Throwback Thursday Review: 'Fantastic Four' (2005)

Given this week's release being the Fantastic Four I thought it would be good timing to review the previous Fantastic Four to draw comparisons. I'll admit I like this film more than most critics because I grew up with it and have nostalgia for the film but it's fun to go back as a matured viewer and see the change in perception of the film.

'Fantastic Four' Review

I have a very mixed perception of this film. There are aspects that I love and others I'm not particularly a fan of. The strengths are certainly the visual effects, action, performances, and humor that make this a lighthearted superhero team origin story. The visual effects look pretty great for most of the film but look really fake in a few instances with Reed Richard's stretching effect, which look either spot on or really cheap. There isn't too much action till the third act but there is a great sequence where the Fantastic Four first work together to save a firetruck on a bridge with some great visual effects in regards to Johnny as the Human Torch and Sue as the Invisible Woman. The action in the third act however is brief and somewhat anticlimactic. I think I am one of the few that like the makeup effects used for the Thing as it's actually accurate to the comic books and doesn't look terrible. Each of the cast members are very entertaining in their various roles. The standouts in my opinion was the team itself. Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis each perfectly embody their characters for this performance.  Chris Evans is particularly great at nailing the hothead attitude of Johnny Storm as well as the one liners. It's interesting to compare how drastically different the attitude of this character is as compared to Captain America who he currently portrays in the MCU. Gruffudd really captures the genius mind of Reed Richards and even resembles the character quite a bit. Jessica Alba is enjoyable but doesn't particularly stand out or bring anything refreshing to the film. Chiklis really does a great job humanizing Ben Grimm once he becomes the Thing despite the makeup restricting his ability to emote and act using his face. Each of the actors all have great chemistry with one another. Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm both have a great relationship that seems like it was pulled straight from the comics and make a believable "family team". The film's villain who is played by Julian McMahon, actually manages to be a menacing presence with believable motivation so I'd consider him better than some of the villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe home mostly lack motivation. There is quite a bit of humor in this lighthearted adaptation that even shows the heroes using their powers to help them in everyday tasks as one gag, Johnny constantly pranking Ben can be humorous at time, and there are many one liners. A weakness of this film is the story as there isn't much depth and substance that can be fond in more recent comic book movie adaptations. I feel the opening of the film is awkward because it inserts the characters straight into the story without providing the necessary backstory but once the characters are introduced the awkward opening is slightly resolved. I'm glad the film opens into the team's origin so as to prevent the awkward extended period of time where there is little action. It seems a little ridiculous that the team encounter the space cloud that grants them their abilities only 15 minutes into the film. So aside from a weak plot and story I do consider this to be an entertaining film that faithfully adapts the source material for the most part. It's not a great superhero origin story, but it's a decent one nonetheless.

Film Assessment: C+