Fantastic Four (2005)

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Fantastic Four (2005)
'When the hell are they going to do some action?!" - Moviegoers seeing the movie back in 2005
Genre: Action
Adventure
Directed by: Tim Story
Written by: Michael France
Mark Frost
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd
Jessica Alba
Chris Evans
Michael Chiklis
Julian McMahon
Kerry Washington
Photography: Color
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release date: July 8, 2005
Runtime: 106 minutes
126 minutes (extended cut)
Country: United States
Sequel: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer


Fantastic Four (stylized as Fantastic 4) is a 2005 American-German superhero film based on the Marvel Comics team of the same name, directed by Tim Story and released by 20th Century Fox. The film stars Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon, and Kerry Washington. The film received mixed-to-negative reviews but was a box office success earning $330.6 million on a $100 million budget.

It's later established that the universe this movie takes place in is Earth-121698.

Plot

Reed Richards persuades his arrogant former classmate, Victor von Doom, to fund his experiments with cosmic energy. On von Doom's space station, the crew including astronaut Ben Grimm, researcher Sue Storm, and pilot Johnny Storm are exposed to a mysterious cosmic storm that bestows superpowers upon them. As they cope with their transformations, von Doom vows his revenge on them.

Not So Fantastic Qualities

  1. There's absolutely no Fantastic Four action whatsoever aside from the bridge scene and climax; most of the movie is exposition and the characters coping with their powers.
  2. Kerry Washington has an extremely horrible portrayal as Alicia Masters, and the character was blackwashed.
  3. Two of the main characters do not have the same personalities as they did in the comics.
    • Johnny Storm is an unlikable douche for most of the movie. He's completely immature, he doesn't follow certain orders and he has little-to-no character development whatsoever.
    • Victor Von Doom is a horrible villain; he doesn't threaten any of the Fantastic Four team except for a few times, and he doesn't turn into Dr. Doom until the near end of the film. Some felt like he became a copy of Norman Osborn from the Sam Raimi Spider-Man film.
  4. How did Ben's wife Debbie rush to the Brooklyn Bridge just to dump Ben after he saved the firefighters from falling to their deaths?
  5. Some scenes are very unnecessary and serve as a running gag, like Sue stripping naked in public to save Ben and again to run away from a crowd of fans.
  6. Some of the CGI and special effects are extremely cartoonish and terrible including Mr. Fantastic's stretching skin.
  7. It heavily takes place on Earth and not in different parts of the universe like in the comics. One scene takes place in a space station, though.
  8. Product placements including Pepsi, ESPN, X Games, Activision, XBOX, Dell, Samsung, Burger King, and Brisk.
  9. Johnny says the dated "Priceless" slogan from MasterCard.
  11. It was released nearly a year after The Incredibles, a more well-received dysfunctional superhero family film.
  12. Latveria isn’t seen in the film at all and is only mentioned once.
  13. The marketing only showcased the action scenes with only a few parts of the humor.
  14. The Supernova technique is scientifically inaccurate, which caused a plot hole by the end.
  15. Pointless pop culture references to Peter Pan, Scarface and The Flintstones.
  16. Alicia referred to God as a female, which could be blasphemous to Christians and Jewish people like Ben.
  17. Some scenes were affected by reshoots after the producers saw The Incredibles, such as where Doom kills Ned Cecil by shooting a bolt to his chest rather than electrocuting him with a puddle of water.
  18. There was a gratuitous implied off-screen sex scene between Johnny and Nurse Kelly, which would be too much for a PG-13 rated superhero movie.
  19. Fox took this film and Rise of the Silver Surfer unavailable to buy on Xfinity so the 2015 reboot would get more royalties.
  20. There were some gratuitous cameos from Canadian reporters even though the film is set in New York.
  21. The Latverian language at the boat by the end is poorly translated Russian.
  22. The very end was sequel-bait, where Doom gets sent to Latveria.

