The Fantastic Four (1994)

Alex Hyde-White as "Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic"
Michael Bailey-Smith as "Ben Grimm"
Rebecca Staab as "Susan Storm/Invisible Woman"
Jay Underwood as "Johnny Storm/Human Torch"
Carl Ciarfalio as "The Thing"
Joseph Culp as "Victor von Doom/Doctor Doom"
Ian Trigger as "The Jeweler"

Written by Craig J. Nevius and Kevin Rock (based on characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)

Directed by Oley Sassone

Roger Corman's 1994 adaptation of The Fantastic Four is one of those flicks that is a sure seller at comic book and science fiction conventions. After all, it was shelved after its completion, never seeing the light of day until it was bootlegged. And why would it be released? It was made on a shoestring budget ($1.5 million), cast with relative unknowns (unless you watch UPN), and featured some really bad special effects, even for its time. It's a movie where you can find more flaws with each successive viewing. Hell, it wasn't even intended for release. The movie was made just before the property's expiration deadline, so Corman could keep the rights to the Fantastic Four.

So let's count the strikes against it. Low budget, cast of UPN has-beens (Staab was on the failed UPN drama Live Shot while Hyde-White guest-starred on the Richard Dean Anderson western Legend), really bad special effects. Add some pretty mediocre acting to that list. Now, this begs the question:

"Why do I like this movie?"

Well, first off, the story is surprisingly faithful to the comics. It starts with Reed Richards and Ben Grimm in college, along with the man who will become their archnemesis, Victor von Doom. Reed and Victor have been planning for years to harness Colossus, a cosmic energy source soon to pass Earth. Of course, something always goes wrong, and in this case, Colossus proves too unstable, disfiguring and seemingly killing Victor. In reality, Victor is alive, spirited away from the hospital by two mysterious men.

Ten years later, Reed and Ben decide to try again, this time flying into space with an experimental rocket of Reed's own design and using a special diamond to harness Colossus' power. Along for the ride are their old friends, Susan Storm and her brother Johnny. Unfortunately, an evil (and annoying) little Leprechaun-look-alike named the Jeweler steals the diamond, replacing it with a copy. Because of this, Reed's experiment goes awry again, and the ship is bombarded by cosmic radiation, crashlanding in the tiny nation of Latveria. This just goes to show that even on film, Reed Richards can't really do anything right.

To their shock and horror, Reed and his friends discover that Colossus has given them superpowers. Reed can stretch his limbs, Susan can become invisible, Johnny can throw fire, and Ben...is a big guy made with a rocky orange hide. Worse, Latveria is ruled by a masked chap named Doctor Doom (yeah, you can figure out his true identity), who wants our heroes dead. Turns out he was trying to steal the diamond as well, and later succeeds in capturing it from the Jeweler. In any case, the four adventurers escape from Latveria and return to New York. Circumstances tear them apart, and together again to face Doom once more, as The Fantastic Four.

Believe it or not, the characterization is pretty dead on. While the screenplay has some dreadful dialogue in some spots, it works for the most part to bring the characters across faithfully and with dignity, if lacking a little depth. While I mentioned mediocre acting earlier, the Fantastic Four are solidly portrayed. The leads are probably the biggest reason for seeing this movie, and while they're not spectacular, they get the job done. The heroes get off rather easily, however, as Doctor Doom's treatment is rather campy. Many of his lines are standard villain boasts and taunts or laughably bad one-liners. There is one scene where he gets his one good line: as the Jeweler holds Alicia Masters (Ben's underutilized--though for good reason--love interest) as his prisoner, Doom invades his hideout and demands that he be given the diamond. The Jeweler holds Alicia at gunpoint, threatening to kill her if Doom approaches. Doom simply responds, in wonderfully droll fashion, "So? Go ahead, I'm not stopping you." A cool moment, but Doom needs more of them.

The other factor holding Doom back is Joseph Culp. As Victor, he is actually charismatic and almost tragic. However, once the mask goes on, that charisma and tragedy is tossed out of the window. As Doctor Doom, he's pretty boring at best, and at worst...he causes shudders.

Director Oley Sassone seems to be doing the best he can on such a small budget, but even so, this isn't a visually thrilling movie. To be honest, the diminished quality of my tape did more justice to the sets than the production designer seemed to do. The FF's costumes are pretty bad as well. I could probably see something of the same quality worn at a convention somewhere in Middle America. They're a literal translation of the comic book's FF suits, with terrible results. Note to future comic book filmmakers: spandex does not work.

Doom and Thing have specially designed costumes, which are...alright, if not spectacular. Doom's suit, while an improvement over the Doom costume I saw at Wizard World the other day, is still somewhat underwhelming. The Thing's costume is of similar quality, requiring a good deal of suspension of belief to keep things going. Even so, they're pretty good when you consider the film's paltry budget.

Okay, so it definitely isn't the best comic book adaptation, or even a great one. However, for a $1.5 million cheapie, The Fantastic Four remains watchable, despite its flaws. There are some pretty horrid Marvel films out there, but this one shows a hint of promise, a promise of what could have been, had this movie been shot for about forty times its budget with an improved script and visuals. Frankly, I find it a lot better than Batman and Robin combined with every other Marvel movie prior to Blade. So in this case, I have to recommend it. Let's just hope that Peyton Reed's (Bring It On) new Fantastic Four flick can keep up the good work.

5.13.02