Review: Fantastic Four (2005)

'I'm gonna need therapy.'

★★½

Lately, I've been watching pre-MCU Marvel films. I've seen both Hulk and Daredevil, now it's onto Fantastic Four (2005), probably the worst one. After watching it, my I wasn't surprised on how lacking it felt. Mostly it was because I didn't get my hopes too high. "Fantastic Four" was produced by Fox, like X-Men and "Daredevil" because Avi Arad decided that he didn't have enough money so he sold each character right to a different studio.

In Fantastic Four (2005), a group of astronauts gains superpowers after exposure to cosmic radiation during a space mission. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) becomes Mr. Fantastic with the ability to stretch his body, Susan Storm (Jessica Alba) gains invisibility and force field powers as the Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) becomes the Human Torch with the ability to control fire, and Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) transforms into the Thing, a powerful rock-like being. As they learn to cope with their new abilities, they must also confront Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon), their former friend turned nemesis, who is plotting revenge using his own newfound powers.

This film has some great elements, such as the casting and some of the action scenes. However, these positives are overshadowed by the film's other shortcomings. It's as if the movie forgot that it was adapting a comic book. This adaptation feels bland and tasteless, resembling a poor attempt at a Robot Chicken parody. Also, whose idea was it to cast Jessica Alba as the Invisible Girl? With someone as beautiful as her, I wanted her to always be visible. Remember the scene when Reed told Susan to go invisible? It feels like it was just the filmmakers' excuse to show Jessica Alba in her underwear. Apparently, after Alba was cast, that scene was written. Later on, Johnny and Reed walk through an ambulance to get to Ben. They could've cut straight to that instead of showing Jessica Alba in her underwear. Also, Reed "accidentally" walks into Susan when she's showering. Her breasts are briefly visible for a second, which again, was probably just the filmmakers making an excuse to show Jessica Alba almost nude and in the shower.

Going back to the few positives I have, Michael Chiklis as Ben (The Thing) was, in my opinion, the best casting decision. He was the only actor who'd read the Fantastic Four comics and was a fan. "Growing up, he liked the heroic comic book character Ben Grimm, aka The Thing of the Fantastic Four. In fact, at the age of 18, he told his brother that if a Fantastic Four movie was ever made, he would play Ben Grimm." This is similar to Ben Affleck with Daredevil. Ben's character development was the best because he was the only one who got character development. He's Reed's best friend and partner. After the accident, Ben got the worst side effect, which ruined his relationship with his fiancée. People also feared him, which gave him a desire to not want to live anymore. Reed, however, swore to put him back to normal, which Ben believed until Dr. Doom manipulated and tricked him. Once Ben returns to normal, he realizes that the accident and his new form were probably for the greater good. People saw him as a hero but still needed time to get used to his current form. His performance is my favorite, and probably my favorite thing to come out of this movie. Even Stan Lee, the creator himself, loved it; he considered it one of his favorite performances.

Everyone else hardly got any development. Reed was the generic "hero" type, Susan was the "love interest," Johnny was the "young rebel," and Dr. Doom was the "villain." Which was a mix of Norman Osborn and Doom, which made think, why didn't they just go for one character? They didn't have much depth or complexity beyond their surface-level traits. Chris Evans as Johnny (Human Torch) was a silly decision, probably due to the writing and direction, but his character was too much of a comic relief. The character felt like a caricature of a teenager, with his constant joking and recklessness. It didn't feel like a balanced representation of the character from the comics. Also, it's not hard to do Doom's origins. He wasn't on the ship in space, his face was damaged in a bad accident, then he goes away for a while and comes back with all these powers.

I cannot put the full blame on the cast for their performances, because they were mainly following the script and the direction of Tim Story, and maybe also Avi Arad, as he was known to meddle with every project he produced. Tim Story is not a good superhero director. He's known for more comedic films like "Barbershop (2002)" and the "Ride Along" series. The idea to have him direct a superhero film was a terrible choice. He focused heavily on comedy, especially with Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, as I mentioned earlier. Ang Lee gets negative feedback for his "Hulk" film, but I felt like he knew what he was doing with that film, unlike Tim Story, who, like I said, had no idea what kind of movie he was making and opted for a parody of Fantastic Four. Not even the '60s Batman show was that absurd.