Was the First theatrical Fantastic Four movie really all that bad?

[tg1982]

I liked the first (released) one, although Doom was lack luster, to say the least. I feel like McMahon could have done great as Doom, if he was given something to work with. I also liked the sequel (though the giant space cloud that was Galactus was lame). They aren't the greatest CBMs but they're not the reboot either (which seems to be the worst ).

[basbash99]

I think the original ones will get a 2nd look in light of how bad the 2015 version is (reputedly). The originals were good as far as casting and capturing the bickering family dynamic amongst the team (especially torch and johnny). I can even live with the revised Doom although I know a lot of folks hated the film version. To me, add substantially more action and improved special effects to both films and they would both be decent, Cloud Galactus notwithstanding.

[Da Boat]

I think both FF and Rise of the SS were pretty enjoyable flicks who had more than a few things right. I mean God, I've seen far more worse super-hero flicks since like AS and AS2 and GL.

It's just that they did not try enough.

And it's the same problems with Fox and the FF, it's that they went cheap and the result was underwhelming. The very idea that they turned Doom into some serviceable evil corporate guy is an example of them not wanting to go all the way and make a true Doom. Same thing with Galactus. Hell Julian McMahon is a great actor and deserved more than that.

It's like they watched a few super-hero movies like X-Men and Spider-Man and thought "alright, how can we do that, use a few ideas from them and make it as simple and cheap as possible?". Their Doom had the same origin as Green Goblin/Norman Osborn! "Corporate guy is fired from his company by the board and attack them and turn Evil". I'll say this though Green Lantern also tried to copy the beats of other super-hero films and gave us something far worse. Like I said, everything is unremarkable about those two FF films but they were fun and entertaining and there wasn't that many mistakes. The effects were good too.

The actors were all fine(even Alba), they acted like they should be. Of course Evans and Chilkins were better but really it's easier to play a bombastic gruff guy like Thing and a ladies' man like Johnny than a concerned mother like Sue and a brainy guy like Reed. If the script would have TRIED more and would have been better written, Sue and Reed's parts would have been extended and they would have shined more. But since none of these guys had good stuff to work with, it's the more obvious/showy parts that people noticed. I know for a fact that people were annoyed that Sue was grilling Johnny all the time but it wasn't Alba's fault that they wrote the character annoying.

Were these films horrible? Far from it, nothing was really bad, not any scenes, really. Just altogether bland.

[RikWriter]

It was okay. The main problem, as has been said, was that Dr Doom was badly handled.

[simbob4000]

It was okay. The main problem, as has been said, was that Dr Doom was badly handled.

It also looked bad, the comedy wasn't funny, the action wasn't good, and it wasn't a well written movie. Most of the cast wasn't good in it either.

[master of read]

the first released movie wasn't so bad looking back at it. evans and chiklis knocked it out of the park with how the characters acted themselves and around each other. gruffud was pretty decent as reed. alba was.............passable. mchmon....sigh.........he's got the chops to pull off doom but they fucked up how the character was suppose be like. if it comes on tv, i watch it and get some enjoyment out of it.

[Totoro Man]

NO, the 1st film was not that bad, but it's Doom was and sucked. Ben and Johnny were spot on.

Ben and Johnny really were spot on. I hated the Human Torch in that movie-- but that's because I hate that character,LOL. in retrospect Evans did a really good job with the character. and I liked Chiklis as the Thing. Reed was merely passable. Sue Storm and Doom were absolutely wretched. Doom was terribly miscast and written. the script wasn't so great either. I felt the race-bending on Alicia worked surprisingly well. but I remember not liking the film all that much after finishing it.

[XPac]

I thought the first FF movie was fun. Not a great movie or even a great super hero movie, but fun.

I think it did a pretty good job capturing the spirit of the characters. It felt like a Fantastic Four movie. I think the problem was simply that it had a weak script.

[Heroine Addict]

It was middling at best, IMO. And then, mostly due to the efforts of future Cap Chris Evans:

... and his MANY... *ahem*...

... charms, lol.

Without his playful, wise-ass swagger as Johnny Storm & fiery Torch visuals:


... it becomes A LOT less so, and pretty much unwatchable, for me.

