Fantastic Four is fun, friendly, and feels good. Honestly, I haven't had this much FUN watching a movie in a long time. Recent movies in this genre, including Star Wars: Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith and Batman Begins have been darker and emotionally taxing. Fantastic Four is much more lighthearted and will be sure to put you in a good mood.
The main reason for the fun behind Fantastic Four is in watching this eclectic mix of personalities discover and come to terms with their new powers. It all begins when Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), a mathematical genius and struggling inventor, tries to convince his former MIT classmate and now wealthy business owner, Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon), that analyzing some nearby cosmic rays in outer space may lead to cures for diseases and other wonderful opportunities. A quick space shuttle launch and slight miscalculation later, Reed and Victor, along with three others recruited for the mission, find themselves being exposed to the cosmic radiation in a terrific accident. Days later, as they are recovering in the hospital and trying to sort out just how this could have happened, they begin discovering, one by one, that their DNA has been altered in ways which none of them could have imagined.
The playful but insensitive Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) gains the ability to create fire from something as small as a single flame from his fingertips to his entire body blazing at thousands of degrees. The funniest lines in the movie come from Johnny Storm, including one when the nurse reads his temperature at over 200 degrees and tells him "You're hot." His reply is "Thank you. So are you." However, hotter than "The Human Torch" himself is his sister, Susan Storm (Jessica Alba). I'm not kidding man. She is HOT! Whew. OK. Where was I? Oh yes...this former girlfriend of Reed's and current love interest of Victor's discovers that under intense emotion that she is able to disappear. She later discovers the ability to generate force fields as well (this "Invisible Woman"'s powers were obviously copied for the Violet character in The Incredibles). Richard Reed finds that he has the ability to stretch beyond what should be possible for a human (not unlike Elastigirl from The Incredibles) and becomes known as "Mr. Fantastic." Even so, what he would rather stretch is his mind in order to figure out a way to help his friends.
However, while these three can turn their powers on and off, Ben Grimm's (Michael Chiklis) life is becoming a nightmare. His body turns hard as stone and his body mass increases severalfold. His only thought is to see his beloved wife again, but in a heart-wrenching scene in which his huge fingers are unable to dial the telephone, he eventually is able to use the operator get his wife on the phone, and she rushes out on the street to meet him. She is horrified at his new appearance and runs away in fear. Ironically, Ben Grimm who is later known as "The Thing" is the most human and most appealing of all the characters, and Chiklis' performance is superb especially given the fact that during most of the movie it is from behind a giant body suit and mask.
Ben takes off in search of solitude as he tries to come to terms with his new self. As he sits on the side of a bridge a would-be suicidal jumper approaches and he tries to help. Frightened at this approaching beast, the man rushes into traffic on the bridge. Ben rushes in to save him and in one of the coolest scenes in the movie stops a semi-truck cold in its tracks in order to prevent it from running over the man. Then chaos erupts with a massive pile-up on the bridge leading to a fire truck teetering on the edge of bridge and disaster. Reed, Susan, and Johnny rush in to help Ben save the day. They are hailed as heroes, but Ben's wife appears only to give him back his wedding ring, deflating all euphoria and bringing this mountain of a man to his knees. It is truly pitiful to watch as his huge fingers fumble trying to pick up the ring. His good friend, Reed Richards, places it in his hand and vows to do everything in his power to get him back to normal.
Meanwhile, Victor Von Doom seems to be losing everything from his hair to his girlfriend to his business empire. He is gaining special powers too; as his body turns to metal he finds that he has the ability disrupt, and later to control, electricity. Victor's ruthless ambition and resentment towards Richard Reed eventually lead him to become the evil and dreaded Doctor Doom.
It is a great story with a lot of character development setting up for a great confrontation at the end of the movie between Doctor Doom and the Fantastic Four. It can be cheesy and ridiculously unbelievable at times, but after all, this is based on a comic book, and the movie remains faithful and true. It is easy to set aside reason at times in the interest of fun and fantasy.
The weakest aspect of the film was the romantic tension between Reed Richards and Susan Storm. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what made it so bad. It was partly the acting and partly the dialogue, but I think the biggest reason that this failed was in the fact that the movie tried to explain their relationship solely via two characters reminiscing about the past. Perhaps a flashback or two would have told the back-story better and relieved us of some of the bad dialogue.
Another criticism I have with this movie is the fact that it is rated PG-13. Why are comic book superheroes shunning the audiences who love and need them the most? This has been happening quite often recently with Spider-Man, Batman, and now the Fantastic Four. Take out 5 seconds here, 10 seconds there, and this movie would be PG and available to a much broader audience. It just blows my mind why they would do this. After all, who are they marketing to with Happy Meal toys and action figures? Little children who probably shouldn't see the movie. It is absolutely retarded.
What this movie did very well was to give us a great feel for each and every character. These "superheroes" are very accessible and quite human. From Johnny's hot-rodding exuberance to Susan's romantic frustration to Reed's feelings of guilt to Ben's struggle to be loved to even Doctor Doom's desire to retain his power and wealth, we understand where they came from, how they feel, and where they are going. What is also great is to see the Fantastic Four working as a team and looking out for each other which contrasts greatly with Doctor Doom's lone struggle for greatness. Ben Grimm's decision near the climax of the film to be "The Thing" embodies the spirit of friendship and sacrifice championed by the film. It is very touching because we all know and understand what it means for him to do this. With people like him, who can beat the Fantastic Four?
I loved this movie and will see it again.
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