Well well well. Finally, after countless comic adaptations, they get around to doing the Fantastic Four justice! Going in to the film, as usual I didn't know what to expect. The film was trashed by critics, but sometimes that's a good thing. The trouble with critics is they forget movies are supposed to sometimes just be FUN. And nothing else. No message, no meaning, just fun.
I find that if a film isn't about a depressed, poor, gay, artist who is also retarded, dying of aids, art house-type film, critics abhor it. But that's enough ranting.

Overall, this film was highly entertaining. I never paused to think, but I wasn't bombarded with constant mindless explosions, either. It was a well done comic book action romp, but it had story, it had character development, it had a real plot. It could've been the Fantastic Four fighting Dr. Doom's maniacal plans one after the other for 2 hours, but it wasn't.

Much like the original Spider-Man, this film spends a great deal of time on the origin of the Fantastic Four and Doom. We see them as real people, we get great character development and we learn how they interact with one another, we learn how they feel about each other. From the tension between former lovers Sue Storm (Invisible Woman) and Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), to rivalry between Doom and Reed, to the hot-headedness of Johnny Storm (the Human Torch), and the long friendship between Reed and Ben Grimm (The Thing).

Bottom line: we get to know them before they are changed into the Fantasti Four.

We also spend a great deal of time seeing how the powers change them and how they are affected, especially through Michael Chiklis' great performance as the Thing, the only member who cannot "turn off his power": he is permanently a giant orange rock solid beast.

The visuals were good, and it stayed pretty close to the comic except for a few things that can be forgiven. Of course Stan Lee's cameo is in this film, and he actually has a line. I'll let you find where he is, it should be obvious unlike the blink-and-you'll-miss him cameos in Spider-Man and The Hulk.

But overall, there remains one issue that sets this film above the rest, but it involves spoilers:

SPOILERS FROM HERE ON


I loved Julian McMahon as Dr. Doom. He really did a great villain, not sadistic or insane, but diabolical and intent on getting what he wants. Through him we see that the powers can be made for evil, and so to protect people from the likes of him, the Four must keep their powers as well, even Ben, who could have been permanently changed back. But anyway, the one issue is simply this: Dr. Doom is still alive!!

Why kill off such an awesome villain and replace him when you keep him? Unlike Spider-Man, who has many enemies, Dr. Doom is undeniably the Four's greatest adversary, their arch-enemy. By keeping him it's a change of pace from other comic films, and plus now rather than introducing a new main villain, they can come up with more complex things with Doom.

To sum it up: I eagerly await a sequel, and even though Batman Begins was better, I can honestly say I yearn for Fantastic Four 2 more than any other sequel for comic films. Walking out of the theatre, and now knowing it blew away skeptics with a 56 million dollar gross, it's now a guarantee there will be a franchise, Avi Arad, head of Marvel Films, has said so.

I can't wait.