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

DVD features
The principal extra on the DVD is a spirited commentary track by Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, and Ioan Gruffudd. Self-avowed FF fan Chiklis explains why the Thing doesn't have a craggy brow, Alba recalls which things were "cool," and they all talk about looking forward to the sequel. There are three short deleted scenes (including a goofy Wolverine reference), 20 minutes of barely watchable hand-held video footage from the press tour, music videos, and some short featurettes including an appearance by FF creator Stan Lee. --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

Jessica Alba as Sue Storm	Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm
Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards	Chris Evans as Johnny Storm

Stills from Fantastic Four (click for larger images)

Comic-Book-To-Film Goes Fantastic

There are serious SF films then there are entertaining SF films and, as of late, the film industry has seen fit to adapt several comic book SF characters onto the silver screen. Whether or not these are serious or entertaining is often left up to the viewer's discretion. Some have been great (Spiderman) and some not-so-great (Catwoman). Then we have this movie, the FANTASTIC FOUR.

Debuting in 1961 (Marvel Comics), the Fantastic Four hit on new ground: a dysfunctional family of sorts who fight amongst themselves as much as they do against the forces of evil. Unable to decide on costumes, they really had none for several episodes. All of them gained their superpowers from exposure to cosmic rays while visiting a space-station.

Jump to 2005 and we get the entire dysfunctional dynamic rolled into a 105 minute film; not an easy task. But director Tim Story does an admirable job with writers Mark Frost and Michael France's screenplay. The space-station, the problems with costumes, the infighting, it's all there (thus my postive rating).

The beautiful Jessica Alba stars as the sexy, kick-a$$ Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman. Her powers include the ability to manipulate matter and light. Chris Evans (whom I'd personally give top billing) brings to life the role of Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, Sue's immature younger brother who can spark up any room with his powers and his wit. And Mr. Evans instills some much needed comedy into the flick by playing pranks on the other three as well as having some great dialogue. Ioan Gruffudd bends the silver screen as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, the flexible rubberman who is the defacto leader of the Fantastic Four (and who's also in love with Sue Storm). Then we have Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) who's increased mass and stone-like structure have given him incredible strength ...and some problems at home. He's uneffectually called The Thing and his wife leaves him posthaste when she discovers his altered physical structure.

The great thing about the film is that it really looks at the issues surrounding being a newly developed superhero and how people might respond to such a thing. For one thing, when Ben Grimm's wife leaves him, she pulls off her wedding ring and Ben/The Thing tries to pick it up but can't because of his bulky hands. It's actually a fairly touching scene and we can feel Ben's frustration. Also there's the lost love between Sue Storm and Reed Richards which is always in the background and causes flare-ups and fights constantly. Then there's Johnny Storm's discovery of his flaming superpowers and his difficulty in controlling them (or lack of wanting to control them). He's a cocky upstart who brings an entirely new dynamic to the group ...which is why I'd give him top billing.

The film's faults are easily seen as we're rushed through certain aspects (how they plan to get back to normal using a machine created by Richard) and several convenient plot twists (not uncommon, though, for comic books).

This is a fun film. It's not at the level of Spiderman, but it's way, way above Catwoman.

Awesome Movie

I think this is the coolest movie in a long time. Good special effects and just plain fun.

Fantastic Four Is Here To Stay

I think the movie was good but not great. The acting was good and the special effects where also okay. The plot was kinda bad but it was funny and some of the action was really cool like the final battle with Victor. I liked it and I?m glad I bought it. I hope that Fantastic Four 2 comes soon.