ENTHUSIASM is what carries this adventure film based on the Marvel Comic book quartet of superheroes to a satisfying conclusion.
With Ioan Gruffuds as Richard Reed/Mr Fantastic, Jessica Alba as Susan Storm/The Invisible Girl, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm/The Torch, Michael Chiklis (pictured below) as Ben Grimm/The Thing, this is one comic book adaptation that stands or falls with its characters and not on its special effects.
Beginning quickly with little exposition – the new trend – the team‚ which, at first, puts Susan in with the soon-to-be-dreaded Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) as the super-billionaire whose investment sends Reed, Johnny and Ben into space. Of course, space is where they are all irradiated, coming back with super-powers.
Susan can emit a force field and turn invisible, save for her clothes, Johnny can fly and set himself alight, Ben turns literally rock-solid into the weightlifter-like Thing while Reed becomes super-stretchy.
Meanwhile, Von Doom, mostly because of his name and weird cheesy teeth along with the fact he hails from a weird place that sounds like Latvia but isn’t, slowly transforms into a metal electrical conductor.
With those characters in place, the story, as it is, proceeds, with Ben wanting his former self back after his wife leaves him. (Who wants her anyway when she comes out onto a city street at night in a sleazy negligee?).
Although some of the set pieces don’t quite hold together and this is, as some reviewers have said, no Spider-Man, Fantastic Four has a lot of heart, especially with Chiklis‚ portrayal of The Thing, which must be one of the more fully formed comic book heroes we’ve seen onscreen yet. Don’t expect slick, wow special effects. Nor should you expect a story that is completely logical (why would Susan take off her clothes to become invisible when ultimately she just pushes through the crowd? Where did the cash-strapped Fantastic Four get the dosh to buy Johnny a sports car with a vanity plate?).
What you get is a funny, sweetly naïve and actually very satisfying experience of an almost pure transition from comic book to big screen.