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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis head a sexy, star-powered cast in this explosive adventure about a quartet of flawed, ordinary human beings who suddenly find themselves with extraordinary abilities.
After exposure to cosmic radiation, four astronauts become the most remarkable, if dysfunctional, superheroes of all time. Unfortunately, the mission's sponsor has also been transformed – into the world's most lethal supervillain – setting the stage for a confrontation of epic proportions. Packed with nonstop action, big laughs and awesome special effects, Fantastic 4 is "powerful fun" (The Baltimore Sun) from start to finish!
Description of Fantastic Four:
Marvel Comics' first family of superherodom, the Fantastic Four, hits the big screen in a light-hearted and funny adventure. It begins when down-on-his-luck genius Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd, Horatio Hornblower) has to enlist the financial and intellectual help from former schoolmate and rival Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon, Nip/Tuck) in order to pursue outer-space research into human DNA. Also on the trip are Reed's best friend, Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis, The Shield); his former lover, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba, Dark Angel, Sin City), who's now Doom's employee and love interest; and her hotshot-pilot brother, Johnny Storm (Chris Evans, Cellular). Things don't go as planned, of course, and the quartet becomes blessed--or is it cursed?--with superhuman powers: flexibility, brute strength, invisibility and projecting force fields, and bursting into flame. Meanwhile, Doom himself is undergoing a transformation.
Among the many entries in the comic-book-movie frenzy, Fantastic Four is refreshing because it doesn't take itself too seriously. Characterization isn't too deep, and the action is a bit sparse until the final reel (like most "first" superhero movies, it has to go through the "how did we get these powers and what we will do with them" churn). But it's a good-looking cast, and original comic-book cocreator Stan Lee makes his most significant Marvel-movie cameo yet, in a speaking role as the FF's steadfast postal carrier, Willie Lumpkin. Newcomers to superhero movies might find the idea of a family with flexibility, strength, invisibility, and force fields a retread of The Incredibles, but Pixar's animated film was very much a tribute to the FF and other heroes of the last 40 years. The irony is that while Fantastic Four is an enjoyable B-grade movie, it's the tribute, The Incredibles, that turned out to be a film for the ages. --David Horiuchi
The Fantastic Four at Amazon.com
Comics and Graphic Novels | 
Disney animated series | 
The classic comic book |
Movie tie-in graphic novel | 
The Xbox game | 
Fantastic Four Soundtrack |
The Fantastic Cast
Stills from Fantastic Four (click for larger images)
Fantastic Four Reviews:
Pretty Good. 
2008-09-02 - Good Movie. Chickless is great as the Thing. AND Jessica is always easy on the Eyes.
Soulless and generic superhero romp 
2008-08-29 - Of all the superhero movie adaptations released in the last several years, there is one in particular that stands out to me simply because it is so unremarkable. That film is 2005's adaptation of "The Fantastic 4." The characters are one dimensional, and the plot is paper thin. I can sum it up as this: 5 scientists go into space and come back with super powers. Four of them decide to become superheroes, and one decides to become a super villain. And then, they fight. That's it. It doesn't even attempt to understand why four people, upon receiving these powers decide they should be super heroes. They do it because that's what people with super powers do, and of course they have a closet full of pre-made superhero costumes that were conveniently written into the plot as being "next generation astronaut suits." Yeah, ruddy brilliant guys.
There is a sub plot in there about Ben Grim being unhappy with his monstrous new appearance as "The Thing," but the way the writers chose to resolve it ultimately feels ridiculous. Also, Dr. Doom, who is one of the most prolific recurring villains in the entire Marvel universe, is completely neutered in this movie. Comparing this Dr. Doom to his comic book counterpart is like comparing Chad Vader to his big brother Darth. The movie was obviously made in a boardroom of Fox executives trying to figure out how to get as many teenage boys into the theater as possible, because it is also chock full of frivilous extreme sports footage, special effects shots, and meticulously airbrushed women.
The only good thing I can say about this movie was that it looked good on Blu-Ray, at a time when I barely had anything to watch in HD. If you're looking for a movie to demo your new home theater with though, there are dozens of movies that look just as good if not better in HD, that aren't textbook examples of what happens when movies get made in by business men.
SOLID ONE STAR! 
2008-08-29 - Interesting special effects. Tolerable to watch but certainly NOT a good movie. The sequel in one of the worst movies I have seen this year. Please end this franchise.
It's Clobbering Time ! 
2008-08-15 - "Fantastic Four" hit the big screens in 2005, and is based on the Marvel comic book.
Reed Richards is, quite possibly, the most gifted scientist to ever have graduated from MIT. Currently researching the human genome, he believes the evolutionary process on Earth may have been triggered a cosmic storm. Luckily, precisely the type of cloud Richards has factored into his work will soon pass close to Earth's orbit. However, to continue his work, he needs help - specifically financial aid and a trip into space. Together with his sidekick, astronaut Ben Grimm, Richards pays a visit to Dr. Victor von Doom - not only an ex-classmate, but also a well-heeled native of Latveria. Where Richards is struggling financially, things are going a little better for von Doom - he is now the head of his own business and has his own very well-shielded space station.
