Movie Review: Fantastic Four [2005]

Fantastic Four [2005]

I thought it would be a nice little break to look at some older superhero movies, and one of them is 2005's Fantastic Four, which tended to not be viewed in a good light... that is, until you compare it to the disastrous and unanimously horrid 2015 reboot.

Now, to be fair, the 2005 movie does have its share of problems, with the biggest problem being that it comes out at a time when standalone superhero movies that aren't already part of an established film series (Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men, to some extent Superman) have some trouble getting off the ground. And Fantastic Four sort of compounds this problem by having a rather extended origin story, albeit one that doesn't quite flunk quite as badly as the 2015 reboot. It's a reasonably energetic movie with a very simple storyline that means to introduce these characters and how they interact, with honestly not a lot in lieu of making them feel unique or different in a good way. In some ways, Fantastic Four's biggest problem is that it's kind of... generic.

Perhaps one of the bigger changes is the origin of Dr. Doom, where they drop a lot of the more occult aspects of the character and have him gain vague metallic and electric powers from the same cosmic storm that transformed the Fantastic Four. And instead of his comic book background, Doom is turned into a generic 'evil' businessman slash rival who's also in love with Susan Storm. And while that love rivalry is a thing from the comics, the way that Reed and Doom pursue Sue feel insanely bland and lifeless, and I don't think that I ever buy that Sue and Reed ever have any sort of chemistry beyond the two of them insisting via spoken dialogue that they like each other a lot. Ioan Gruffudd (Reed Richards), Jessica Alba (Sue Storm) and Julian McMahon (Doom) try their best to work with a relatively weak script and a generic storyline, and while the very basics of the characters are in there -- Doom is possessive and prideful and Reed is smart but loyal to his friends... it's not quite exciting enough to appeal, I guess.

Johnny Storm (a pre-Captain America Chris Evans) is a one-dimensional douche, although he does interact with what is inarguably the best character in the movie, Michael Chiklis's Ben Grimm/The Thing. The Thing gets the best story arc that made this movie elevated slightly from "generic and bland" to "some good stuff is in here", I believe, with the writing of his attempt to deal with being transformed into a rock monster and having the world -- even his girlfriend -- dump him, and having a good chunk of the climax deciding on whether he would rather sacrifice his chance to become human again or to save Reed... it's a shame that the interaction of Doom and the Fantastic Four is muddied and the transformation from "frenemy that we do business with" into "evil megalomaniac draining cosmic powers and shit" isn't particularly smooth.

The movie isn't particularly deep, and is honestly cartoonish at most points (and, yes, to be fair, the Fantastic Four tended to be more cartoony than, say, the X-Men) but while there are perhaps a fair amount of mishandling of the characters, I think this movie at least keeps the spirit and the 'fun' of these characters alive in the way that the 2015 movie completely fucks over. It's a simple movie, but it's a fun one that harkens back to a far more innocent and childlike time. And unlike Fox's other attempts at F4 movies, this one is definitely watchable.