Comic book movies don't get much better

Rating: 7/10 (10 July 2005)

Let's preface this review/comment by saying this "it's a movie based on a comic book". Undaunted by the professional "Critic" reviews I attended this movie and was pleasantly entertained. It was everything I would expect...big special effects, comic book action and a great story line.
As compared to Citizen Kane, the Fantastic 4 is not a good movie but put it on a scale with other comic book movies it ranks just below Spiderman 2 and above Batman begins.
So is it all good? Not really. The casting of Jessica Alba as Susan Storm "Invisible Girl" was a poor decision. While the always attractive Alba does a fine job she seems to constantly be waiting for her cue to be struck. And Ioan Gruffudd seems to have trouble with his character too. While some may say that it is bad acting I felt that the problem was a complete lack of time in the story. Which brings us to the problem with the story. The Fantastic Four (comic book) is more about the interaction of the 4 individuals as one super team and their relationships, the villain/crime is more of a side-story, the producer/director spent a great deal of time building up to the obligatory confrontation. Maybe (hopefully) in a sequel they will spend more time on that relationship.
The biggest saving grace (or graces if that is proper) are the casting/acting of Michael Chiklis as Ben "The Thing" Grimm and Chris Evans as Johnny "The Human Torch" Storm. They have so much competence in the roles that you truly believed they were their characters, which is after all what they are supposed to do.
If what you are after is a fulfilling superhero movie with comic book action and fun go and see "The Fantastic Four", if not...then there are probably a dozen other movies showing...go see one of them.