|
By
WAYNE KLEIN
Love it or hate it but pulp
fiction and comic books are the cultural icons of
American society. The Greeks had their mythology
to build and fashion literature from while America
continues to mine comic books for its rich source
combining mythology and melodrama. "Fantastic
Four" isn't exactly fantastic but this comic book
size adaptation of lacks the mythic proportions of
Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" or Bryan Singer's "X-Men"
movies. In a sense that's all for the good as
there's no way that Marvel's other flagship comic
could possibly compare to those two mythic film
series. "Fantastic Four" directed by Tim Story
("Barbershop") is all about surface and the sheer
adolescent joy of discovering and enjoying
America's art form in its simplest form.
Poor but brilliant scientist Reed Richards (Ioan
Gruffudd from the BBC TV show "Horatio Hornblower"
and the film "King Arthur") needs the help of
superrich college chum and scientist Victor Von
Doom (Julian McMahon from "Nip/Tuck") to perform
an experiment involving cosmic radiation in orbit
after NASA cancels his funding for the project.
With their old college roommate Ben Grimm (Michael
Chiklis in one of the best performances in the
movie despite tons of latex make up) piloting the
craft, Von Doom's assistant and former Richards
flame Sue Storm (Jessica Alba completely out of
her depth and miscast) and Storm's brother another
pilot Johnny Storm (Chris Evans who brings some
much needed levity to the film) take off for Von
Doom's space station and begin their experiment.
When the experiment goes array and the crew is
exposed to a nearly lethal dose of cosmic rays
they discover they've been altered on a genetic
level. Suddenly Richards can stretch like a rubber
band, Grimm turns into a monstrous rock creature,
Sue can turn invisible at will and Johnny ignites
into a living breathing fire. What's most
disturbing, though, are the changes wrought in Von
Doom. These changes also affect Von Doom's mental
state setting the newly christened Fantastic Four
against their old friend in a battle for Earth's
future.
While "Fantastic Four" lacks the larger than life
drama of "Spider-Man" (not to mention its budget),
the film still manages to be an enjoyable
experience if taken on its much smaller own terms.
Story's breezy direction manages to integrate the
origin tale into a solid action adventure story.
While the character development is short changed
and the digital effects range from brilliant (The
Human Torch) to OK (Mr. Fantastic's skills stretch
credibility and the audience's sense of
disbelief), the film rises or falls on the
personalities of the performers. While Gruffudd is
likeable he isn't given much to do as the awkward
but brilliant Richards. Story directs most of his
energy into developing the heated friendship of
Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm. As a result Evans and
Chiklis is the best thing about the film with
their bickering friendship and begrudging respect.
McMahon plays a variation of his role in
"Nip/Tuck" here. The ambitious screenplay
co-written by Mark Frost ("Twin Peaks") tries to
pack too much into the slight narrative here and
that more than anything else manages to undermine
the film. Still, taken as a comic book movie,
"Fantastic Four" recalls the joy and mystery of
Richard Donner's "Superman." The problem is that
"Superman" was made nearly 20 years ago and more
ambitious, complex stories have been told since
then.
Since the movie did quite well at the box office,
I suspect we might see a sequel and that will
determine the ultimate value of this franchise. If
Story and his crew get the sequel right then
"Fantastic Four" might just outlive the latest
comic book to film trend. If not, it's still an
enjoyable if slight drama that provides two hours
of distraction. It's certainly not any worse than
"Elektra" and is much more fun than that
pretentious mess.
The DVD includes a standard making-of- featurette
on the film as well as a glimpse into the
production from genesis to final film hosted by
the cast. There's also a tantalizing glimpse into
"X-Men 3" hosted by producer Avi Arad, 3 deleted
scenes and an occasionally illuminating commentary
track featuring Alba, Chiklis and Gruffud. FYI
BEST BUY is offering a limited edition boxed set
that comes in an aluminum case with a CD-ROM
featuring a number of the original comic books as
well as a collectable comic and stickers. While
"Fantastic Four" had much of its thunder stolen by
the superb "The Incredibles" (which uses the
bickering family format that "Four" established in
the comic books), it's still a solid adventure
taking. |
