Fantastic Four

Not a bad flick. Maybe because I had less than zero expectations going in. It's no Batman Begins though. Oh yeah... DR. DOOM IS NOT ELECTRO!!!!

Story

I was very surprised at how good the story was for this film. I went in expecting some weird and goofy film that had nothing of the elements of the FF that I envision. This was definately not the case. An excellent job was done portraying Reed's absent-minded/genius dichotomy, the animosity between Victor and Reed, and the tragic nature of Ben. I was pleased to see Victor offering to help Ben only to betray him. Right out of the comics. The movie could have been a bit longer though, as some parts of the film seemed rushed. As well, Doom's motivation for killing the 4 didn't seem particularly well motivated. For some, losing a girl would be cause for revenge, but Doom shouldn't be the type of guy to be that petty. Another good point was the publicity the heroes received. If you don't know, in the comics the FF's identities are public knowledge and it was good to see this incorporated into the film.

Acting

No qualms about the actors here. Despite the fact FF didn't have a blockbuster cast like Batman Begins, all the actors portrayed their characters very well. Michael Chiklis did a great job showing emotion even through the Thing suit. Chris Evans was such a smart ass that the cheesy lines they showed in the previews are NOT cheesey when you see them in the context of the film. It was also good that the lines were limited to Johnny rather than everyone spouting humourous quips. Despite the obvious T&A factor from Jessica ALba, I think she gave a good performance as Sue Storm. She could have been written to be a bit more scientific, but that's a nitpick. Ioan Gruffudd was a good choice for Reed, but again as a nitpick, he should have been made a little more distracted and absent minded. Julian McMahon was the failing in this movie I think. He didn't come off as megalomaniacal enough and I pictured him having a heavy Eastern-European accent (he is from Latveria). He didn't really have an arrogance about him that I would have liked to see. However, that might come after he becomes the ruler of Latveria.

Special Effects

It was neat to see the powers of the FF come to life. Theere were both good and bad things about them though. First, the good. Invisible Woman is easy, you just fade her out. Her force fields were done well too, although they were blue and not invisible ;) The Thing was not CGI but rather a full body suit that surprisingly didn't look goofy. Human Torch was very cool (haha) and it didn't look too fake. Mr. Fantastic was a tad silly looking at times though, and I think they could have done a better job. Now, Dr. Doom. I knew he had electricity powers going into this film and was prepared to accept it if it made sense for him to have them. Again, DR. DOOM IS NOT ELECTRO!!!! The only reason they gave him the powers is so they could have a big fight at the end. As well, why couldn't they change Doom's voice when he put on that mask, make it more metallic or something. It was terrible. He wasn't menacing at all.. Boo-urns.

Overall

Definately better than I was expecting and might even be worth a purchase. Best scene in the movie is definately the Johnny/Thing/Whip Cream one. Once you see it, you'll know what I mean.