Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four are some of my favorite comic book characters. For whatever reason, Mr. Fanatstic (Reed Richards), The Invisible Woman (Susan DStorm), The Human Torch II (Johnny Storm) and The Thing (Ben Grimm), and their mix of saving the earth through science and clever use of their cosmic abilities appealed to me. I am not alone, as the Fantastic Four were the Flagship of the Marvel line-up, launched in 1961 and published continuously, forming the cornerstone of the Marvel universe where they would be joined by Spider-Man and the X-Men, two of the more widly popular comic franchises (besides Batman, property of rival DC Comics).

The Fantastic Four story was ripe for a motion picture. The material and characters to work with are just that good. In the original 1961 story, the four decide to embark on a daring mission to "beat the Commies into space" on a rocketship hastily designed by Reed. Upon launch while travelling through the Van Allen radiation belts, the ship proves to be unable to protect the crew from cosmic radiation which tears through their bodies and alters their genes. Damaged by the storm, the ship crashes back to earth causing Johnny to spontaeously combust and discover that his body is now able to withstand and produce fame. Ben is reduced to a rocky pile of rubble at the crash site and Susan gives him the name The Thing. Reed and Susan soon discover their own cosmic abilities and the four agree to use their newfound cosmic abilities for the good of mankind as the Fantastic Four.

The Fantastic Four comic book was equal parts action and soap opera, with a lot of emphasis given to the feelings and interaction between the characters. As the FF story begins, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman are engaged and then married. Later on The Invisible Woman twice become pregnant, and during the first prenancy the FF are forced to battle an evil villain in order to obtain the cure for an illness that befalls Sue during the pregnancy, while the second preganancy results in a miscarriage. When Reed is apparently killed, Sue assumes leadership of the Fantastic Four, a position she is very unwilling to give up when Reed returns and the ensuing power struggle can be likened to the career working woman who is suddenly expected to become a stay at home Mom. Sue also periodically lapses into a sinister and even sexier alter-ego named Malice who turns on her team members before regaining control of her mind. The other members of the team have equally interesting characters. Johnny the Human Torch is the brash teenager of the group, looking to use his cosmic abilities to obtain wealth and fame. He fights with the other members of the group, pulls out constant one-liners, tries to hog the spotlight and even leaves the group for a time to make a bigger name for himself on his own. he also brings a series of flashy girlfriends to the group with their own super-powers and cosmic abilities. The counterpoint to Johnny is Ben The Thing, who is the most tragic member of the group. Unlike the others who can turn their cosmic abilities on and off, Ben is forced to assume his heavy rocky persona at all times. This causes him to feel anger, resentment, sadness and frustrtation as he had to completely give up his former life, a heavy price to pay to become one of the Fantastic Four. Ben's solace is in Alicia, a blind sculptor who falls in love with him, as to her he is the perfect man despite his horrible disfigurement. Reed theorizes that Ben could control his rocky appearance but that his subconcious mind knows that his rocky appearance is why Alicia loves him so his subconcious mind prevents him from having control over his cosmic ability. On one particular planet, Ben is able to control his ability and change from his rocky form to his normal human form at will, and he often leaves the group for short periods to visit this planet and recapture some of the life he has been robbed of.

In the comics, when not arguing and fighting amonst themselves, the Fantastic Four spends most of it's time exploring the universe and defending the earth on a cosmic level against super villains from the Earth other worlds. Dr. Doom is a brilliant genius who invents a suit of nuclear armor which protects him and gives him the ability to shoot pulses of energy at others. He also uses his super-intelligence to develop an army of robot-like clones of himself that he uses to wreak havoc on earth and across the galaxy, and keeps the FF guessing as to wether or not they've ever got the real Dr. Doom. With these tactics and traits, and a similar costume and mask, Dr. Doom is often seen as the inspiration for Darth Vader and his army of Stormtroopers. Dr. Doom also clashes with the likes of Spider-Man and the Silver Surfer while the FF are preoccupied with other things.

So from this universe of possibility we were delivered a Fantastic Four movie that was less than spectacular. The story is updated, rewritten, warped and told in a choppy manner with no flow. An unecessary love triangle is created between Reed, Sue and Dr. Doom. Some scenes are pointless and others fail to make sense. There are blatant editing and continuity errors. Mr. Fantastic and Dr. Doom are portrayed terribly (could we please give Dr. Doom a menacing voice when he puts the mask on?). The Invisible Woman looks hot in her FF suit but doesn't do much with her invisibility. It is Johnny who steals the whole movie and his brash and recklessly youthful character is the best at capturing the essence of his namesake in the comics. The Thing suit looks awesome and his tragedy is highlighted in several scenes, however we don't ever learn enough or make enough of a connection with Ben to really feel his loss and pain. It is true that in this movie, the charaters are just developing into the FF personas, and it is not until the final shot of the movie, after enduring a plot that never really gets going, that we see the Fantastic Four in their classic group pose. Then, as a final slap in the face, the film has the audacity to fade to black and a "The End" card before slipping a final teaser scene in before the credits in which it is suggested that Dr. Doom will return in a sequal.

Gah! Someday an awesome Fantastic Movie will be shown in theatres. Unfortunately it is not this summer.