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Fantastic Four (Single Disc Edition) [2005]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Fantastic Four is a light-hearted and funny take on Marvel Comics' first family of superherodom. It begins when down-on-his-luck genius Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) has to enlist the financial and intellectual help of former schoolmate and rival Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) in order to pursue outer-space research involving human DNA. Also on the trip are Reed's best friend, Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis); his former lover, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba), who's now Doom's employee and love interest; and her hotshot-pilot brother, Johnny Storm (Chris Evans). 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. Characterisation 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 co-creator 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, Amazon.com


It's Clobbering Time !
Review date: 2008-09-04 Rating: 6 out of 10

"Fantastic Four" hit the big screens in 2005, and is based on the Marvel comic book.

Reed Richards is, quite possibly, the most gifted scientist to ever have graduated from MIT. Currently researching the human genome, he believes the evolutionary process on Earth may have been triggered a cosmic storm. Luckily, precisely the type of cloud Richards has factored into his work will soon pass close to Earth's orbit. However, to continue his work, he needs help - specifically financial aid and a trip into space. Together with his sidekick, astronaut Ben Grimm, Richards pays a visit to Dr. Victor von Doom - not only an ex-classmate, but also a well-heeled native of Latveria. Where Richards is struggling financially, things are going a little better for von Doom - he is now the head of his own business and has his own very well-shielded space station.

Von Doom agrees to fund the experiment and grants the pair access to the space station - however, the deal is not without its conditions. Victor will take the lion's share of any future profits and his Director of Genetic Research, Susan Storm will also be brought on-board. (Ms. Storm also happens to be Reed's ex-girlfriend, though exactly what she ever saw in him is never made clear). Ben had hoped to pilot the shuttle to the space station. Unfortunately, Sue's brother, Johnny, is the company's resident pilot and will be commanding the flight. (Johnny is something of a loose cannon who was thrown out of NASA).

The five travel to the space station together - only to be caught out by the cosmic storm, which arrives ahead of schedule. Ben takes the biggest hit the storm can offer, having been on a spacewalk at the time. Reed, Susan and Johnny were inside, though they had been trying to rescue Ben and weren't protected by the station's strongest shielding. Victor, like a true villain, made sure that he was in the safest part of the station. All five survive - though Reed seems to have been right about the storm's effect on the evolutionary process. Everyone on-board develops new abilities - Reed becomes able to bend and stretch like rubber, Susan can become invisible while Johnny can become a human of living fire, rather than flesh and blood. However, all three can switch their powers on and off and there's no change to their outward appearance. Ben, on the other hand, can't : he has evolved into a creature made of rock. Despite the superhuman strength, it's not something he's terribly pleased about. (Neither is his fiancée - who doesn't take long in returning the ring). However, there are bigger problems ahead - specifically Doom and his newly acquired powers.

I found the movie pretty ordinary overall - there wasn't much of a storyline beyond 'this is how we got our powers'. (The point of the film, I'm guessing, was solely to set things up for the planned sequels). I can't say I was too fond of either Reed (limp, dreary and let's face it : he has the world's worst super-power) or Johnny (irritating brat). If it had been the Fantastic Two, I'd have been cheering for Doctor Doom - Julian McMahon does a pretty good job with that role. However, Ben Grimm proves to be a likeable character and - since there's a shot of Jessica Alba in her underwear - I'll give the film my unreserved recommendation.

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Reviews


Dissapointing Four
Review date: 2008-03-21 Rating: 4 out of 10

I watched this film with high hopes of it being exciting, action-filled, and making good use of CGI with the effects. What's more, I expected it to be a good family film (even though it was just me on this occasion).

I was wrong. This film is medicore, and their are too many flaws to highlight this as being a no-goer if you're looking for good family entertainment. For starters, the film takes too long to get into the main plot upon we realise that the main characters have indeed, had their genetic codes disfigured. The build up to this would only bore even the maturest of teens (It is released as a 12 afterall...) as it covers how a group of 5 astronauts go up into space to test out a fancy shield for a Space Station. Predictably, it all goes pear-shaped to say the least, and the crew end up being exposed to a mysterious wave of radiation. Cue CGI effects to take over.

If the journey to actually getting to this point hasn't puzzled you enough, then the rest of the film is merely an attempt to put right what's wrong... can they find a cure for their problems? (as they modestly call them, despite saving peoples lives...)

What I did find frustrating was that no time-scale was set at the beginning, or throughout the film. As per-sae, silly CGI effects and futuristic looking sets are chucked in constantly, leaving you wondering whether it's 2005 or 2105. This also goes for the space scene at the start, in which they attempt to dock a simple lame CGI modelled space-station in a futuristic space shuttle. I just don't get it, and I don't think many other people would.