Von Doom agrees to fund the experiment and grants the pair access to the space station - however, the deal is not without its conditions. Victor will take the lion's share of any future profits and his Director of Genetic Research, Susan Storm will also be brought on-board. (Ms. Storm also happens to be Reed's ex-girlfriend, though exactly what she ever saw in him is never made clear). Ben had hoped to pilot the shuttle to the space station. Unfortunately, Sue's brother, Johnny, is the company's resident pilot and will be commanding the flight. (Johnny is something of a loose cannon who was thrown out of NASA).
The five travel to the space station together - only to be caught out by the cosmic storm, which arrives ahead of schedule. Ben takes the biggest hit the storm can offer, having been on a spacewalk at the time. Reed, Susan and Johnny were inside, though they had been trying to rescue Ben and weren't protected by the station's strongest shielding. Victor, like a true villain, made sure that he was in the safest part of the station. All five survive - though Reed seems to have been right about the storm's effect on the evolutionary process. Everyone on-board develops new abilities - Reed becomes able to bend and stretch like rubber, Susan can become invisible while Johnny can become a human of living fire, rather than flesh and blood. However, all three can switch their powers on and off and there's no change to their outward appearance. Ben, on the other hand, can't : he has evolved into a creature made of rock. Despite the superhuman strength, it's not something he's terribly pleased about. (Neither is his fiancée - who doesn't take long in returning the ring). However, there are bigger problems ahead - specifically Doom and his newly acquired powers.
I found the movie pretty ordinary overall - there wasn't much of a storyline beyond 'this is how we got our powers'. (The point of the film, I'm guessing, was solely to set things up for the planned sequels). I can't say I was too fond of either Reed (limp, dreary and let's face it : he has the world's worst super-power) or Johnny (irritating brat). If it had been the Fantastic Two, I'd have been cheering for Doctor Doom - Julian McMahon does a pretty good job with that role. However, Ben Grimm proves to be a likeable character and - since there's a shot of Jessica Alba in her underwear - I'll give the film my unreserved recommendation.
Not So Fantastic
2008-08-08 - As franchises go, Fantastic Four is relatively unexplored territory. There are probably good reasons for this: one of the characters is a cigar-chomping piece of rock, three members of the team are related to each other, and one of character's claim to fame is his amazing intellect combined with...wait for it...the power of STRETCHING. Which was pretty funny in the 70s when it was portrayed in cartoons (I can still hear the "stretching" sound like a vacuum played backwards) and is a little creepy today.
Given that comics are the new hot property for movies, it was inevitable that the good 'ole FF have their own film. And thus we have Ioan Gruffud (a less charismatic Jeff Goldblum) as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, the delectable Jessica Alba as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, gruff Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm/The Thing, and Chris Evans as the wisecracking pretty boy Johnny Storm/The Human Torch. Our heroic crew assembles in privately funded mission into space to explore...cosmic space gas. Only something goes terribly awry and the mutagenic mist transforms the four astronauts into super powered freaks.
The inherent silliness of the plot and characters has been spoofed so many times that it's difficult for the actual Fantastic Four to keep up. We've all seen the family squabbles of the Incredibles. But perhaps the most caustic send-up is The Venture Bros., who deftly skewers the FF by casting Reed as an outdated 50s stereotype, Sue as a liberated housewife, and The Thing as a mentally deficient monster.
Perhaps FF can be forgiven for its lack of focus as it tries to walk the tightrope between being superhero silly and deadly serious. Reed's romance with Sue is in its early stages here, complicated by a rival, Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon)...
You! You in the back with the funny haircut! Stop laughing! That's the man's name, all right? It has nothing to do with his tendency for evil! Or fancy alliteration. Or that he happens to be a native of some country you've never heard of...that happens to send him a mask...that he just happens to wear...
Fine. Fine, yes, this is all a little ridiculous. But there's angst! Poor Grimm suffers as he struggles with his identity and his hot wife dumps him (while wearing a negligee in the middle of the street, of course). Will Reed propose to Sue, or will she stick with Doom? Will Johnny ever stop being such a card? Will Sue ever discover how to turn invisible without taking off her clothes? (!)
And so FF stumbles over itself in an attempt to be both true to the comic book's origins and cram in a plot that's really five stories into one film. Ben Grimm's angst as the unpleasant-looking Thing is diminished by a device that "cures" him. A device that didn't work without Doom's special powers, but mysteriously works in reverse without explanation. Alba is too sexy for the role; it's hard to believe the wooden Richards could romance her or that she'd find the stilted Von Doom any more attractive. And Richards' serious scientific efforts are undermined that he's basically a big inflatable balloon. In fact, much of the fight scenes in this movie involve members of the FF battling each other.
The special effects do a good job of displaying the heroes' powers, but The Thing simply looks like a guy in rubber foam. Chiklis is big, but he's not a huge man, and the film sometimes remember he's heavy and cumbersome (complete with thudding footfalls and exploding chairs) and then forgets when it's inconvenient (because a wooden bench can surely handle his massive weight, right?).
I think a lot of fans are just happy this film isn't the first attempt (that never saw the light of day but lives on in bootlegs). For my FF fix, I prefer the latest animated incarnation, which manages to be both hilarious and action-packed while poking fun at the utter ridiculousness of a super-science team consisting of a talking rock, a rubber band man, an invisible woman, and a real flamer.
