Fantastic Four (review)

DIRECTOR: Tim Story
STARRING: Iona Gruffudd, Michael Chiklis, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Julian McMahon
GENRE: Marvel/Action
RATING: M
RUNNING TIME: 105 minutes

Five scientists head into space to study a cosmic energy cloud which they believe will provide answers to understanding human DNA. The cloud appears before predicted and they are unable to shield themselves from it. Exposure to the cloud alters their DNA and gives them powers.

Interestingly, Fantastic Four takes a different approach to the superhero genre in that the main story line involves characters shying away from using their powers and attempting to find a cure to return them to normal. In this regards it is interesting to see how each character has a different reaction to learning of their power, from the scientific approach of Dr. Reed Richards (Iona Gruffudd) and Susan Storm (Jessica Alba), to the embracing and showcasing of Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) to the self-hatred of Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) and the descent into villainy of Dr. Victor von Doom (who would've guessed with a name like that eh?).

The Fantastic Four has all the elements of a classic superhero film - heroes, villains, plenty of action, romance, enemies, costumes - yet it fails to hit the mark. The story is predictable and the script is clunky, bouncing back and forth between emotional scenes, action sequences and middle-ground bickering with no smooth connections.

A wonderful superhero score by John Ottman is unfortunately brought down by some seriously out of place song choices. For a movie made in 2005 they play like something out of a cheesy 90s rom-com.

Fantastic Four is enjoyable if you let it be, but if you don't, it's flat for a superhero film. It works best in its humorous moments but Fantastic Four pales in comparison to the more recent Marvel outputs.

There is a reboot scheduled to be released 2015. Hopefully this will be a successful redo now that film companies are putting more efforts into superhero stories due the success of The Avengers and related movies.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Until next time.

Reviews of other Marvel films:
Iron Man 3
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Thor: The Dark World 
X-Men: Days of Future Past