Fantastic Four, from movie to comic to theories thereon.

The Fantastic Four

First, let me start off by saying that I am fairly forgiving of changes made to comic book stories to help them work better as movies. You want Spider-Man to shoot webs from his body rather than from devices he created? Okay. You want Superman’s fortress of solitude to pop up from a crystal? Sure. You want the Joker to have been the guy who killed Bruce Wayne’s parents? Okay, I guess.

So, I was prepared for Victor Von Doom going on the flight with the Storms, Richards and Grimm. This meant, I was okay with him having powers. Or at least I thought I would be.

The fact is, Doctor Doom may be the greatest villain in the history of comicdom. Ever. And every super hero movie relies heavily on its villain. This interpretation of Doom just didn’t come close for me to the Doom I have loved for years in the comics. I don’t necessarily blame Julian McMahon – the guy has done some really good work elsewhere – but there is no question that the imperialness of Von Doom was not sufficiently showcased in this film.

So, the movie had a strike against it right there. But I enjoyed it anyway. Let me go over some of the reasons why:

Casting – some of the characters were perfect. Chris Evans played a Human Torch so convincing that I would love to see him show up in Spider-Man 3 to strike up that legendary friendship. (The fact that they are made by different production companies means this will not happen, sadly.) Chicklis made me believe him as Ben Grimm, and Ioan Gruffud was okay as Reed. Jessica Alba didn’t have much to work with here, which I am not surprised by, for reasons that I will get in to later, but she did well with what she had. Julian McMahon was appropriately sinister as Doctor Victor Von Doom, if not grandiose enough.

There are a few things that make the Fantastic Four so interesting. One of them is the family dynamic. Ben and Reed might as well be brothers, while Sue and Johnny are brother and sister. With the eventual marriage of Sue and Reed, this makes for some complex dynamics – no one can irritate you like family can. To this end, the movie featured some of the de rigeur back-and-forth between the Thing and the Human Torch. Including a disagreement in which emotions run so high they unleash their powers on each other in public. That was some spot-on characterization.

The other thing that I have always thought was so well-done about the FF is their archetypal elemental natures. They represent the four classic elements, not only in powers, but also in character.

Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic is water – his form is pliable, and much like erosion, you give him time to work on any problem, and eventually, he will overcome it. He might encounter setbacks, but in the fullness of time, he will succeed in working his way past, over, through or around whatever obstacles are in front of him, and in a very real way, has the potential to be the most destructive of the group. There was less tech talk from him in this movie than I would have expected, but that might have been for the benefit of the audience.

Ben Grimm, The Thing is obviously earth. He is the most down to earth member of the team, which is funny since he is also their pilot. He is often the voice of common sense, and he is the man you know you can rely on. Need someone to hold back an entire planet’s army while Reed works on the solution? Call on Ben. He doesn’t know how to give up, and while he is normally so like bedrock in disposition, when he loses his temper, it comes with all the fury of an earthquake. In this movie this remains true. Throughout, Doom baits him. He remains stoic. Only Johnny can really get a reaction out him (there’s that family dynamic again) until those he loves are threatened.

Johnny Storm, The Human Torch is a stereotype among stereotypes – he is a “hothead.” Impulsive, he will take any risk for a greater thrill. But he was well portrayed in the film. His faster, higher, more extreme personality came out very well, and again, he was a strong player in the well-executed family dynamic in the film, in scenes with both sister Sue and Ben. Johnny has also typically not had a lot of luck with long-term girlfriends. He tends to use them up, consumed as fuel for his high lifestyle.

Sue Storm, The Invisible Girl (Woman for several years now in the comics) – how does one write “air?” Flighty? That would seem to be another stereotype, and hard to see Reed falling for, no matter how attractive she is, both in the comic world and as portrayed by the undeniably lovely Jessica Alba. So instead, she comes off as mercurial – her powers are tied to her emotions and those emotions are very changeable. Like a breeze, she can be calm and restrained one minute, full of anger the next, and immediately back to calm. This is a little harder to write well. But I think in this movie, Miss Alba pulls if off with what she is given. As a side note, it is interesting that the only man besides Reed to really hold Sue’s interest in the comics is Namor, the prince of Atlantis, and a representation of the tidal wave/crashing wave/whirlpool side of water. Obviously, there is something in this woman that is drawn to the water types.

Then there is Doom. In the comics, he is a combination of all of the above – implacable, fiery in temper, bound by his honour to be dependable, and quickly moved to emotion. However this is one case where the whole is not greater than the sum of the parts – he keeps losing to the FF. But one of the interesting things about Doom in the comics is same thing that is interesting about Lex Luthor on the DC side of things – he is “merely” human, yet struggles against those who are so much more. And Doom has had success over the years. But the outsider aspect of Doom compared to the Four was compromised by having him go up into space with them. Having them close enough that Ben calls him “Vic” through most of the movie was an interesting dynamic, but for this viewer, didn’t work as well as the “4 against 1” dynamic that has been maintained in the comics. He also wasn’t as arrogant as I would have liked him to be, at least pre-powers. When a bank tried to tell him he had a week to do something, I would have liked to have seen him say something more along the lines of, “You dare to dictate terms to me?”

Overall, it was a fun movie. It’s certainly not the worst of the Super Hero pictures that are out there. It’s not 100% true to the comic, but that’s okay. A little more work on the villain, and they might really have something here.