You know what was really ‘Fantastic’ about 2005’s Fantastic Four — besides Jessica Alba, of course? Two words: Chris Evans, who is even more ‘Fantastic’ as Marvel Avenger Steve Rogers/Captain America.
The Fantastic Four of 2015 is taking itself way too seriously in showing the world they are the predecessors to the X-Men — which is true, by the way. As for saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on this quartet reboot, though …?
The film begins with a young Reed Richards telling his classmates that he will create a teleportation machine, and that soon led to meeting Ben Grimm, whose family runs a junkyard business. Ten years later (since the first ‘FF’ film, that is), Reed and Ben tried to put the teleportation theory to the test at a science fair. The result? Reed was disqualified, but he was qualified enough by Dr. Franklin Storm, who’s been working on that same hypothesis for a long time. He believes that inter-dimensional travel could benefit Earth’s chances for survival, but he hasn’t found the missing piece — until now with Reed Richards, who’s also working with Victor Von Doom, who’s carrying a ‘torch’ for Storm’s daughter Sue, the adopted daughter of Dr. Franklin Storm and the adopted sister of Johnny Storm.
Still, we all know what happens next, don’t we? Reed became Mr. Fantastic, Sue as the Invisible Woman, Johnny is the Human Torch, and Ben became the Thing. Together, they become the Fantastic Four, whose sole purpose is saving the world from a certain ‘Doom’. And speaking of ‘Doom’, he looks a little bit like the villain from 1983’s Superman III.
Whereas Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. assembled the Avengers as ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’, this Fantastic Four is under the wise guidance of Dr. Franklin Storm. Nevertheless, what is it with the government forming superhero teams — on the big screen, that is? Most of all, what is it with superheroes working for the government — on the big screen, that is? Guess we’ll have to wait for that answer with next year’s Captain America: Civil War.
The Fantastic Four of 2015 is nowhere near as good as Avengers: Age of Ultron, but at least they’re much better than their campy, tongue-in-cheek, B-movie incarnations.