[5Eyes]

Although it can be said that Sue Storm and Victor Von Doom was miscast (which it was) I think they still could have pulled it off both Jessica Alba and Julian McMahon, the problem was how the character was written, problem was more they were pretty badly written character. The love triangle was a bad ideal, worst off they had Sue Storm be nothing more then eye-candy only thing worst then that was re-writing Doom's origin that was the topper.
As for the movie it self, their were flaws but easily remedied, it's was decent..

[PretenderNX01]

I think this movie is one of the reasons why Marvel stopped licensing their characters to other studios and made Marvel Studios in 2006 so they can be in control of their properties and make their own decisions.

Well, technically Marvel only licensed their properties to pay off the massive debt they were in thanks to the 1996 bankruptcy. They sold their then biggest characters in the 90s: Spider-Man, x-Men and Fantastic Four and were left with Avengers and stuff when they had enough to produce under their own banner to keep all the profits.
http://www.denofgeek.us/books-comics...cy-to-billions

That said, the move was ok. I didn't hate it but it wasn't worth watching and re-watching again and again. Certainly people can't complain it was grim and gritty.
And Stan Lee played an actual part as Willy Lumpkin the Mailman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Lumpkin

[simbob4000]

Well, technically Marvel only licensed their properties to pay off the massive debt they were in thanks to the 1996 bankruptcy. They sold their then biggest characters in the 90s: Spider-Man, x-Men and Fantastic Four and were left with Avengers and stuff when they had enough to produce under their own banner to keep all the profits.
http://www.denofgeek.us/books-comics...cy-to-billions

Well, they sold what they had then. What they've got now they had sold off to other studio before that.

That said, the move was ok. I didn't hate it but it wasn't worth watching and re-watching again and again. Certainly people can't complain it was grim and gritty.
And Stan Lee played an actual part as Willy Lumpkin the Mailman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Lumpkin

Watching the movie sure was grim. The only interesting thing about Fantastic Four was Doom's assistant/liaison was from The New Adventures of Old Christine, and when it came to cast a SHIELD liaison in Iron Man, they also cast someone from The New Adventures of Old Christine. So there was a bit after both movies came out where these two actors that played good and bad liaison characters in Marvel stuff were both on the same show together.

[AJBopp]

it had its strengths and weaknesses. Characterization was generally good in the script, and executed well by the actors. Doom is the obvious exception, and Alba was...well, an unfortunate casting decision in a script that required more than she was able to give.

The story itself fell down in several key areas. The team's breakout moment, when they made themselves known to the public, was to save lots of people from a catastrophe that they themselves created. Would have had a lot more impact if the FF wasn't essentially doing damage control. And the story never had a singular "stick in your mind" moment like Spidey saving Mary Jane from falling off the bridge, or Captain America marching into camp with the soldiers he'd rescued. Although I've watched the movie at least 3 times, I don't remember exactly what Doom's plan was, why he came up with that plan, or exactly how he planned to execute it. The details of the story were largely forgettable.

[Divine Spark]

It was mediocre.

[tombo]

I'm a big fan of Marvel's First Family, and I remember when the film came out in 05, I was embarrassed by how it looked in the ads. Batman Begins was being advertised at the same time, and the Begins ads looked so much more Cinematic, so much more like how a film should look, Francis Ford Coppola/Sergio Leone epic look, while FF looked like a cheap, fun 1990s superhero TV show, like Dean Cain's Superman.

When I saw it I actually liked it. I liked how the four of them teamed up to beat Doom at the end - they did a kind of final attack on him involving a fire hydrant which needed to combine all their skills...I can't remember the details but I liked how the team-work was worked out. Doom I remember thinking could have been cool if given time in the sequels to become the Doom we know.

The main thing I didn't like about it was that it didn't have any real New York feel. You watch Raimi's Spidey and Donner's Superman and, no matter how cartoony the film gets, the city feels so real. You see junkies, litter, run down pizza joints with angry bosses, rough apartments with weird neighbors, etc. Not even "gritty" just a real city setting. I think FF would have been better with more of that.

Personally I think the new film should have kept the same continuity, even if they had to change some of the actors. I think they should have kept the continuity but revamped the film so it was much more dark and epic than the previous 2. I know at least 2 non comic fans who hadn't heard of FF before but went to see the 2nd because they really enjoyed the first and wanted to see more banter between the characters. I think there's more to admire in a studio sticking with a series and giving it another chance instead of just rebooting it.