DM MEETS THE FANTASTIC FOUR

FANTASTIC FOUR (12A)
reviewed by David Mahmoudieh at the UK premier

In a decade that has both beheld and beloved the rapid ressurrection of comic book heroes and their seamless inter-marriage from the smoulder of the sallowed page to the silver-surfing screen, it seems somewhat sardonic that the Fantastic Four – the longest-running comic series in history and instrumental godfatherly envoy of the art-form – took so long to line up alongside their celluloid-transformed brood.

With a wait that long (44 years in all) every year adds its mass to the hulking weight of expectation intrinsic in those fans who’ve been begging so long for a live-motion adaptation beyond that of the early 90’s cartoon series. The bad news, is they’re probably too old to remember. The better news for them and everyone else, or, more specifically, those foreign to the cult series, is that any prior acquanted fluency with the F4 weeklies is not needed in order to enjoy what’s on show.


(Yours truly at the film's premier in London)

Universally coherent for non-fanatics, yet - to the delight of F4 anoraks everywhere - still staying faithful to the series’ foundational conception, The Fantastic Four comprise of four ordinary people who, whilst not-so-fantastic, agree to journey into the nexus of a cosmic storm for a hyper-advanced space research mission.

Leading that exploration is ambitious inventor Reed Richards (Ioan “Hornblower” Gruffudd) who aims to crack the confidentials of the human genetic code. Joining him in orbit are close friend and astronaut Ben Grimm (Michael "Family Guy" Chiklis), prodigious (even if a little over-excitable) pilot Jonny (Chris "Perfect Score" Evans) and, to make matters just that little extra complex than they need to be, Ben’s sister and Reed’s ex-love, genetic scientist Sue Storm (Jessica “Dark Angel” Alba). Last but not least is Sue’s new love and the project’s sugar-daddy, investment billionaire Victor Von Doom (Julian “Nip Tuck” McMahon), whose motives don’t quite seem to match the scientific interests of his beneficiaries.



However, when the assignment goes off beam and the team become exposed to extreme levels of radiation, the code Reed so desperately seeks to crack more-or-less ends up cracking them, as each become struck down with a special cosmic power which has permenantly altered their DNA. Ah, poor things.

For some reason I find the ability to set yourself on fire and remained unharmed from the flames (Johnny, The Human Torch), dissappear completely from sight (Sue, The Invisible Woman) and send your super-stretchy hand down the local shops for the morning paper (Reed, Mr. Fantastic) seem pretty useful additions to the human anatomy. One that doesn’t seem so fun though is having a rock for a head (Ben, The Thing). And a leg. And an arm. And, well... pretty much the lot.




Ben’s rather heartless wife isn’t too impressed either. Mind you, I’m sure there’s a few spouses out there who wouldn’t be best pleased if their husbands came home one night as a big, fat, granite door stop.

Unfortunately for the Four, there's every reason they need to come to terms with their newfound, even if unwanted, powers - and fast. The tellingly-tagged Von Doom has also harnessed a power, the ability to conduct an electrical charge and use it as a weapon, which he seems to be having fun experimenting with, must to the distress of others. Once adept in his abilities, bad egg Von Doom sets out to eliminate his four compatriots knowing only the can stop him from world domination.



Half X-Men, half The Incredibles, Fantastic Four successfully meshes the most expensive special FX money can buy with visually pleasing action and a script that purposefully doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Narratively it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. The plot is a familiarly typical super-hero premise, the character development relies largely on their quirky, idiosynchratic mind-sets and the very linear script devices are representive of the traditional 'heroes journey' story structure. But the effects are what make the Fantastic Four and for once they're effects which seem to add to and heighten the film's core personality conflicts rather than detract from them. You also need to take into account the audience this film was made for. Fantastic Four is, by classification, a children's film and doesn't try to be anythig else - so the fact older more corrupted heads like me amongst others were still able to enjoy its spectacle is testament to the film’s universability. And sometimes that’s an even more difficult skill; to make something everybody likes rather than something a select few adore.


(Jessica Alba and minder arrive at the film's afterparty)

It’s through this light-hearted note that Director Tim “Barbershop” Story succeeds in establishing an accepted, sufficient tone when the particulars or vain romantic theme let you down. What certainly won’t let you down though are the aforementioned action sequences which facilitate pure filmic finery. Some of the CGI work is extremely impressive – for benefit’s sake, let’s even say Fantastic.

Take this for what it is and the Fantastic Four is a surprisingly enjoyable ninety-minute step outside of the everyday circle.