What's even more puzzling is what the target audience is supposed to be. How can it be that the supposed 'Fantastic Four' are also perfect human specimens when it comes to physiques, considering their supposed to be just your average Joes? Our young man and woman who respectively play the Fire and Invisible roles are constantly showing off their bodies in front of the camera wherever possible, and then making lame jokes like;

"Oh my God, you're getting hotter!"
"Why thank-you, and so are you".. to which he realises he's on fire and thinks it's "far out". Not to mention he's tested later in a lab, burning over 2000 degrees, and at the end he comes out with too many un-realistic one-liners to make the film believable. Whereas the average person would at-least be a little 'suprised' (to say the least) he can only come with 'cool' 'far out' 'awesome' 'Boy I'm hot today!. Hmmmm

I don't want you thinking I'm some old fart. I'm 18 and can enjoy any film as much as the next person, and absolutely loved the likes of "X-Men" and "Spiderman" (both which I totally recommend!!). Fantastic Four however fails to live up to these attempts by having such a thin plot, and skipping on the brilliant directing that made Spiderman and X-Men come to life.

This however, is nothing more than an attempt to show off more fancy CGI effects in the quickest possible way for the summer holidays. If I wanted to know that you can seamlessly merge CGI with human actors, I'd watch the liquid metal T-1000 in Terminator 2.

Don't be fooled by it's fancy packaging; it's an average attempt.

The Average Four
Review date: 2008-03-20 Rating: 6 out of 10


This is a turn-off-your-brain-and-watch-the-visuals film, the sort that Hollywood excels at. And for that reason it was never going to be a classic. For those reasons you forgive the dodgy science, and accept the threadbare plot which seems as though it was borrowed from a 30 minute kids cartoon.


All the characters are more beautiful than real life so there's no chance of relating to any of the characters in any major way - unless you happen to live on an island with a population made up entirely of gorgeous models and six-pack hunks (with access to grooming products and skin tight suits), oh yeah, and a man made from rock! There was always going to be a need to get the 'uniform' into the film, and this is managed with the convenient coincidence that as the material was exposed to the radiation, it will withstand all the torture of being worn by a Fantastic 4 member.

The film has some good scenes, some funny moments and it's recognition of how media obsessed today's world was tackled well. It tried to explore the deeper aspects of having the 'gift' of a 'super power', but it never really delved deep enough and preferred to go for slick action. I quite enjoyed it but won't be watching it again. In my mind it falls on the good side of average.

They even included the unstable molecules ....
Review date: 2008-03-09 Rating: 8 out of 10

If you are like me, somebody who read the Fantastic Four (FF) comics in your youth, then you'd come to a film with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. I found the FF the most human and engaging of the Stan Lee characters, precisely because of the unstable personal dynamics of the personalities. It really was an American family ideal, they even had children, relatives, nannies and Aunt Petunias. They grew up and had history. It was, to be honest, a novelist's achievement that Stan Lee accomplished via comic strip while simultaneously shaking up that entire world.

So, would a film capture the nuances, the personality and of course, the extraordinary powers with which Lee invested these pivotal characters? In a word, yes. In two words, yes nearly. Its a damned good attempt to lift the comic into celluloid, and works as a fabulous parable for many of the early FF stories, as it weaves elements of several together of necessity. (Spiderman does the same with that series.)

The film has levity, pathos and drama in equal measure. The casting is spot on, a crucial factor with this diverse quartet; if anything, the Torch surpasses Lee's characterisation. Its also fun, just like the comic. If you prefer your films serious and hard boiled or cutting edge with philosophical similies, this ain't it.

There is a very clever adaptation of the Reed Richard/ Victor Von Doom relationship that works well even though it is the most significant deviation from the origin. Tne 'love triangle' (if that does not overstate it) with Sue may be Hollywood but it works and its under control. The Thing (Ben) retains his classic 'tragic monster' status and the welded-on character of his fiancee, Debbie, is more of a symbol of his loss on being transformed and her role is sensibly truncated. Ben's fiery yet clownish relationship with Johnny (the Torch) is also very well captured. He has some great lines..."Susie, look at me, you've no idea what I'd give to be invisible..." I suppose the new ground the film cuts is with the far more intimate portrayal of Reed and Sue's relationship, which was never so well mined in the comics.

Doom only latterly becomes inhuman enough to meet Lee's portrait, but he gets there. And with more intellectual coherence than Lee provided for. There are occlusions in the plot or the editing or the direction. Doom's Latvian origins arn't really explained or credible, for example. But these do not detract. They may be spotted by we purists.

It's a really good realisation of the comic. The personalities and dynamics work. So does the plot, albeit not extensive, and the effects are only now really capable of recognising the weird powers and look of the characters. Stretching your limbs and being made from an orange rock epidermis could have looked naff. It doesn't. You can accept the effects and the adventure is well paced.

In short, its fun film. They pulled it off. But fun is where it stops. For great art, go see something else!


Fun to watch
Review date: 2008-03-02 Rating: 10 out of 10

So I give my rating on the basis of expecting a fun film - nothing too heavy, a bit of action and to come away from it feeling good - if I want serious there's plenty of other stuff I go for :-)

Watched it twice in the last few days - if you're looking for a bargain, go find the Marvel Heroes box set that includes this film plus X-Men 1-3, Daredevil and Electra.

Overall much better than I had expected given reviews and general reaction to it's original cinema release. The special effects were good, it moved at a good pace.

And if you want serious and heavy, look elsewhere.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Ioan Gruffudd
G. Michael Gray
Aonika Laurent
Laurie Holden
Gina Holden

Creators:
Ioan Gruffudd (Primary Contributor)
G. Michael Gray (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
EAN: 5039036023252
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2005-12-02
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 101 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2005
Language: English (Original Language)

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