In a sentenceChris Evans and Michael Chiklis seem to have arrived for a comedy; the superhero business keeps interrupting
Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), Sue Storm (Jessica Alba), Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) and Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) form the central quartet in this superhero adventure. Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) and Alicia Masters (Kerry Washington) also feature in a story that combines science fiction, fantasy and action with comic exchanges between its leads. Tim Story directs from a screenplay by Mark Frost and Michael France. This 2005 film runs for 106 minutes and carries a PG certificate.
Tim Story’s Fantastic Four has enough warmth between its leads to suggest a decent comedy, but too little invention to sustain an action film. Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis make the dull stretches less punishing without making them worthwhile.
Tim Story’s Fantastic Four is intermittently pleasant and too often dull, a superhero adventure whose cast suggests a better comedy than the film delivers. The exchanges between the leads give it some warmth, and its lack of solemnity is welcome. We do not need a superhero adventure to take itself seriously. But light entertainment still needs invention, and too much of this film feels content merely to get the characters through their next piece of business.
Chris Evans understands the appeal. His Johnny Storm has the confidence to make a slight joke feel worth telling, and the performance gives the dialogue a lift it seldom finds elsewhere. We laughed at his one-liners because he seems so pleased with himself, rather than because the writing is especially sharp. That comic assurance matters: it gives us someone to enjoy watching even when the film is struggling to find something interesting to do.
Michael Chiklis is the other reason to persist. As Ben Grimm, he supplies feeling without making the comedy seem like an interruption, and his presence makes the group easier to care about. The humour and warmth come from a performance that feels attentive to the people around him. Yet neither he nor Chris Evans can make the ensemble work all the time; there are stretches when we are simply waiting for one of them to revive it.
Ioan Gruffudd’s Reed Richards and Jessica Alba’s Sue Storm leave less of an impression, though the screenplay does them few favours. Mark Frost and Michael France give the actors material that too rarely develops beyond the immediately obvious exchange. Julian McMahon’s Victor Von Doom does not provide enough force to make the less amusing passages compelling. The relationships need more surprise within the scenes already there.
Oliver Wood’s cinematography seldom gives the action a shape or image worth remembering. Bill Boes’s production design is similarly short of character; the surroundings do little to make this particular superhero adventure feel distinct. The effects associated with Johnny Storm offer some welcome visual pleasure, but they cannot give the rest of the action more personality. John Ottman’s music tries to stir some excitement, with limited success.
William Hoy’s editing keeps things moving, sometimes at the expense of letting a scene settle into a rhythm. The result can feel hurried without being lively, which is a dispiriting achievement for a film running 106 minutes. A superhero comedy needs enough patience for its cast to become enjoyable company, as well as enough energy for the action. Here the changes of pace too often leave the jokes unfinished and the action without much momentum.
The modest pleasures are real, and admirers of Chris Evans or Michael Chiklis will find something to enjoy. They are too scattered for us to recommend the whole film on their strength. Come for those two performances if that is enough; do not expect the action to repay the patience.
The consensus on Fantastic Four is mixed, with praise clustering around the cast rather than the storytelling. Chris Evans’s Human Torch is the clearest point of agreement: the reviews repeatedly credit him with humour, charisma and some of the film’s livelier moments. Michael Chiklis also earns praise for bringing heart to the Thing. Several critics find intermittent pleasure in the leads’ chemistry, even when the surrounding film strikes them as rushed or poorly executed.
The divide concerns how far those performances compensate for the weaknesses. Reservations centre on an underdeveloped script, uneven pacing and a lack of visual flair; the harshest verdicts describe a dull, cynical exercise. Eye for Film dissents, finding an enjoyable, unpretentious adventure and praising the effects despite a pedestrian script. The available verdicts span enthusiasm to outright dismissal, though three of the eight listed reviews provide no readable detail to explain their positions.
The page could not be read, so the critic’s verdict cannot be determined. No specific praise or complaint is available from the accessible text.
Read the full review →The review’s verdict and specific praise or complaints are unavailable in the visible paywall shell. The page identifies Tim Story’s 2005 film, but provides no review text.
Read the full review →The accessible page metadata identifies this as a film review, but provides no verdict. It offers no readable detail about what the critic praises or criticizes.
Read the full review →Schager finds the film chintzy, mediocre, and poorly executed. He singles out Chris Evans’s Human Torch as the source of the film’s best effects and one-liners.
Read the full review →Leydon finds the film uneven and slapdash, with an amiable lightness that makes it entertaining in fits and starts. He praises the leads’ seriocomic give-and-take, especially Chris Evans’s charismatic performance, while criticizing the rushed feel and lack of visual flair.
Read the full review →Richards finds the film cynically constructed and unforgivably dull, with only fleeting bursts of enjoyment. He praises Michael Chiklis and Chris Evans for bringing heart and humour to the story.
Read the full review →
The IncrediblesA superhero family whose arguments matter as much as its action.
Mystery Men · not reviewed yetEndearingly inadequate superheroes, with more room for the ensemble to be funny.
The Rocketeer · not reviewed yetAn adventure that remembers charm is useful even when someone can fly.
The Host · not reviewed yetA far darker Korean creature film, with family friction and awkward heroism.
The Invisible Boy · not reviewed yetAn Italian adolescent superhero story that gives invisibility an emotional purpose.
Free account
Two lists that know where things are streaming, collections you can share, your own score beside ours, and Discover that remembers what you have seen.