THE AFTERPARY

The post-premier party was held at the hip CC Club in Trocadero, Leicester Square. All four fantastics attended where I got my chance to interview some of them on what it was like to take on playing some of the oldest and most popular super-heroes in comic book history:

DM: [to Ioan] Was there any pressure playing a character with such a huge comic-book fan-base?

IG: That was a very big pressure actually. We did a conference to announce the film and there were literally thousands of fans of the original comic books who wanted to see who was going to be playing their current or childhood heroes. That really hit me as to how great a following the series has.

DM: Did you ever worry that perhaps your interpretation of the character wouldn't match what others had built in their minds as to how Reed Richards would appear on screen?

IG: Yeah, I mean you just have to keep confidence in yourself and do your best. There was lots of prep, I read a lot of the original comics and built my own picture of the character. The thing is though, the script was loyal to all the character's depictions in the comic so you got the feeling you were more-or-less giving an accurate portrayal if you stuck to what was in there.

DM: This was very different from Hornblower, King Arthur and some of the other period drama genre projects you've been so renowned for - was your creative process of slipping into the suit of a superhero any different?

IG: I didn't really do anything different when preparing. It was quite new with all the digital scenes - on that level, anyway. There was a small bit of digital manipulation in King Arthur, as there is on most productions these days, but this was at the highest end and really amazing in all honesty. We had these special suits which were incredibly tight actually, but they picked up all of our movement and transferred the information to be used digitally which is then enhanced afterward and gives the effect we have these special powers. Some of the technology used was incredible - and really quite exciting.

DM: You've got a fairly broad Welsh accent, meaning you had to adapt it to an American dialect. I know you're used to altering your voice to periodic English, but have you ever had to perfect an American accent before?

IG: I have, yes, but not on as major a level as this. I worked extremely hard mastering the accent to ensure it sounded authentic. Well, I hope it sounded authentic anway - did it??

DM: It certainly did - the hard work obviously showed! Now you've proved just how well you've nailed the accent, do you hope on a more personal level the film will open up further opportunities in Hollywood for you?

IG: Well that's the plan, but you never know how the film's going to be received. I think as a film it's got everything going for it. Hopefully it'll will do well, then I'll hopefully be able to do well out of it also.

DM: Would you come back for a sequel?

IG: Definitely. I would love to.

Next up was "Human Torch" Chris Evans (below), who was so laid back he was almost horizontal:

DM: You've got arguably the best power of the lot - and seemed to get plenty of license in showing it off. Were any of the others envious of your exploits?

CE: Everybody, everybody was jealous. Don't get me wrong, they've all got cool powers too, but covering yourself in flames - man, that's cool.

DM: Were you a fan of the original series?

CE: I was, but mainly the cartoons. I used to watch them when I was younger. It's pretty surreal to think back to when I used to watch the series not knowing then that one day I'd be playing one of the characters. It's pretty amazing.

DM: There's already talk of a sequel, is that something you'd be interested in?

CE: Definitely, most definitely. We have to wait and see what the reaction's like first but, yeah, I hope the movie gets a good reception so I'll be able to suit up again.

DM: This is perhaps your biggest role to date - and you beat off the likes of Paul Walker for the part. You must have been delighted to land the role.

CE: It was a huge opportunity and I had to make sure I made the most of it. I know there were a few guys who auditioned for the part but thankfully I got the call and from then on just wanted to do my best to make sure I did the character justice. There's a lot of fans of this series out there who would never forgive or forget if we screwed it up. (Director) Tim was quite faithful to the comic's vision as well, which also really helped.

DM: Tell me a bit about Johnny, he seems the wildest of the bunch. What's your interpretation of him?

CE: Johnny definitely sees himself as the bad boy, he's definitely the rogue - but a good one, he's got a good heart and he isn't stupid. He kind of uses his personality as a guise for the fact he's doing a job where people's lives are in his hands, it's kinda his way of handling it all. It's like when everybody else gets their powers they're a little wary and cautious of them at first, but Johnny wants to experiment, he wants to push his powers to the limit.

DM: Some of those powers involve amazing special effects which were probably difficult to visualize how they would look on screen when you were filming them. What was it like when you eventually got to see those results?

CE: Well I had to had to wait a while to see them (the finished effects) because there was so much post-production and I was really itching to know how the end product of all that hard work was gonna turn out. It does get quite taxing when you're up on wires and everything, mentally and physically taxing, but when I saw it I was really blown away by what the special FX guys did. I kinda had a rough idea as to what it was going to look like, but actually seeing it was an amazing experience.

I didn't get a chance this time round to interview Chiklis or Alba – but hey, two out of four ain't bad. Guess I'll just have to wait for the sequel...

© David Mahmoudieh 2005