a very low-budget rendition of the characters merely to retain the film rights. That film was never officially released to the public, but a robust bootleg market has assured that Marvel fans the world over have seen it. Weirdly, its cheapness and corny script served the characters well; the Fantastic Four, even more than most of their fantastical comic book contemporaries, are corny and demonstrative. Both the heroes and the villains they face tend to speak in operatic hyperbole. There are a lot of exclamation points.
But then, there’s a whimsical, relatable element to the Fantastic Four as well. They’re one of the only superhero teams that also functions simultaneously as a cosmic adventure epic and a dysfunctional family sitcom.
The three following cinematic attempts at a “Fantastic Four” movie were mixed, at best. The two directed by Tim Story in 2005 and 2007 had some hokey elements (positive), but lacked intelligence, wit, or many acts of heroism. The 2015 “Fantastic Four” from Josh Trank was a dour, downbeat, joyless remix that never committed to its strange body horror elements. Shakman’s new film is the first “Fantastic Four” movie that balances the team’s necessary, wimpy corniness with astonishing spatial adventures, emerging as one of the better superhero films of the year. This is a “Fantastic” quartet of squares. They are scientists and nerds in a genre overstuffed with soldiers and fighters. They can serve as the mentally healthy counterpoint to the wounded violence-dealers in Jake Schreier’s “Thunderbolts*.”
And, even more so than James Gunn’s “Superman,” they live in a world of hope. The Fantastic Four are so capable and intelligent, they have literally changed the world.
