20th Century Studios / The Walt Disney Company
FANTASTIC FOUR
Starring Ioan Gruffudd (Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic), Jessica Alba (Susan Storm / The Invisible Woman), Chris Evans (Johnny Storm / The Himan Torch), Michael Chiklis (Ben Grimm / The Thing), and Julian McMahon (Victor Von Doom / Doctor Doom) with a special appearance by Stan Lee
Directed by Tim Story
Produced by Avi Arad and Bernd Eichinger with Kevin Feige
Written by Michael France and Mark Frost
Music By John Ottman
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Run Time: 1 hour and 46 minutes
World Premier: July 8, 2005
Opening Weekend Box Office: $56 million
Worldwide Box Office: $333 million
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 28%
20th Century Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Fun Fantastic Four Facts
20th Century Fox acquired the film and licensing rights to Marvel’s First Family in the mid-1990’s, along with other Marvel characters such as Daredevil and The X-Men. Marvel sold these rights in an effort to stay afloat as they filed for bankruptcy. The upstart Marvel Studios, under the direction of Avi Arad arranged a seven-picture deal with Fox that would see Fox finance and distribute their Marvel films with Marvel Studios assisting in a production role that would give them a say in the script-writing process, the hiring of directors, and in casting. Fantastic Four was the fifth film released as part of that initial deal following X-Men (2000), Daredevil (2003), X2: X-Men United (2003), and Elektra (2005).
On September 6, 2005, Marvel Enterprises became Marvel Entertainment; a reflection of the company’s new initiative to finance its own motion pictures through Marvel Studios. Fantastic Four was produced and released prior to this massive shift in direction for Marvel Studios, while its sequel (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) came after.
In 2015, Fox produced a third Fantastic Four film with any involvement from Marvel Studios whatsoever, titled Fant4stic starring Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell. Directed by (and later disowned by) Josh Trank the film was a mess, with the filmmakers dramatically clashing with executives. The movie was a major box office bomb and was saddled with an embarrassing 9% Approval Rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
On December 17, 2017, the Walt Disney Company announced that an agreement had been reached with 20th Century Fox that would see Disney acquire Fox’s television and film divisions, among other things. Disney had acquired Marvel Entertainment at the end of 2009, and Marvel Studios with it. The lucrative Fox deal therefore landed the film rights to Marvel’s First Family under the Disney / Marvel Studios umbrella. Fox shareholders unanimously approved the transaction on July 27, 2018, and the deal was finalized on March 20, 2019.
2022’s Marvel Studios film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness saw Marvel Studios cast actor John Krasinski as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic seventeen-years removed from this film. This marked the first appearance of a member of The Fantastic Four within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though this version resided from the 838-Universe where he was a member of the esteemed Illuminati as opposed to being featured in the MCU 616-Universe (the Sacred Timeline as it were). Still, the film provided viewers a unique opportunity to see Mister Fantastic share the screen with popular Marvel characters such as Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Professor X (Patrick Stewart), and The Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen).
The yet-to-be-officially titled Marvel Studios film Deadpool 3 is rumored to introduce several Multiversal Variants from past films produced with 20th Century Fox, which leaves the door open for any or all members of this Fantastic Four film to reprise their roles and share the screen with other MCU characters.
20th Century Studios / The Walt Disney Company
My Fantastic Four Review
Fantastic Four was panned by critics and by many fans, but this was a Marvel film that is near and dear to my heart and call it a guilty pleasure if you must, but I love this movie! My love for this film is rooted in my love for The Fantastic Four as comic book characters. I know that everyone who watches Marvel movies aren’t comic book readers, but I am, and my favorite team of characters to read about has always been The Fantastic Four. They are Marvel’s First Family, and they have a fantastic rogues’ gallery that includes one of the greatest villains in comics in Doctor Doom as well as Namor the Submariner, and the World Eater Galactus. It was in the pages of Fantastic Four that characters such as The Black Panther, The Inhumans, Adam Warlock, The Silver Surfer, Kang the Conqueror, Agatha Harkness, and The Skrulls first appeared. The Fantastic Four themselves are rarely outshined in their stories and their family dynamic makes them one of the most unique teams in superhero storytelling. You have the romantic relationship of Reed Richards and Susan Storm, you have the sibling relationship between Susan and her brother Johnny, you have the best friendship between Reed and Ben Grimm, and you have the brotherly bond between Ben and Johnny. This has made for a variety of both fun and serious stories, many of which are amongst my favorites in all of comics.
