Not quite Fantastic

Rating: 6/10 (11 July 2005)

After several stellar comic book adaptations from Marvel Comics stock of superhero superstars (X-Men, Spider-Man), we are finally, unfortunately, treated to a mediocre entry for one of their A-List, Fantastic Four. The big-budget adaptation of Fantastic Four is lackluster at best, proving to be a slightly diverting, but not tremendously entertaining, adventure.
As with most other comic book adaptations, we are treated to an "origin" story for the Fantastic Four. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffud), a brilliant but bankrupt scientist, along with his friend Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis), have approached rich industrialist Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon, of Nip/Tuck fame) to fund an expedition to his private space station to perform research on a cosmic radiation cloud that might prove to reveal some information about human evolution. Von Doom agrees, although he demands that he keep most of the profit from any financial gains that the mission might hold. He brings along his assistant, Susan Storm (Jessica Alba), a former love interest of Reed's, and her brother, hothead Johnny Storm (Chris Evans), who is the mission pilot. Shortly after arriving at the space station, it turns out that the calculations about the storm's trajectory are off, and it arrives earlier than planned, bathing the crew in radiation.
Upon returning from space everyone appears to be unaffected at first, but shortly thereafter, they begin exhibiting some strange symptoms, and each quickly discovers they have been granted a unique ability from the storm. Reed can stretch his body like a rubber band, Sue can become invisible, Johnny can immolate himself and fly and Ben transforms into a giant made of rock. Von Doom, who was protected behind his station's shields, doesn't seem to have been affected at all, but his symptoms simply take longer to manifest, and he quickly realizes that his body is transforming into an organic metal that can store electricity and then return it in the form of lightning bolts. Reed determines that he must try to reverse the storm's effect on them, but not before the world is introduced to their existence thanks to an happenstance traffic accident that they are able to help out with. Thanks to this exposure, the group become media celebrities overnight and are dubbed the Fantastic Four by reporters, although some of the group meets this newfound fame with trepidation.
If Fantastic Four has a key problem, it is that the members of it's group are woefully underdeveloped. Much like X-Men and X2, there are almost too many characters to adequately juggle for a two hour movie. As such, most of the group gets short-shrift. Reed comes across as a shy, socially inept geek, but we don't see much beyond that superficial exterior. Sue Storm is developed even less, she is memorable only because Jessica Alba is easy on the eyes. Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm, on the other hand, make something of an impression, even though they are also not completely fleshed out. Johnny is entertaining in a juvenile, annoying sidekick kind of way, and he provides a great deal of the film's comic relief. Ben has the most interesting plight of the four, shunned by his girlfriend because of his looks and having to deal with the most difficulty with his body (elevators won't rise, chairs and silverware break when he sits). The screenplay develops Ben best of the group. Finally, Von Doom turns out to be a bland, uninteresting villain, who is evil simply because he is narcissistic. That is a good start for a bad guy, but there is not enough meat on the bones to create much dislike for him.
Aside from underdevelopment, Fantastic Four suffers from a rather limp script. The film just sort of meanders its way along, never developing much excitement or interest. For anyone looking for action, this is not the film to see. While hardly a requisite for a good movie, action scenes are well used in both Spider-Man and X-Men, but are rather wanting here. The visual effects are a mixed bag also, most being impressive, but some at times some come across cheesy and unconvincing.
Acting-wise, nobody embarrasses themselves in the film, but there is little that is outstanding either. Chiklis turns in the best performance as Ben Grimm, giving the character the appropriate amount of pathos. Chris Evans is also effective as Johnny Storm. Sue and Reed are about as bland as bland come, adding little to the mix. Julian McMahon is underwhelming as Victor Von Doom, proving to not be a memorable entry in Marvel's rogues gallery of villains.
In many ways, Fantastic Four is the antithesis of X-Men. Where the X-Men is an allegory for racial bigotry and the X-Men are viewed with fear, Fantastic Four are in the center of the spotlight because of their abilities. There are some interesting ideas that could be introduced with this concept, but the script doesn't do much with it, although it is nice to see the outside world react to the discovery of these unique individuals in a way that seems to be realistic for our current day and age.
Overall, Fantastic Four is a very weak link in the Marvel film chain. We can only hope that the next entries for X-Men and Spider-Man don't follow suit.