Borealis
Catholic Homeschool Dad
This movie was, appropriately, fantastic. My son and I watched the afternoon show today, and it was great. The audience cheered when Johnny did the 'Flame On' thing and really flew for the first time. The FX for Reed were obvious CGI, but exactly what are people expecting? Ioan Gruffud might be able to stretch as an actor, but even Jim Carrey needed CGI to become the Mask, and he's the closest thing we have to a real live rubberface.
The Doom storyline was...eh. At least he's from Latveria, though you wouldn't know it from his accent. It isn't even mentioned until much later in the movie. And there is no question that Doom is EVIL, pretty much right from the start. His plan is simple: forget taking over the world, rescuing his mother's soul from Mephisto, or stealing Blackbeard's treasure...he just wants to kill the Fantastic Four. Hey, it works for me.
Still, there are sequal possibilities all over, and watching the FF in action was just pure fun. There's some angst for the Thing, of course; it wouldn't be the FF without Thing-angst. But it doesn't have the heavy-handed moral issues that predominate the X-Men movies, nor do we get the constant dose of Spider-Man-esque 'I've got these awesome powers but my life still sucks'.
The origin seems to take more from the newer, Ultimate FF comic series as opposed to the original, which had Sue and Johnny more or less passengers on Reed's rocket flight. Now Sue's a scientist and Johnny's an extreme-sports nut who flunked out of NASA. But watching the team in action, particularly during the showdown with Doom at the end, is exactly what I wanted to see, along with the spot-on Thing-Torch back-and-forth rivalry. Interesting stretchy effects (some of them even top what Pixar did with Elasti-girl, believe it or not), and the Torch is just absolutely awesome. If only Fox had done Spider-Man instead of Columbia...we could dream of the Torch-Spidey teamup that every true comic fan wants to see. Of course, we could always have the Thing and Wolverine sit down over a few hundred beers...it wouldn't quite be the same, but you take what you can get.
The Thing gets the best 'human' scenes, as he struggles to cope with his transformation. Simple things like picking up a discarded ring or drinking from a glass become trials, and it's only when he realizes that his friends will realy need his 'Thingness' that he accepts what he has become. Of course, having someone like Alicia Masters along always helps.
No wedding in this one, but it's certainly a possibility for the (please let there be a) sequel. The special FX were great, especially the Torch and Reed; imagine what they'll be able to do in another year or two.
I give it an enthusiastic, FANTASTIC two Things up.
The Doom storyline was...eh. At least he's from Latveria, though you wouldn't know it from his accent. It isn't even mentioned until much later in the movie. And there is no question that Doom is EVIL, pretty much right from the start. His plan is simple: forget taking over the world, rescuing his mother's soul from Mephisto, or stealing Blackbeard's treasure...he just wants to kill the Fantastic Four. Hey, it works for me.
Still, there are sequal possibilities all over, and watching the FF in action was just pure fun. There's some angst for the Thing, of course; it wouldn't be the FF without Thing-angst. But it doesn't have the heavy-handed moral issues that predominate the X-Men movies, nor do we get the constant dose of Spider-Man-esque 'I've got these awesome powers but my life still sucks'.
The origin seems to take more from the newer, Ultimate FF comic series as opposed to the original, which had Sue and Johnny more or less passengers on Reed's rocket flight. Now Sue's a scientist and Johnny's an extreme-sports nut who flunked out of NASA. But watching the team in action, particularly during the showdown with Doom at the end, is exactly what I wanted to see, along with the spot-on Thing-Torch back-and-forth rivalry. Interesting stretchy effects (some of them even top what Pixar did with Elasti-girl, believe it or not), and the Torch is just absolutely awesome. If only Fox had done Spider-Man instead of Columbia...we could dream of the Torch-Spidey teamup that every true comic fan wants to see. Of course, we could always have the Thing and Wolverine sit down over a few hundred beers...it wouldn't quite be the same, but you take what you can get.
The Thing gets the best 'human' scenes, as he struggles to cope with his transformation. Simple things like picking up a discarded ring or drinking from a glass become trials, and it's only when he realizes that his friends will realy need his 'Thingness' that he accepts what he has become. Of course, having someone like Alicia Masters along always helps.
No wedding in this one, but it's certainly a possibility for the (please let there be a) sequel. The special FX were great, especially the Torch and Reed; imagine what they'll be able to do in another year or two.
I give it an enthusiastic, FANTASTIC two Things up.
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When you go to a movie expecting it to clear out the Academy Awards, then you'll be disappointed 90% of the time. Go to a movie for enjoyment, and you'll be even happier when it is Academy Award clearing material. 
