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“Fantastic Four” - ‘F’ is for fun

If you were disappointed with “Batman Begins” and felt it was a bit of a bummer, “Fantastic Four” is just the movie to cheer you up. This film is light and silly, with emphasis on the comic of “comic book movie.”

Dr. Reed Richards is going bankrupt but he knows that if he can find backing for a trip to outer space to see a cosmic storm, he can learn about the origins of the universe and humanity. Richards and his friend/assistant Ben Grimm, a former NASA astronaut, go to old friend Victor Von Doom, to ask for financial assistance and also use of his private space station. Von Doom agrees and he takes along his employee, Sue Storm and her hotshot brother Johnny. Richards and Grimm have a past with the Storm siblings as Sue was Reed’s old flame and Johnny was a guy that washed out of NASA. The fact that all of these characters have a past gets the audience involved in the film quickly and makes everything that happens to them after the storm hits them have more of an impact.

What happens is their DNA gets “fundamentally altered.” Richards, a rigid scientist, becomes the ultra-flexible Mr. Fantastic, Sue becomes Invisible Girl, Johnny becomes the Human Torch, the rough and tumble Grimm becomes The Thing and Von Doom’s body changes into an ultra strong metal paving the way for him to become Dr. Doom. Torch and Thing, played by Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis respectively, have the most fun in the film, pranking and insulting each other, while also using really cool powers. While Thing’s costume leaves a little bit to be desired, Chiklis’ performance is dead-on and Evans is full of charisma. Jessica Alba as Invisible Girl is little more than a pretty face and Ioan Gruffudd as Mr. Fantastic warms up as the movie progresses. As for Dr. Doom, Julian McMahon is better before the mask goes on. It is also unfortunate that there is only one real battle sequence between the Fantastic Four and their nemesis. If there are future installments, I hope that there will be more of the Four using their powers and battling evil instead of being tormented about what they should do now.

The best thing about the film is the tone. “Fantastic Four” keeps things moving at a good pace and has fun with all of the things that the heroes can do. Are there problems, sure. Like too many movies these days, “Fantastic Four” felt it necessary to put in a bunch of silly songs that don’t feel like they have much to do with the film other than sell a soundtrack. This movie is for the kids though and they won’t dwell on this.

• **