic book was also famous for exposing the vast differences in character between the villains, one movie would not do justice to the comic. It will take several movies. For instance, while Doom was famous for being a psychopathic sort who mistreated those loyal to him, Annihilus would be rewarding for his yes men, and Galactus would merely place them where he thought best like an emotionless business syndicate. The Fantastic Four is about characters, and about mistakes, real live mistakes, heat of the moment decisions, and what they can cost us, and how Reed would realize his mistakes and try to learn from them. The movie covered that, and gave us the appeal of Grimm and Storm, whose antics made the comic even greater. This movie falls into place. In time, it may depend upon the sequels to give it a higher rating.