Fantastic Four (2005) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

And then the film ran out of time.

Other films, like X-Men, have managed more characters successfully, but the entire FF movie is an "origin issue" for all of the characters. X-Men knew better than to attempt that folly.

If it had been my decision, I would have wanted the film series to start running, by using Marvel's very best Fantastic Four story, perhaps the battle against Galactus and Silver Surfer. To hell with the damned origins. I don't even care how they got their powers. If the research shows that most people do have to have that included in the movie, bring in Michael York to play Basil Exposition, and he can explain it to a newspaper reporter in a couple of witty paragraphs. Yes, I know that would be boring and hackneyed, but it would be short, and the editor can make it more exciting by showing some visuals while he speaks.

The only thing I really liked about this movie was Julian McMahon as the villain, and I was enthusiastic only about what he did in the first half, when he was Victor Von Doom, and was really attempting to make the character real and multi-dimensional rather than a cartoon bad guy. In the second half, when he became Doctor Doom, he was just the usual megalomaniacal costumed freak who always appears in comics as nothing more than a prop for the heroes. McMahon could have been great if they had let him be the Doctor Doom of the early comics: brilliant, aesthetic, wounded, capable of great sensitivity to match his great rage, and honor to match his scheming. Unfortunately, most of his movie schtick consisted of the "buahahahaha" portion of the entertainment. In the very brief time when he used subtle conniving to turn Ben against Reed, he demonstrated what a great villain he might have been, but that phase was quickly over, replaced by the mad scientist stuff and lots of explosions.

In comparison to the the best recent super-hero films, FF is not in the same league. It can't really be compared to X-2 or Batman Begins, because it doesn't exist in their noir world. Although the Fantastic Four were Marvel heroes, this movie reminds me more of the juvenile DC comics of the 50s than the daring Marvel comics of the late 60s and 70s which took on cosmic ideas as well as social and political issues. Like the Superman comics of the fifties, and like their realization on Saturday morning TV, it's filled with jokey, cartoony sorts of characters spouting grade-B expository dialogue in a pastel-colored fantasy world, and has nothing more profound on its mind than sexual and career jealousy. It should have ended with the characters winking at the camera! (And it almost did!)

On the other hand, it's a passable popcorn film. I sat back, let it wash over me, and enjoyed some moments. If you are older than 12, you will probably consider it no more than a childish bit of shallow fun, but what's wrong with that? That's basically what the Spidey movies are as well. To tell you the truth, there is nothing really wrong with Fantastic Four except that it is merely a prequel for Fantastic Four Two.