Fantastic Four (2005 film): Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 07:06, 16 December 2005
- For the 1994 Fantastic Four film, see Fantastic Four (1994 film)
Fantastic Four | |
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File:Fantastic four poster.jpg | |
Directed by | Tim Story |
Written by | Michael France Mark Frost |
Produced by | Avi Arad Bernd Eichinger Chris Columbus Ralph Winter |
Starring | Ioan Gruffudd Jessica Alba Michael Chiklis Chris Evans Julian McMahon |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Running time | 105 min. |
Budget | $100,000,000 |
Fantastic Four is a 2005 movie based on the Marvel Comics comic Fantastic Four, directed by Tim Story and released by 20th Century Fox.
The film was released in the U.S. and Canada on July 8, 2005.
Plot
Brilliant, but bankrupt scientist Reed Richards is convinced that all evolution is caused by clouds of cosmic energy. He calculates that Earth is going to pass one of these clouds soon, and together with his partner, Ben Grimm, pleas to his MIT classmate, ultra-rich Victor von Doom, CEO of his own enterprise, to let him onto his space station. Von Doom agrees, but only under the condition that he has the last hand in all the experiments. They also meet Susan Storm, von Doom's right hand, and her brother Johnny, the maverick pilot. Susan also attended MIT and dated Reed at the time, and this creates some tension.
The quintet travels to space to observe the cosmic energy clouds, but the clouds materialise well ahead of schedule, and all five are zapped by its vast energies. They make it home intact, but suddenly, they begin to mutate and develop their characteristic powers. Although their powers help to prevent a catastrophe on a busy street bridge, Reed, Susan and Ben see them as a curse and work on a healing chamber. Only Johnny seems to embrace his powers, and clashes with Ben, who evidently drew the shortest straw, becoming a superstrong rock creature. His disfigurement causes his wife to leave him, but he later gains another girl friend in the blind woman, Alicia Masters, who recognizes his desirability beneath his rocky body.
While Ben broods about his situation on a bridge, he stops another man about to commit suicide by jumping off. However, Ben's appearance so frightens the would be jumper that he falls into the bridge's traffic, forcing Ben to jump down to save him by forcefully stopping a truck, inadvertently causing a chain reaction pile up on the bridge. Just as Ben's compatriots looking for him arrive at the bridge, the accident soon escalates as a fire breaks out in the wrecks while an arriving fire truck crashes, forcing the four to use their powers to prevent disaster. They are successful and the media throngs them and immediately uses Johnny's impromptu group name for themselves, The Fantastic Four.
Von Doom is turning into organic metal capable of manipulating energy. He sees the opportunity to finish off his rival Reed once and for all, tricks Ben into turning on his friends, thinking that they were not working on a cure with due diligence. However, the needed machine is ready and Doom tricks Ben into using it and becoming normal again. However, Doom immediately attacks Ben and then captures Reed. After freezing him to prevent him using his stretch powers and torturing him in that state, Dooms fires a missile towards Johnny who must use his powers to fly away to lead the missile to open water where he ignites a garbage scow to lure the missile away from himself. Susan realizes where Reed is and confronts Doom while Ben decides that he must become the Thing again to confront his enemy.
Eventually, Ben fights Doom on the street until the rest of the team joins him. Together under Reed's direction, the Fantastic Four vanquish their arch enemy with a coordinated attack that seeming leaves Doom as a statue of inert metal.
In the end, the foursome decide to embrace their roles as superheroes and officially organize as the Fantastic Four with Reed proposing to Sue, and her accepting while Ben, with the help of Alicia, comes to terms with his condition. However, Doom's associate is transporting his employer's supposed dead body back to his homeland of Latveria, where he could establish a real power base if he fully revives.
Reaction
After the disaster of the 1994 Fantastic Four film, expectations were high. The critical reaction was mostly negative, scoring only a 25% at Rotten Tomatoes, a movie review aggregation website. The movie was criticized for weak storytelling and flat characters — especially the bland Doctor Doom, arguably one of the hallmark villains in the Marvel Comics world. In both areas, critics felt that this movie was widely surpassed by both Batman Begins and Sin City, two comic book movies that were released in the same period. Those who did like the film to some degree often praised Michael Chiklis for accurately depicting his character's difficult adjustment to his transformation in a moving fashion while Chris Evans' character was considering a refreshing change of pace for modern superhero adaptations of a superhero who immediately takes delight in his powers without a resulting tragedy linked to them. Many fans derided the producers' decision to place Chiklis in a bodysuit rather than using computer-generated effects.
However, Fantastic Four proved a surprise box office hit on its opening weekend, apparently ending a major prolonged box office slump that was causing concern in the American film industry. However, some attribute the film's monetary success due to its exhaustive marketing campaign of tie-ins with many major companies and fast food distributors, as well as enormous poster banners in many heavily populated areas (such as shopping centres, big cities, etc.). As of September, the film has totalled over $300 million worldwide. This has made the making of a sequel probable and fans hope that it will address the problems of the original much like how the Star Trek feature series progressed, or expanding and bettering the franchise as Spider-Man 2 had done. Recently, Fantastic Four 2 has been planned for a 2007 summer release.
Main cast
- Ioan Gruffudd – Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards)
- Jessica Alba – The Invisible Woman (Susan Storm)
- Michael Chiklis – The Thing (Ben Grimm)
- Chris Evans – The Human Torch (Johnny Storm)
- Julian McMahon – Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom)
Trivia
- This is the second live action Fantastic Four movie to be filmed. The previous attempt, a b-grade film produced by Roger Corman was never released officially. See Fantastic Four (1994 movie).
- After the release of The Incredibles, the ending of the movie was rewritten because it was thought to be too similar.
- The film's budget was originally rumored to be a near-record $200,000,000.
- George Clooney was originally tapped to be Reed Richards, but due to budgetary concerns no negotiations were proposed. The role of Susan Storm was heavily rumored from Rachel McAdams, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Bosworth, Scarlett Johansson and even Julia Stiles.
- Brendan Fraser was also considered for the part of Reed Richards, Paul Walker was rumored to be Johnny Storm, and Tim Robbins was considered for Doctor Doom.
- As in all Marvel Comics-based films, Fantastic Four co-creator Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance. He is Willie Lumpkin, the mailman who greets the team on their way to the Baxter Building elevator.
- Michael Chiklis fought to have a "real" Thing rather a computer-generated imagery character.
- When Michael Chiklis' wife, Michelle (who suffers from claustrophobia), first saw him in his The Thing outfit, she suffered a panic attack and had to be escorted off the set.
- There are 2 different versions of scene which includes Jessica Alba and Ioan Gruffudd as Sue and Reed. One version (the original) features the pair in the Planetarium in which they communicate their feelings for each other properly without an argumentative tone, this ends in a inevitable kiss. The second version (used in the theatrical release) features the two outside, looking towards the Statue Of Liberty, similar lines were used but it ended where Susan turns invisible before Reed can kiss her and a joke was used during the line "a stronger man" - by Reed where he elongates his jaw to become square.