Fantastic Qualities

  1. The grasp of the source material is good, especially compared to the later 2015 reboot and the fact that Tim Story is a fan of the comics. It kept the lighthearted tone that the franchise was known for.
  2. The extended edition is better to watch and adds 20 extra minutes of footage. For example:
    • There is some needed character development where a woman calls out Johnny Storm for throwing fireballs near her, resulting in the more heroic Human Torch by the end.
    • There is a well-animated opening credits scene.
    • The Thing’s backstory and romance with Alicia are elaborated on with more screen time.
    • Clever Easter eggs featuring Wolverine and H.E.R.B.I.E.
    • Doctor Doom is more active in taking down the Fantastic Four.
    • The Puppet Master was mentioned by Alicia, her stepdaughter.
  3. Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm/The Thing was a great casting choice, and his makeup and costume look impressive as well. Like Story, Chiklis is a big fan of the comics and his performance got a seal of approval from Stan Lee. The other actors aside from Washington are pretty good.
  4. Decent soundtrack by John Ottman. He made a memorable leitmotif for the Fantastic Four. The licensed music including "Everything Burns" and "Come On, Come In" is good, too.
  5. The final battle is somewhat awesome.
  6. Great funny moments here and there such as "Don't do drugs!" and "Where are your ears?"
  7. The dialogue is surprisingly memorable, especially from the Thing, Doom, Sue, and Johnny. Examples include "I don't want to understand it!", "You guys look like an '80s rock band" and "So you could play Twister with your girlfriend while I'm the freak of the week?!"
  8. The skiing scene is neat to look at with Sum 41's "Noots" in the background.
  9. Stan Lee cameos as a character he created, making him a one-scene wonder.
  10. As unlikeable Johnny can be, all of his hilarious dialogue was improvised by Chris Evans.
  11. Rather than just being the sole female member of the team, Sue is able to use her anger for a motherly effect.
  12. Ben Grimm’s subplot is surprisingly tear-jerking.
  13. Unlike the 2015 reboot, the film gives a more believable origin story to the Thing's catchphrase where he learned it from a prototype Thing toy.
  14. The chemistry between the main cast is good.
  15. There are some good nods to the comics such as where the Thing said he used to smoke and Sue was referred to by Johnny as the Invisible Girl.
  16. The costumes heavily resemble their comic book counterparts.
  17. The film is a considerable improvement over the Roger Corman film. Unlike that film, this film has a more balanced tone and no low-budget cheap effects.
  18. The sets including the Baxter Building are realistic.
  19. The effects for the Human Torch, Sue, and Doom are above average.
  20. While most Marvel movie villains at the time overreact, Doom is more subtly creepy.
  21. Without it, we would have never gotten Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes.

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Trivia

  • Paul Walker was originally considered for the role of Johnny Storm.
  • Zak Penn wrote an early draft that would be the basis for the more well-received video game released in June 2005. Simon Kinberg also wrote an uncredited draft. He was credited in the extended cut.
  • Hugh Jackman, George Clooney, and Brendan Fraser were all considered for the role of Reed Richards. Jackman turned it down in favor of X-Men: The Last Stand despite a Wolverine cameo in the extended cut.
  • Ali Larter, Julia Stiles, Kate Bosworth, Rachel McAdams, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Banks, KaDee Strickland, and Renée Zellweger were all considered for the role of Sue Storm. Johansson and McAdams would play Black Widow and Christine Palmer in the MCU.
  • James Gandolfini and John C. Reilly were considered for the role of Ben Grimm.
  • Tim Robbins was considered for the role of Doctor Doom. Nicolas Cage was going to play Doctor Doom and even has concept art finished but had to drop out.
  • Jessica Alba met her future husband Cash Warren (Tim Story's assistant) while filming in Vancouver in August 2004. She got pregnant with her first child 3 months after the film's sequel came out. They got married in May 2008 and eventually had 2 more kids.
  • Chris Evans, the actor who played Johnny Storm, would go on to play Captain America in the MCU.
  • It is the first Marvel film directed by a Black person, predating Black Panther by 13 years.
  • The film would have been released on July 4th, 2005 but was delayed to prevent competition with War of the Worlds.
  • This film and its sequel have gained a cult following and source of memes for those who grew up in the 2000s and for being more close to the comics than Trank’s reboot. Tim Story, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon, and Rise of the Silver Surfer actor Doug Jones approved of the following. The following also coined #ReleaseTheStoryCut and #RestoreTheStoryverse for restoring Doug Jones' original Silver Surfer voice and a future animated film with the cast returning.
  • Jessica Alba auditioned for Susan Storm because she wanted to play a superhero since childhood.
  • The screenplay is inspired by 1984's Ghostbusters, according to the crew DVD commentary.
  • Jessica Alba had a kidney infection while filming the VDI Space Station scene with Julian McMahon.
  • Chris Evans would have reprised his role in Deadpool 2.
  • This movie was avaliable to subscribe and watch on Disney+ as of Novermber 12, 2019.

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