(This review may contain spoilers).
I’ve seen the original versions of the Fantastic Four films and also got to know the characters through reading some of their comics. When I first saw this advertised, I immediately wanted to see it.
I liked the fact that the film spent time establishing the characters. The way they gained their powers was different to the original version, but I felt the other dimension added a new element to the movie. It was good to see the friendship between Reed and Ben… and also see the conflict that was generated later on.
I would have liked to see a bit more of Sue in the movie. Although her established character made her actions make sense, I thought that her gaining of the abilities was something that probably shouldn’t have worked. I would have liked to see more of her relationship with her father and brother. There was a lot of potential in their interactions, but the movie didn’t really focus on Sue and Johnny the same way it did on Reed and Ben, which was a shame.
I did like Johnny’s character quite a lot and it was nice to see him come out with some of the wisecracks his character tends to be known for… though for a Marvel movie, there wasn’t as much humour as I was expecting.
Most of the science was fairly easy to understand and there were also times I felt a lot of sympathy for the characters, particularly Ben after he was affected. I also thought that the responses of the people around them made sense… even if there was the strong feeling that they were seen as tools at best and weapons at worst.
There were some nice special effects in this movie and I was glad to see there wasn’t much romance, since I feel films become too bogged down in love interests nowadays. The film, however, was rather anticlimactic. There was a lot of buildup… but the ending kind of fell short.
Even so, this film was entertaining to watch. While I thought the characters were a bit too young (I think they were probably only about twenty at the most), I liked the actors and recognised them from other things I’ve seen and enjoyed.
Just a headsup… my sister and I stayed till the end of the credits, but there was no extra scene. No need to stay.
Ink of Blood 