Comic books are, at the core, simple stories about people with exaggerated abilities placed in overwrought situations. With the limited physical form of only a few pages the illustrator can lavash attention on details that are only now becoming available to their movie counterparts while the story writer as about the least requirements to develop character or fill in plot of any major adult entertainment medium. (The more recent graphic novel form, some of which feature characters originally from comics, differ in almost exactly these ways.)
In making Fantastic Four, the Marvel leadership recognized these elements as the key to why the Spider-Man and X-Men movies were huge hits while The Hulk, Daredevil and Elektra missed the boat. The script by Michael France (who also co-wrote Hulk and The Punisher) and Mark Frost (no previous comic superhero credits) barely takes enough screen time to introduce the five leads before they’re rocketing to orbit where the exotic rays arrive hours early.
The second half of the story, as they attempt to deal with the physical changes, may be what caused so many reviewers to go negative but not me. Director Tim Story (launched a wave of black films with Barbershop but bombed wth personal followup, the American remake of Taxi) turns the conventions 90 degrees by mostly avoiding the evil villain out to conquer the world. Instead Story plays the characters against each other as they work out the emotional hurricanes.
Sure Victor Von Doom is turning into a metal man but until events force him down a bad path he’s no more rotten than your standard American corporate chieftain. The catastrophe in space also ruined his business and with Mr. Fantastic also cutting him out of Sue Storm’s attentions, Doom’s fall is (in comic book universe) understandable. The others, the Fantastic Four, are more conventional and take their new abilities reluctantly; they only fight Doom because they have no choice.
recommended
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