Review: “Fantastic 4”

We are getting more superhero flicks than ever before right now and the latest comes from the Marvel comic Fantastic 4 (PG-13). In it, out-of-luck scientist Reed Richards leads an expedition into space to try to get himself back on his feet with a decent study of a cosmic storm. The storm ends up giving Reed and his entire team super powers. From there, Mr. Fantastic, Thing, Invisible Girl, and Human Torch must learn to deal with their new skills. Naturally, something evil comes back, too, as Reed’s nemesis, Victor Von Doom, also has a few talents of his own. It is campy, action-packed, and fun – everything a good superhero flick should be. It doesn’t have much depth and it doesn’t try to be realistic, but this isn’t much of a problem because we, as the audience, know how silly these folks look in their costumes but it is fun so we enjoy the ride. The major weakness of these superheroes (and the film in general) is the bickering. None of the four seem to be able to get along with one another and this leads to plenty of friendly fire. Then again, they only have one villain so who else should they practice their powers on but each other. The special effects are out-of-this-world (and blow anything seen in War Of The Worlds completely out of the water). In the end, Fantastic 4 is a far cry from X-Men or Spider-Man but it is the best superhero flick of the summer.