Barnes & Noble

A generally faithful comic-book adaptation that would have been impossible to make before the advent of computer-generated imagery, Fantastic Four does right by its four-color inspiration. Screenwriter Mark Frost deviates in small ways from the printed-page paradigm created in 1961 by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, but his script retains the comic's essence, especially its flamboyant approach to action. While working in a space station, research team members Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), Sue Storm (Jessica Alba), Sue's younger brother Johnny (Chris Evans), and Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) are buffeted by cosmic rays that alter their molecular structures in various ways and give them super powers. Reed discovers he can stretch his body almost without limit; Sue gains the ability to disappear and bend light waves into force fields; Johnny becomes the Human Torch at will; and poor Ben acquires incredible strength, although he is also transformed into an inhuman-looking Thing. The team's sponsor, industrialist Victor Von Doom (Nip/Tuck's Julian McMahon), having also survived the cosmic rays, undergoes not only a physical metamorphosis but an emotional one as well, turning evil as a result of his inability to cope with the changes to his body. As is usually the case with movies intended to inaugurate a series, Fantastic Four takes quite a while to introduce its characters and flesh out their relationships before progressing to the major action. But director Tim Story makes the exposition interesting in its own right; when the Four finally use their powers in unison for the first time -- in an extended sequence set on the Brooklyn Bridge -- we already know how they feel about each other and how they will react in a crisis situation. Frost's principal contribution to the Lee-Kirby mythos is a romantic triangle: Von Doom (shortly to become known as Doctor Doom) initially has romantic designs on Sue, who has broken up with Reed prior to the beginning of the story. This lends a personal dimension to the inevitable conflict that follows. The movie's outstanding special effects make the Four's most implausible feats quite believable, especially the Human Torch's flying scenes and use of flame. And our hats are off to Chiklis, who spends most of the movie smothered in his bulging Thing costume, which perfectly resembles the character as drawn by Kirby but is a less than ideal medium for emoting. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

A handful of heroes become superheroes under unlikely circumstances in this action drama adapted from the long-running Marvel comic book series. Four astronauts are on a mission aboard a new experimental spacecraft when they are unexpectedly exposed to a massive dose of gamma rays. The accident causes strange and unexpected transformations in all four. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), top scientist and leader of the mission, can now stretch his body like elastic and is dubbed Mr. Fantastic. His partner and sweetheart, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba), develops the ability to become invisible at will, and becomes known as The Invisible Girl. Her younger brother, Johnny Storm (Chris Evans), is renamed The Human Torch for his new talent of being able to summon up fire from his body when he chooses. And Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis), pilot for the journey, mutates into a monstrous creature with super-human strength and muscles like stone, known as The Thing. Together, the travelers become known as the Fantastic Four, and they set out to use their unusual skills to fight crime, quickly gaining a nemesis in another altered hero who uses his talents for evil, Doctor Doom (Julian McMahon). A long-gestating project that had been talked about by a number of filmmakers since the early '90s, Fantastic Four was previously the basis for a pair of animated television serials, and was made into a feature film in 1994 by producer Roger Corman, though that film was never officially released. (Fantastic Four creator Stan Lee has said the 1994 film was made only so that the producers could hold on to the rights to the characters, and that it was never intended to be distributed to the public.) Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 024543395843
• Source: 20TH CENTURY FOX
• Region Code: A
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled
• Time: 1:46:00
• Sales Rank: 9,863

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• The Ultimate Heroes Collection
• Fantastic Four: 2-Movie Collection
• Marvel Heroes Collection
• Marvel 3 Pack

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