MOVIE (1994) MOVIE (2005) MOVIE (2007) COMIC MINI SERIES SINGLE EDITIONS CARTOON #1 CARTOON #2 CARTOON #3 CARTOON #4 CARTOON #5 RESERVOIR DOGS	The Fantastic Four Year: 2005 Main Cast: Ioan Gruffudd (Reed Richards), Chris Evans (Johnny Storm), Jessica Alba (Susan Storm), Michael Chiklis (Ben Grimm) and Julian McMahon (Dr. Doom) Writers: Michael France and Mark Frost Director: Tim Story Company: 20th Century Fox Duration: 106m Rating: Availability: Amazon Images: 2005 Movie Image Page With a lukewarm critical reception and only a so-so box office (at date of writing it's just edging past the $300 million mark, which sounds a lot but isn’t so mind-blowing considering the film cost $100 just to make) The Fantastic Four hasn’t really grabbed the public in the same way that the two Spider-Man or two X-Men films did, or even Batman Begins. The latter, in fact, was trouncing it to the tune of over $100 million in the same market, perhaps indicating that the public have now fully embraced the idea of “dark” superheroes. Yet not being able to avoid every spoiler and kind of knowing what to expect anyway, I found myself enjoying it a great deal. It’s not an intense film that attempts great meaning (so at least we’re spared dreadful monologues from Aunt May) but then what would a Fantastic Four movie be anyway? The Stan and Jack issues were cosmic, Roy Thomas’s had humanity and John Byrne’s were “worthy”. But the exploits of Marvel’s least cool comic book were bound to attract some ire in this age of “serious” superhero movies. Having said that, it does feature Sue getting nose bleeds when she uses her powers and Doom blowing a hole through a man's body, so the "candyfloss" tag isn't fully deserved... It has its faults, that can’t be denied. Parts of the beginning of the film look as if they’re edited by Stevie Wonder and a rusty hacksaw. The men wear more make-up than the women and the background extras overact so much it’s as if they want to get double pay. Then there’s the CGI and back projection, which are often the sort of thing you’d have to watch with a “charitable” eye. Worse, the soundtrack is vapid MOR white rock, there to ram home the incongruous CD tie-in, and the humour is often so crass and overstated it’s practically got jam on top while a huge sign lights up saying “laugh here”. There’s also the ending… or lack of it. With a comparatively meagre budget, this is another “leave it till the sequel” instalment that feels short of at least ten or fifteen minutes as the money can’t stretch (no pun intended) to what it requires. Yet it’s enough. The characters have been cosmetically altered here and there in order to fit the remit of the “first movie”. One of the most obvious is the complete character make-over of Doctor Doom, now a spoilt-brat businessman with metal for skin who gets his powers at the same time as the FF. Hey, I can live with that. Two origin stories would be messy, and now we’re up and running the second movie (the cast are contracted for three) can take care of the villains properly. If Doctor Doom is the weak link in the first, then if the rumours of Spider-Man 3’s foe are to be believed The Sandman could cross over and join his three buddies for a Frightful Four get together. So… the four themselves. Actually, I really took to them. The rapport isn’t so bad for a debut, and while Jessica Alba’s cleavage may command more attention than her acting does, Ioan Gruffudd (two Welsh-American superheroes in one year? What are the chances of that?) is a likeably goofy Reed. Chris Evans as Johnny is the one who doesn’t have to have a single hair on his head dyed, as opposed to Alba’s cosmetic enhancement to force her to fit Hollywood’s Persil Policy. He’s the brash, smart-arsed, shallow, wise-cracking one. If that seems too “Studio Formula” then it’s worth remembering… that is what Johnny is like. Evans is arguably the best cast, with Michael Chiklis running him extremely close as the poignant Ben Grimm. I’ll make a confession… there were a number of occasions in this film where I squirted a few like a girl. Chiklis‘s noble Thing, particularly when being given his ring back, touched me, and made this far more than the “wacky summer popcorn flick” it’s being touted as in the papers. Add to this a cameo by Stan Lee (he claims to have improvised his role as Willie Lumpkin – a role he embodies perfectly – yet is only on screen for seconds. Will this be a deleted scene for the DVD?) and it’s frothy, fun, superficial entertainment. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I’ve probably given it a star more than it deserves. Watched as THE Fantastic Four film, this will almost certainly disappoint. But watched as A Fantastic Four film… it’s really pretty good. Postscript: Despite references to the movie underperforming at the box office in the review, since it was written the picture went on to gross around $330 million worldwide, which, while not a big-hitter like the Spider-Man movies, saw it earn significantly more than the first X-Men movie, and catch up to within $25 mil of the takings of Batman Begins, proving to be somewhat of a tortoise to that more critically-favoured film’s hare. Oh, and yes, the rumours about the Sandman appearing in Spider-Man 3 were, as we know by now, correct... The DVD: As the DVD has been released in so many different formats and so many different packagings around the world, it’s probably best that I just cover the version released in my home territory: the two-disc set for the UK. Accompanying the film is an entertaining 97 minute “making of” documentary on the second disc, as well as Gruffudd, Alba and Chiklis taking part in a cheery if inessential commentary. Rather a shame that Evans or McMahon couldn’t take part, but as it stands it’s a pleasant enough listen. Also among the extras is 4’54m of test computer animation footage, which lets you toggle between the animation and the completed movie. The rest of the features spread across the two discs are of varied interest and relevance: there’s a “Deleted Scenes” feature, which includes just four unused scenes/extended takes (3’30m), which disappoints when we know there was so much more that went unused, such as Stan’s lengthy cameo. There are also the sort of MTV-filler type promos that take up space on the second disc: Making Of (5’08m), Making A Scene (an interesting 8m look at the Brooklyn Bridge sequence), The Baxter Building: Declassified (6’49m), Casting Session (8m) and five theatrical trailers (4’36m). Add to this three music videos and a plug for forthcoming Fox products and X-Men III and that’s the lot. Ideally they could really have just put the making and the commentary on a single disc (would they have fitted though?) and had done with it, but the other features are nice to have, even if they’re the sort of thing you’d only look at once.