I watched Fantastic Four sometime mid last week but it's taken me so long to write a review because frankly speaking, I don't see what good it would do for anyone or even myself for that matter. Does ANYONE actually read this stuff?? Furthermore, it's been almost a fortnight since the film opened in the cinemas here and ergo, it can be considered to be a "stale" movie. Nevertheless, I DO have something to say about it and will proceed to do just that regardless whether my words fall upon deaf ears, a non-existing audience or otherwise... :pWhere comic-book based films are concerned, I think there are three categories of movie-goers, namely;
1) Those who are (or used to be) comic book lovers, who will die, die go and watch.
2) Those who are indifferent to comic books but still watch the film for the sake of watching the special effects (or just for the sake of watching itself).
3) Those who are indifferent and choose to remain indifferent no matter how big the hype is. This group of people will probably steer clear of such films.
Since I belong to the first category (I used to follow the animated series on television in the 1990s and owned a few of the comic books), I knew that I just have to watch Fantastic Four. Die, die must watch lor. The film's CGI sequences and special effects, thankfully, did not disappoint but I wasn't wholly satisfied either due to several factors --
a) Jessica Alba is dreadfully miscast as Sue Storm. Firstly, she isn't a natural blonde and her dyed hair did not go down well with her gorgeous, honey-hued skin (there are LOADS of better and blonde actresses out there. Why HER???). Secondly, since Sue is supposed to be the elder sister of Chris Evans' character (the Human Torch), I think an older or a more matured-looking actress would have been more appropriate. Moreover, the nubile and curvy Jessica Alba as a genetic scientist is as believable (or un-believable rather) as casting Denise Richards as a nuclear scientist (in James Bond's The World Is Not Enough).
b) I have nothing against films which are formulaic but Fantastic Four delivers just that as a cheesy origins story with nothing extra to whet the appetites of comic-book geeks who were weaned on Spiderman, the X-Men films and more recently, Batman Begins. Compared to the aforementioned, this film has alot of style but little substance. One pointless instance is when Sue Storm had to undress on a bridge to use her invisibility powers -- Just a lame excuse to have Jessica Alba in her bra and panties, isn't it?
c) It isn't exactly explained why the villainous Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon of Nip/Tuck fame) decided to annihilate the Fantastic Four, targetting Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffurd) especially. Somehow, blind rage as a result of jealousy doesn't quite cut it for me; world domination is a far more realistic excuse to tear a city apart. Even the animated villain in Pixar's The Incredibles (whose characters have a striking resemblance to the FF) had a more legitimate reason to paint the town red, so-to-speak.
Apart from my bellyaching about how the film could have been better, Fantastic Four is really quite watchable and interesting. Director Tim Story (Barbershop, Taxi) did a credible job in his first big-budgeted action flick and I must admit, the flashy CGI special effects flowed seamlessly with the story. The cast (excluding Alba) are well-chosen and plaudits go to Michael Chiklis (as The Thing) who delivers a subtle yet poignant performance. My only regret is that the characters were not given more room to develop into people we can empathise with, like what Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin et al, did for the X-Men.
my ratings ---- 3.4/5 Stars!
