Don't listen to the nay-sayers.

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2005)

I had the pleasure of seeing this movie and all I could say is good job. All these people were bashing this movie and from what I could tell there's no REAL reason to.
Going into this film I had very little expectations.Reviews were all over the spectrum and the people that liked it loved it and the people that didn't all seem to HATE Jessica Alba. Her performance wasn't nearly as bad as some would have you believe.
Everyone knows the story of the Fantastic Four. And being a self confessed Comics geek and a Superhero movie snob my expectations should have been for this movie to really suck. Boy was I wrong.
True, as with ANY movie of this genre ( and there'll be more ) it is very easy to go in with preconceived notions of what to expect, but to flat out say that the movie stinks because of one particular actor or actress is unfair to everyone involved with the production of the movie. Michael Chiklis was awesome as Ben Grimm and gave a very Tragic and heartfelt performance . The scene on the bridge when his fiancé takes off her ring and leaves it on the ground for him to pick up was very powerful and touching. And Reed having to assist his friend in picking up the ring because his own fingers were to large was tremendous.
People have said that the dialog was cheesy, which at points it may have been. But "it's clobberin' time" and Flame on" are FF classics and will sound cheesy no matter when or how they were put into context and there in lies the charm. My only true complaint was the inclusion of Dooms origin with that of the FF, but in this day and age of post 9-11 a maniacal despot wanting to take over the world might be in bad taste. The effects were awesome and I for one am glad they did't go with CGI for the Thing because I don't think they would have been able to portrait an ounce of the emotion Chiklis did with his eyes and body language. In a summer of angst ridden Jedi's and Dark knights Fantastic Four is an awesome movie that the ENTIRE family can enjoy. Its everything a summer movie should be Fun, Action packed and exciting.