Wikipedia Fact(s):
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 (November 1961), which helped to usher in a new level of verisimilitude in the medium. The Fantastic Four was the first superhero team created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby, who developed a collaborative approach to creating comics with this title that they would use from then on. As the first superhero team title produced by Marvel Comics, it formed a cornerstone of the company's 1960s rise from a small division of a publishing company to a pop-culture conglomerate. The title would go on to showcase the talents of comics creators such as Roy Thomas, John Byrne, Steve Englehart, Walt Simonson, John Buscema, George Perez and Tom DeFalco, and is one of several Marvel titles still in publication since the Silver Age of Comic Books.
Picture this: I’m attending the Marvel panel at the annual San Diego Comic Con, when the presentation for the Upcoming Fantastic Four movie begins. I’m on fire with anticipation for this much heralded and awaited Comic Book Movie.
“Holy S**t !! The fans are finally gonna get a decent Fantastic Four Movie !!” Life is really good …. (Note: I had seen the Roger Corman produced version years earlier and found it vaguely serviceable.) This is gonna be the “Lord of the Rings” for Marvel fan boys !! [Yes, I really felt this way at the time.]
Next Ioan Gruffudd has already been introduced as Mr. Fantastic which I admit gives me somewhat of a pause, but I hadn’t anything to gauge his acting abilities (I’d avoided 2004’s King Arthur like the plague, Excalibur forever for me.). I was non pulsed by this guy. Maybe he would be a good Reed Richards. Who knows?
Keep in mind, that even though I’m starring up at director Tim Story and some guy who looks like Jerry Seinfeld’s body double, I’m still “optimistic”.
Hey, it can only get better from here right ? Right ?!!
Fantastic Four, Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s “Fantastic Four“ was always a ensemble piece. The individual strengths of the characters despite the various flaws and quirks had always been one of the things that stood out about the good ole’ FF. An okay Reed would be offset by an equally okay or even great actress as Susan Storm-Richards, the Invisible Woman.
Then it happens ….
Jessica Alba walks out onto the stage after being introduced as the upcoming film’s Invisible Woman.
So you say, what happened next ?
Did a ravenous crowd of costumed fan boys, gaming geeks, bbw’s dressed up like fairies and disenchanted cynics rush the stage and overturn the tables, tar and feather Avi Arad, paint a yellow stripe down Tim Story’s back and bean Alba relentlessly with old issues of Jack & Stan’s FF issues ?
No.
They cheered.
Yup, most of the audience in the auditorium cheered the casting of Jessica Alba.
Me ? … I tore up my fanboy membership card that day.
All optimism evaporated at that precise moment, I exited the auditorium and wandered the convention floor … Artist’s Alley to be more precise. Looking blindly for hope, for something … good.
Note: I wanted to be honest with you before taking this comprehensive look at 20th Century Fox’s “Fantastic Four” franchise which as of today in good ole 2010, headed firmly into “Re-boot” territory.
Fantastic Four
Release Date: July 8, 2005
Running time: 106 minutes
Budget: 100 million
Gross Revenue: 330, 579, 719
Featuring: Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Ioan Gruffudd and Julian McMahon
Producer(s): Avi Arad, Bern Eichinger and Ralph Winter
Written by Michael France and Mark Frost
Directed by Tim Story
This “film’s plot” or what there is of it concerns Dr. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), a genius but timid and bankrupt physicist, is convinced that evolution is triggered by clouds of cosmic energy in space, and has calculated that one of these clouds is soon going to pass near Earth. Together with his friend, the gruff yet gentle astronaut Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis), Reed convinces his equally brilliant but conceited Massachusetts Institute of Technology classmate Dr. Victor von Doom (Julian McMahon), now CEO of Von Doom Industries, to allow him access to his privately-owned space station.
Von Doom agrees, in exchange for control over the experiment and a majority of the profits from whatever benefits it brings. He brings aboard his beautiful chief genetics researcher (and Reed's ex-girlfriend from MIT) Susan Storm (Jessica Alba), and her hot-headed brother Johnny Storm (Chris Evans), his private astronaut, who specializes in fast cars, pretty girls, and extreme sports and was Ben's subordinate at NASA but is his superior on the mission, much to Ben's disgust. The quintet travels to space to observe the cosmic energy clouds, but Reed has miscalculated and the clouds materialize well ahead of schedule.
