Les 4 Fantastiques

Watched again and it is awesome that the technique 17 years ago was not that bad. A marvel movie before marvel , and with Alba and young captain! The last fight with big boss was okay , and cannot ask for more.

Fantastic Four is one of the last superhero films, that I can recall, that wasn't insufferably bleak or incredibly serious to a point where any shred of humor was seen as obtuse to the film's narrative. Yes, Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is an indisputable breakthrough in superhero films, but it also made the seriousness of superhero films standard, something that would follow into the late 2000's and early 2010's as Marvel built up The Avengers. Fantastic Four reminds of the quirkiness superhero films were once predicated upon, and while it may get a bit too corny at times, and its focus can never really settle, it's also a very commercial film that satisfies on some level of entertainment when it gives every card in its deck a fair time to shine.

We open by looking at a physicist named Dr. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), who is convinced evolution was triggered millions of years ago by stray elements of cosmic energy in space, some of which will pass near Earth very soon. His pal, astronaut Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis), works by his side on this potentially revolutionary discovery by helping him convince their old classmate Dr. Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon), the CEO of Von Doom Industries, to allow both of them access to his private space station to further experiment with the effects of these cosmic energy particles. While Doom agrees, he winds up walking away with most of the profits that this experiment will bring, affirming Reed's desperation to make his project work.

Still, he persists on and brings his close friends Susan Storm (Jessica Alba) and her brother Johnny (Chris Evans) along for the ride. However, when a trip to outer space goes awry, exposure with the cosmic energy results in the four receiving deformities and enhanced human abilities that have never before been seen: Reed possesses the ability to stretch every limb of his body, Susan has the ability to disappear and reappear at her leisure, Johnny can have his body engulfed in flame simply by reciting the phrase "Flame on!," and Ben turns into a hideous, orange rock monster.

Following the four's mutations, writers Michael France and Mark Frost focus a great deal of their time on the agony that these mutations bring, particularly The Thing, who experiences his wife leaving him shortly after revealing his deformity. While this agony is a solid angle (one I'd argue necessary in most superhero films), too much of the time is spent profiling The Thing and not enough on the remaining characters of the film. Reed and Ben, who are ultimately the film's main focus, wind up monopolizing too much of the picture, and any time we see Johnny is when he's right in the middle of making a smug comment or being his typical, womanizing self.

The action in Fantastic Four has a colorful commercial look to it, brilliantly bold and very vibrant in a way that makes many of the scenes pop with life. It manages to achieve a comic book aesthetic without resorting to picture-in-picture editing. One particularly involving scene takes place on a suspension bridge, where The Thing is seen pummeling everything in his sight and the remaining three members of the team must resort to either relaxing him or protecting drivers and innocent bystanders.

The goofiness in Fantastic Four, however, in an age of dark superhero films that come with slick aesthetics and brooding characters, is a delightful change of pace. Yes, there is a point when one wishes director Tim Story, France, and Frost would command a tighter grip on the seriousness of the writing, but the pulpy fun of Fantastic Four, in addition to the effects and the neatly choreographed action, keep it a moving, satisfying spectacle that is more than just colors flying around on screen, trying to find their place.

Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, and Julian McMahon. Directed by: Tim Story.

Another unjustly bashed movie. Of course it is not masterpiece of cinematography, but it doesn't try to be. Solid adaptation of comic-book in manner typical for Marvel - expensive, huge, light and very entertaining. Plus, it has Jessica Alba in tight costume. She even gets completely naked several times, but unfortunately she plays role of Invisible Girl, so not much use of it.

7,5/10

As a reader of the comics, I was really excited to finally see a movie about my favourite characters. I've learned that a FF film was in "development hell" for some decades, so when it finally came out, obviously I rushed to the theater. And, I was not disappointed at all. Of course it's not as good as X-Men 2 or Spider-Man (the original, with Tobey Maguire), but it's good for what it aims to be: a sci-fi/action movie about comic book characters. You have to understand that the Fantastic Four are not as popular as other heroes, like Iron Man i.e., besides, their stories always covered the most strange, bizarre, far out things imaginable. And, because they are a family, there are many corny moments in the movie, but the comics too have those moments, then you just have to "let it go", to really enjoy the story. Overall, it's a very decent movie about very decent people. Relax, and enjoy the ride!

It's a nice movie I suppose. Seen through a younger viewers eyes this movie appears to be more awesome,and has good special effects for its time. Seen through an adults eyes this movie was just average, Jessica Alba however was not average, seeing her in tights makes this movie very watchable.... I do think movies like this are fine, not all superhero films have to be overly serious,well acted and violent. The audience for movies like Fantastic 4 are out there.The characters personalities stay true to the comic book and thats very important.I've seen this movie 3 times and I'm not a fan of seeing movies more than once usually.Fun silly movies will do this to me.