Fantastic Four is a piece of pop-culture trash. It's got nothing much on its mind. The performances are goofy, and the effects look cheap and retro.
That's not necessarily a bad thing.
A lot of us have gotten in the habit of taking comic books very seriously. We treat them as collectibles, a subset of literature, high art. We parse the texts for allegory and metaphor and attribute mythic qualities to the heroes.
But comics, remember, were once considered throwaways. They were often quickly conceived, with sloppy narratives, and printed on the cheap on disintegrating paper.
That's the kind of comic book Fantastic Four tries to replicate. And it does, in a way. It's goofy and weightless, cartoonish and colorful.
It's also lazy and inept. The best that can be said of Fantastic Four is that it offers a break from the solemn, overwrought comics adaptations that Hollywood has been tossing our way. It's a welcome reminder: One of comics' pleasures is the dumb fun they provide.
But here's the problem: Fantastic Four isn't that much fun. The film begins by introducing the heroes-to-be: Reed Richards, the smartest scientist on Earth; Sue Storm, his ex- (and future?) girlfriend and an MIT grad; sidekick Ben Grimm and Sue's wild brother, Johnny.
The four, plus dashing mogul Victor Von Doom, get zapped by a radioactive cloud during a space exploration mission. Returning home, they discover their special powers. Read has flexy limbs, Sue can turn invisible, Ben is super strong, and Johnny can flick fire out of his fingers.
After being forced into superhero action, the group becomes known to the world as the Fantastic Four. They fight, hone their new powers, bond, battle evil, etc.
Since director Tim Story never declares his intentions to make his film a spoof, it's no compliment to say that Fantastic Four sometimes feels like one. The dialogue scenes are more wooden and clumsy than a soap opera audition. The effects seem like digital updates of a '50s B horror film. And the narrative consists of a string of somewhat amusing side trips.
Mike Judge, the creator of Beavis and Butt-head, once said he deleted a phrase -- "Beavis envy" -- that he felt was too clever for the show. Either intentionally or not, Fantastic Four also seems to have bypassed anything that might be considered substantial.
The film skips opportunities to explore our fascination with celebrity, the challenges of being special, and the dangers of rogue science. Instead, Story, also the director of Barbershop, builds a fluffy ensemble.
Unfortunately, Fantastic Four never manages to connect us with its characters, so when the explosive denouement arrives, on the streets of lower Manhattan, there's not much tension.
Still, after a string of weighty, urgent comics adaptations that are good (Batman Begins, Sin City), mediocre (Constantine) and wretched (Elektra), Fantastic Four is a nice refreshment.
Anyone who really believes the original Fantastic Four is, as its tagline insists, the greatest comic on Earth may be disappointed. Anyone who has ever read a comic and then tossed it out probably won't be.
