I really wanted to see this over the summer, but schedules did not permit it, so it was on pay-per-view that we finally saw it this weekend. After seeing the first FF movie, the whole family agreed that the movie reviewing hacks missed the point. The FF is not Marvel's top property, or their most interesting team, they've never been the best comics or story lines in their stable, but they have always been good clean comics fun....which (except for a few mild swear words) is exactly what this movie is. It is much like FF #1 was: It's like reading a FF comic Thirty five years ago, except on the big screen. They've done a better job of making Reed their leader (though Sue appears truly in control of Reed). The patter between Johnny and Ben is spot on, and even though it's a plot device, having Johnny switch powers with everyone was funnier than I thought. I browsed our local reviews (not too deeply) when the movie came out, and Rotten Tomatoes after we watched it, and BOY is there a lot of hate for this movie. Anyone who is expecting a FF movie to be a SpiderMan 1 or 2 is extremely misguided. FF was always the comic that drew the younger kids in (How can a 7 year old resist a big orange rock guy?), who then moved on to other titles. The Silver Surfer/Galactus storyline was maybe a bit much to translate to a movie screen (Galactus as a big smokey space lamprey does not come across as scary in the least). I knew that there would be no Galactus perse, but the shadow that covers Saturn at the start of the movie is clearly the shape of his head. The actual battle with Galactus is just a formality as the real battles are the ones between Reed and General Hager, the internal conflict of the surfer, and the one with Dr. Doom that exploits the plot device of Johnny being able to absorb the other FF's powers. We all really enjoyed the movie for exactly what it was; simple comics entertainment (much like watching Justice League or Legion of Super Heroes from Warner animation).
I really only felt cheated once: There is a scene in the Fantasticar (which is a Dodge product placement in case you hadn't heard, Johnny asks: "Does it have a Hemi?" to which Reed says "Of course") where Ben runs down the plot to make sure everyone watching knows what is at stake, this kind of scene just irks me (and you see it in a LOT of movies). Other than that the movie is action packed, lots of fun super-hero banter, some smaltzy "everyone needs someone" romance talk, good battles, some contrived science (much like any Star Trek episode), and much clobberin'.
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