'Fantastic Four' stays pretty true to comic book
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER
Palm Beach Post
The plots of comic books, and the movies made from them, like the fantastically fun new Fantastic Four, might seem like a simple exercise in KAPOW! and "Don't jack up old ladies on street corners or a dude in red and blue tights might smack you in the head with a homemade spider web, thus embarrassing you in front of your fellow lawbreaking homies."
But the fanboys will have you know that it's much more complicated than that. The costumes have to be exactly right. The casting has to be true to the original spirit of the comics, or the fans are apt to go marching on Hollywood with flaming pitchforks and signed photos of Stan Lee. Most important, the director must re-create the comic's tone and message in a way that's A) true to the original and B) not a drag.
Twentieth Century Fox
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Bryan Singer, for instance, was right on the money with X-Men's satisfyingly deep moral of the importance of acceptance, but also included the fun stuff — colorful villains, love triangles, and rockin' sockin' explosions, fights and stuff that gets lit on fire. On the other hand, Ang Lee's The Hulk was all about being deep and tragic and angsty, and not enough about the smashing and the fighting and whatnot. It was no fun whatsoever. I mean, the lead character turns green, busts out of his clothes and destroys stuff. Lighten up, man.
Director Tim Story, previously known for his smart, sassy Barbershop (yay!) and his less smart, not all that sassy Taxi, is the latest director to put himself in front of the fanboy firing squad, with his take on Fantastic Four. It's been ages since I've read one of the comics, but from what I remember, Story's pretty close to the tone, if not to the exact length and shading of the gray in Mr. Fantastic's temples.
Like the proud, crusading mutants of X-Men, the scientists that make up the Fantastic Four must cope with the pain of being different and the constant choice to use their powers for good rather than for more personal gain. Personal gain which is less socially beneficial but much more fun. But unlike the X-Men, they come out of the superpowers closet much sooner, and Story, with screenwriters Mark Frost and Michael France, don't sacrifice the exhilarating "Whoo!" that accompanies human torches, chicks that turn invisible, elastic men and dudes made of rock.
The fanboys might have a wee issue with Story's tweaking of the back story — in the comic book, dashing leader Reed Richards (gravely suave Welsh thespian Ioan Gruffudd) and pilot Ben Grimm (the always affecting and (shocker!) blisteringly sexy Michael Chiklis) are scientists, while sweet Sue Storm (Jessica Dark Angel Alba) is a much-younger aspiring actress with a hankering for a hunk of Reed, and her annoying kid brother Johnny (Chris Evans) is just a showboaty gearhead.
But this time, all four of the future Four are science-minded; Reed, Ben and Sue were all MIT classmates, and Johnny, while still a showboaty gearhead, is now a pilot. Along with arrogant mega-rich industrialist and former classmate Victor Von Doom (the deliciously droll Julian McMahon), who's funding the mission, they set out on a space mission to crack the mystery of the human genetic code. Don't dare ask me how that's supposed to work, because my education was more Kool Moe Dee than MIT.
The important thing, kiddies, is that the mission (shocker squared!) goes horribly, horribly wrong, and the space station is zapped by violent clouds of cosmic radiation that drastically alter everybody's DNA, as well as garnering them cool new nicknames.
Reed, or Mr. Fantastic, gains elasticity and fetching salt-and-pepper sideburns; Sue, or Invisible Woman, gains the power of invisibility and the ability to deflect energy; Johnny, or the Human Torch, becomes, well, a human torch; and poor Ben becomes The Thing, a super-strong human brick wall. Like the brick house that the Commodores once sang of, he's mighty mighty, and just lets it all hang out. But not in the same way.
The already ruthless Victor Von Doom, meanwhile, realizes that his body is turning into steel, which renders him powerful, invincible and crazy, which is exactly what you don't want to happen to somebody who's already ruthless. He accessorizes with a cool metal mask and a fabulous cape/hood combination with rich red lining, because villains gotta represent.
Fantastic Four does show the dangers of being more fabulously freaky than society can handle — Ben Grimm's wife dumps him by laying her wedding ring at his newly stony feet, right after he rescues members of the New York City Fire Department (ungrateful hussy!). And it has a winking take on unexpected celebrity — mild-mannered Sue is panicked to find herself on the cover of a tabloid, while X-Game-ish Johnny uses his new fame to pick up girls.
There is some heavy suspension of disbelief here — mostly in accepting that human Barbie doll 24-year-old Jessica Alba is somebody's top scientist, rather than America's Next Top Model. Then again, if we're willing to buy men with elastic limbs and uber-villains with coordinating outfits, then I'm more than happy to throw Jessica a bone. And as much fun as Fantastic Four is, I'm willing to forgive pretty much anything.
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