Movie reviews: The Fantastic Four

Definitely not one of the best comic book adaptations to end up on film, Fantastic Four still has heart and quite a bit of entertainment value. The character designs are certainly intriguing and the chemistry between the four lead characters couldn’t be more perfect. Utilizing state-of-the-art animation and CG effects, Fantastic Four only falls short due to its comical plot and the incessant amount of cheesy one-liners and back-and-forth quips.

Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) begs his longtime rival and acquaintance Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) to fund a trip to a nearby space station to study a rapidly approaching cosmic storm. Joined by his good friend and colleague Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) as well as ex-girlfriend Sue Storm (Jessica Alba) and her wisecracking brother Johnny (Chris Evans), the fivesome venture out into space. When the shield on the space station fails to protect them from out-of-control and miscalculated cosmic radiation, they are brought back to Earth with some shocking aftereffects. Susan has gained the ability to simulate invisibility and to render force fields; Johnny can light himself on fire, transforming into a human torch; Rex can stretch any part of his body, essentially becoming a rubber man; and Ben turns into a rock solid hulking orange monstrosity. When Doom becomes infuriated at his company’s financial failure due to the space mission disaster, he uses his own newfound power (being able to manipulate metal and electricity), to take revenge on the remaining Fantastic Four.

The setup for the film is surprisingly quick: they are up in space and then testing out their newfound powers within the first 20 minutes. This actually helps the pace of the film and doesn’t detract from the story. Despite the complex character designs and development, we instantly associate and understand their gratitude and contempt at their remarkable circumstances. Like a Grimm’s fairy tale, or The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, each character has a special ability and they work as a team to overcome every conflict, each taking part in a specific action that demonstrates their powers. An early action sequence on a bridge with a semi truck and fire engine is specifically designed to showcase their uncanny powers and the stunning special effects that surround them.

Ioan Gruffudd plays a surprisingly decent Mr. Fantastic, and Jessica Alba brings enough chemistry and head-turning good looks to keep audiences fixed to their seats. Chris Evans’