So, when Fantastic Four was announced, I was really excited for it. I was thrilled about seeing Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben in live-action and I hoped the filmmakers would get the characters right with a fun story and a focus on the family dynamic between each of them, and in the end, I was quite satisfied with the production. Is it a perfect film? Not by a long shot, and its flaws are even more apparent almost 18-years later, but to this day, I can throw this movie on in my Blu-ray player, and it breezes by, and so far, for better or worse, this is the best Fantastic Four film out there in my opinion.
The story here is pretty familiar if you watch a lot of comic book movies. The film opens with heroes getting their powers in a trip to Space that was mostly true to the comics where the team were exposed to cosmic rays. Back on Earth, the team try to understand their new abilities while a villainous threat emerges from a former contentious ally that has gone full-on supervillain since obtaining powers of his own on the same mission. A supposed love triangle is clumsily juggled between Sue and Reed, but there is a subplot that revolves around Reed’s obsession with finding a way to reverse their conditions, as he is guilt-ridden over what has become of Ben, specifically. Ben ends up having his powers taken away after being manipulated by Von Doom, but later voluntarily becomes The Thing again to stand with his friends against Doctor Doom. Ultimately the heroes unite and use their powers in unison to thwart the villain.
Though Chris Evans would later define the role of Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he was a very good Johnny Storm. He was funny, and carefree, and overzealous in all the right ways and he had great chemistry with Michael Chiklis, and I enjoyed watching them harass each other throughout the movie. The filmmakers definitely got the volatile but sincere Johnny and Ben friendship right. It is true that Chiklis’ costume / makeup as The Thing has not aged well, but he gave the role his best shot and remains the voice of Ben Grimm in my head whenever I read the comics. He took the role seriously and successfully conveyed the torture that he felt after being transformed he had solid chemistry with the entire cast.
20th Century Studios / The Walt Disney Company
While Ben and Johnny stood out, Reed and Sue were just okay for me. The actors didn’t sell their love story all that well, but I don’t know if that was the fault of the story or a lack of chemistry. I just never felt like Susan was the most important thing in Reed’s life, although I must admit that is a recurring theme in the comics, but I’m not sure it was intentional here. Also, Ian Gruffud never really came across as the smartest man in the room, much less the planet, while Jessica Alba rarely displayed the passion or intellect that Susan Storm has in the comics.
I thought the film did a very good job of visually illustrating the powers of the team overall. Susan’s invisibility looked great and Johnny Storm’s fire powers and flight were executed very well, especially for the time. Reed’s stretching looked good for the most part as well. I also enjoyed the music of the film. This movie was made at a time when soundtracks defined action sequences and campy or not, I got a kick out of Johnny skiing and doing the dirt bike stunt show stuff. I should also mention that the bridge sequence with the firefighters is my favorite scene of the movie!
All of that being said, let’s get to the negative.: Doctor Doom. The general consensus is that this film did not get Doom right, and I completely agree. While he looked fine in terms of costuming, the backstory and the overall presentation of the character were complete misses. In the comics, Victor Von Doom is so much more than he is in this movie. He is a ruler, a sorcerer, a diplomat, an expert combatant, and a brilliant yet petty individual who harbors nothing but disdain for Mister Fantastic. Putting Doom on the mission with the F4 was not something the filmmakers pulled out of thin air, as this was the way of things in the Ultimate Universe of Marvel. Regardless, it wasn’t a great start for the character in this film and it never got better as the film progressed. Julian McMahon as Doom never felt brilliant nor truly menacing in the film. They got his jealousy of Reed right but missed on everything else.
Fantastic Four was made during what was a very different era for comic book movies, but I consider it a hidden gem that while certainly not the best Marvel comic book movie, it wasn’t the worse either, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the Marvel Studios team does with this franchise, which is slated to start filming in early-2025.
20th Century Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Highlights of Fantastic Four:
Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm / The Thing
Chris Evans as Johnny Storm / The Human Torch
Chemistry Between Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis
Bridge Scene where the Team use their Powers to rescue Firemen
Ski Scene when Johnny Storm turns into The Human Torch for the First Time
Team Powers Adapted from the Comics Perfectly
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