Victor refuses Reed's plea to abort the mission. Knowing Ben is space-walking to set up equipment, Reed, Susan and Johnny leave the shielded station to rescue him, and Victor closes the shield behind them. While Victor is seemingly safe, the others are exposed to the cloud. Ben receives full exposure out in space, while the others receive a more limited dose within the station.
They return home but soon begin to develop strange powers. Reed is able to stretch like rubber; Susan can become invisible and create force fields, especially when angered; Johnny can engulf himself in fire at up to supernova-like temperatures, and is able to fly; and Ben is transformed into "The Thing", a large, rock-like creature with superhuman strength.
Unknown to the others, however, Victor is also mutating - turning into organic metal capable of manipulating electrical energy. As a result of the expedition, he is going bankrupt; blaming Reed, Victor swears revenge.
So the story goes …yadda, yadda, yadda.
When I finally got around to looking at this film after reading all of the scathing reviews, I just found myself amazed … kind of like watching the aftermath of a traffic accident.
The prevailing thought running through my mind upon viewing this “project” is “Where’s the money?”
This thing cost 100 million dollars people.
100 million dollars for untested mid-level actors, bad art direction and REALLY CHEESY “special effects”.
Where’s the money … Tim?
Some my knock me for knowingly going to see a critically shredded, supposed tent pole film. Curiosity plain and simple got the best of me. I actually wanted to find out why Tim Story had been handpicked by Fox & Marvel to helm the film adaptation of what is essentially a piece of POP CULTURE and the enduring symbol of the resurrection of the Super Hero Comic Book … this book began the Marvel Renaissance and turned the company into a juggernaut.
Where’s the money?… Tim? Didn’t you know that this movie could have propelled you into a new echelon with other blockbuster directors say, somebody like Cameron ?
This movie is horribly directed and I know that Tim story was a better director before undertaking this momentous pile. I realize that other people were involved in this film’s “creation”. But Mr. Story, your name is up front on this thing … You take the full blame for what is the end result ..of a collaboration.
I just want to point out that this movie is needlessly screwed up… completely fubar and a chore to watch.
For instance, Jessica Alba was cast as Susan Storm. Now I accept that colorblind casting works sometimes and this was initially the claim when she was hired for the job.
But for some strange reason … Jessica Alba was made up to look like a Caucasian woman.
This is Jessica Alba (actress)
Jessica Alba as Sue Storm (?)
Why Tim ?
The rest of the characters in the film are also horribly miscast. Ioan Gruffudd chooses to play Reed Richards as somewhat of an impotent, scatter brained nutty professor who is utterly cluless to the true nature of "his friend" Doom's true intentions and unfortunately this appear to point to Sue Storm as the defacto leader of the super powered quartet.
Chris Evans is adequate as Johnny Storm, but at times appears to be having a little too much fun considering the circumstances.
Michael Chiklis is also miscast in this role. He simply doesn't look the part and as far as the acting goes... He was more than happy to let the makeup convey Ben Grimm's sense of pathos at becomng a monster. I don't really blame a fine televison actor, Chiklis was gold on "The Shield"
But a better actor was under Fox's nose and would have been the penultimate Ben Grimm, The Thing
That's about as far as I'm gonna go with that. Anybody who has seen Hellboy knows that Ron would have knocked this role out of the park.
Basically, this movie lacks any sense of scope. Everything is shot in a very contained manner. It's so local ... It's downright claustophobic at times.
Case in point:
You take the iconic character of Dr. Doom, a world threatening, world class villian and an extremely complex man and reduce him to moster of the week.
You stage Doom actually having a street fight with the Fantastic Four ?
I'm not gonna go into how DOOM is a strategist first and probaly would have sent hired help to do the "dirty work".
DOOM in your movie, announces his presence to the world by having a donnybrook with four peers who outnumber him and posses more combined might.
Remember- This movie cost 100-hundred-million-dollars.
End of Part ONE
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN