Not really that fantastic
Another one of Marvel Comics’ inventions being translated to the silver screen. This time it’s about four astronauts endowed with unusual abilities after being exposed to “cosmic rays,” whose nemesis is a villaneous nutjob named Dr Doom. The superhero twist here (not a spoiler) is that there are no secret identities – everybody knows who they are.
The Fantastic Four was notably Marvel’s launching pad to comic-dom fame when it debuted in 1961. It looks like a compact, sillier version of the X-men, with characters that resemble Professor X, Jean Grey, Wolverine and Jubilee. Dr Doom is way too much like Magneto in the movie. Before the movie, I didn’t know what Dr Doom’s powers were from the comic books, but he seems awfully similar to “Iron Man” (flawed man in multi-purpose metal suit).
Although not a great movie, it’s saving grace is the lightheartedness of its source material. The timing couldn’t be better, as I’m sure most of you are already tired of all the brooding that’s been going on in comic book films like Batman Begins and Spider-man. Ironically (or in this case, ‘rock-ily’, ha-ha… err… umm… bad joke), Michael Chiklis’ The Thing is probably the best thing about the movie… all brooding and somber. It makes him look like a far rounded character than the other archetypal characters. Jessica Alba (Invisible Girl) is at a point where her sexy good looks are threatening to overshadow her acting abilities (which she definitely possesses… see TV series Dark Angel for proof), but I enjoyed the view nevertheless. Ioan Gruffuld’s role as Mr Fantastic is a thankless role, having to play a nice guy science geek. His character’s no Wolverine, but compensates by being more adorable.
Not looking forward to the fact that six months down the road, I’ll start hating this movie for its silly story, bad pacing, mediocre action and lousy CGI. Also, they managed to make Chris Evan’s Human Torch funny and obnoxious at the same time that I can’t decide if I like or hate him. - BMF |
