Fantastic Four Review
by Billy Bob Goldstein (billybob AT moviesforguys DOT com)July 9th, 2005
Fantastic Four (2005)
Starring: Michael Chiklis, Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd, Julian McMahon, Chris Evans
Rating: 4/5
Reviewed by John Frankel of www.moviesforguys.com
Every review out there for this movie is going to do some version of this line, so let's just get it out of the way. Fantastic Four isn't a fantastic movie, but it's pretty damn good.
I never have been a big Fantastic Four fan, so this review is coming from a movie fan not a comic book fan. The whole "we're so much better when we work as a team" stuff just never worked for me with the comic, but it does seem to translate better to film. For those who don't know, here's the rundown.
Reed Richards is a bright scientist dude who has an idea to test the effects of solar storms on DNA, with the idea that that's what sparked evolution here on Earth. He's broke though, so he turns to fellow scientist Victor Von Doom for help. They, along with Ben Grimm, Susan Storm and Johnny Storm head up to Victor's space station for some testing. The storm arrives much earlier than expected causing them all to be exposed... and changed. That's the first 30 minutes of the movie.
The next hour or so deals with them discovering their powers, how to control them, and coming to grips with what they can do. That may sounds long and tedious, but it's really the best part of the movie. I really enjoyed that unlike other superheroes these guys tell everyone who they are which gets rid of the whole "let's live a secret double-life in a cave with my aunt while I write for the local newspaper and take pictures" thing. We know where they live, what they can do, and that they aren't particularly happy about it.
So what's wrong with the movie? Simple, Dr. Doom kinda sucks. Great name, and he has the right attitude but his powers are a bit boring. He's obviously written so that none of the Four could possibly defeat him on their own and are forced to work as a team, and even then they just fight to a stalemate. The one battle scene in the movie (yes, I said ONE) is a bit of a letdown, and I hope that with the eventual sequel they bring out some additional bad guys to liven things up. And yes, they left the ending wide open for a sequel.
Other than Dr. Doom, the rest of the movie does quite well. The effects are excellent, the acting is good for the most part, and the story is better than I expected... much better than I expected. If you're in the mood to just sit back and enjoy a movie without having to think very much, then Fantastic Four will hit the spot. Take a date, take the kids, take the spouse, it's safe for everyone and they should all have a good time.
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