Fantastic Four (2005)

The Fantastic Four is one of the few comics I can remember, although I would be pressed to remember any stories from it.  Like a lot of kids it was Ben Grimm, aka the Thing, that originally caught my eye.  There is nothing like an orange rock monster punching the lights out of the bad guys.  Reed Richards wasn't bad either as being able to stretch wouldn't be a horrible superpower, but I will always be on the side of clobberin' time. 

The problem is cinema hasn't been so kind.  Roger Corman produced a low-budget version in the 1990s that, despite the rumors, was intended for release as that was part of the deal to keep the rights to the franchise.  It just wasn't a wide release and no one wanted to see it as there was no way even a big-budget version would have been able to pull off the special effects at the time.  With CGI, and with the rights going to 20th Century Fox, there was some hope that a proper Fantastic Four film could finally be made.  The 2005 movie went about dashing those hopes spectacularly. 

Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) is a renowned, but bankrupt, scientist.  Along with his friend Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) he approaches his old school friend, billionaire Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) with a proposal.  A particular radioactive cloud is approaching Earth and, using Von Doom's space station, Reed hopes to study it safely behind the station's shields.  Reed finds that his ex-girlfriend Susan Storm (Jessica Alba) is now working for, and is romantically involved with, Von Doom, and will be joining them on the mission.  Piloting the flight to the station is Susan's brother Johnny (Chris Evans), a reckless playboy that used to be under Grimm's command.

While getting comfortable aboard the station the cloud arrives sooner than expected.  Everyone considers the experiment a failure but, once back on Earth Reed, Susan, Ben and Johnny start experiencing strange changes.  Reed is able to stretch any part of his body, Susan can turn invisible and bend light to her will, Johnny can become and control fire and Ben, to his chagrin, becomes a giant rock monster.  This upends his life and Reed decides to find a way to reverse the changes.  Von Doom, who finds himself becoming organic metal, encourages a divide in the group when they start becoming famous, as he wishes to be the only one with powers and hopes to use them for his own needs.

I do have some praise for this movie, and most of it goes to Michael Chiklis.  I was excited to see him as Grimm when I first saw Fantastic Four, as he kind of looks like the character.  I also wanted to see him outside of The Shield, the police drama that had made him popular at the time.  I was not disappointed as he brings emotion to the role that one would never expect from a superhero film.  It helps that instead of CGI he was placed in a latex suit that, although uncomfortable for Chiklis, made him a real character rather than a sophisticated cartoon.

The portrayal of Victor Von Doom by Julian McMahon is another high point.  His selfishness and arrogance are in evidence from the beginning, and we get to see him grow into his villain role.  There is no redeeming side to him, but not all complicated villains need that.  Some just need to be bad, and that is what we get here.  The story could have given a little more background of how he got where he was, and his connection with his native country of Latveria, but that was probably planned for a sequel.  Ioan Gruffudd is fine as Richards but, beyond stretching and being smart, he was never a well-developed character anyway. 

The huge problems are Jessica Alba and Chris Evans.  Alba was not bad in Dark Angel, and when put in bit roles she is fine.  Susan Storm was too much for her as she doesn't have a whole lot of range.  It doesn't help that in every shot she is smooth and shiny, like the photoshopped models in Cosmopolitan and other fashion magazines at the time.  Even worse the character is treated as eye candy, finding reasons for her to get naked twice while invisible.  Nothing is shown, of course, but it is an excuse for her to materialize in her underwear.  Even worse, though, is Chris Evans.  He has come a long way since this film, but Johnny Storm is a character that needs some clobbering.

The other major problem is despite good performances the story itself is slight and shallow.  It is an origin story so one expects the usual growing pains and, in this case, conflict between the members of the Fantastic Four.  Problem is none of the actors work well together.  Neither the comradery nor the conflict feels real.  It feels scripted and forced and Grimm, who at the beginning is presented as being quite bright, changes to someone who is easily led by Von Doom as the story goes along.  It's like the writers forgot who and what the character was just to put in some cheap drama.  There is no complicated plot, just an introduction to our heroes and their biggest villain, but it didn't need to feel so hollow.

Then there are the effects.  The worst are the stretching effects on Reed, looking almost as bad as a Corman movie that spent an extra couple thousand to have some intern in the '90s whip up something on an Amiga.  Reed's ability is a key part of the Fantastic Four and the effects crew fail miserably, and not just because of the movie being almost 20 years old.  It was terrible for 2005.  I can't imagine how it could have been better with practical effects but can't imagine it being much worse.  Susan's powers aren't rendered badly, Johnny is just fire, but Reed and Grimm is what everyone came to see, and the latter worked because it was a suit. 

I don't find Fantastic Four to be the horrible movie a lot of people did and still do.  It does have redeeming qualities and, honestly, is better than some of the recent Marvel output.  It is another example of how it took a while for the big studios to understand what made movies like X-Men and Spider-Man work.  It was never just about the effects but rather about getting the characters and the universe right, even if it wasn't beat for beat from the comics, and building a story that was interesting even for those who knew the origins of the characters by heart.  This is something Fantastic Four fails to do despite all the good it had going for it. 

Fantastic Four (2005)

Time: 106 minutes

Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Michael Chiklis, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Julian McMahon

Director: Tim Story