I'm impressed. They clearly learned from the mistakes of others in the last few years. This movie has a lot going for it. The pacing is very solid. Talky scenes are balanced off by more actiony scenes, not fights necessarily, but things happening, plot progressing, rather than just exposition. Jessica Alba has clearly taken some acting lessons. She's no longer a mannequin, although her skin and blue eyes/blond hair really don't work. She's Latina! You have to make that hair look like it could grow out of that head, and the blue contacts don't look great. I'm especially impressed that, over and above the pacing, the film is not three friggin' hours long. I believe it clocks in at around 100 minutes, but it still feels like a big film with its own subplots and dramatic/character moments. It doesn't feel short, it doesn't feel long. It's a tight little script.
My complaints, and they're relatively minor, are twofold. First, nobody, at any point, notes how odd it is that the US military just flies around the world without any contact with local government or military personnel. I mean, two military helicopters fly over London and there's no sign of the British army, there's representative of the UK government. It's simply taken for granted that the American army gets to do that, which is a huge oversight. Maybe there are deleted scenes that address it, maybe it's some kind of covert commentary (as in, I'm supposed to feel uncomfortable with them flying where ever the hell they want to). Either way, it bugged the crap out of me. Other than that, politically, I can't complain. It's pretty good. Oh wait, no. There is yet another completely contrived excuse to imply Alba's nudity, which is annoying.
The other complaint is the voice casting, and my friend Al pointed this out during the movie. Doom sounds a little too American. I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that I agree. In their version of the story, Victor has been living in the US for a great deal of time. His accent is subtle and probably tweaked for maximum charisma (he's an egomaniac, after all), and part of me would be very bothered if he had a stereotypical "Slavic bad-guy" voice, but once he's puts on that helmet, I do want his voice to drop and octave and for him to speak of himself in the 3rd person. Ironically, I'd like him to have the Surfer's voice, which is the always wonderful Larry Fishbourne. It's ironic because I don't like his voice as Silver Surfer. Norin Radd is supposed to be kind of a milquetoast guy who was pulled into (he he) "cosmic" affairs. I've always imagined him with a very steady but not deep, booming, Darth Vadery kind of voice. I want him to be lighter, even a tad angelic. Flip those two voices, and I'd be happy.
But to get back to things I liked: they play up Reed's rising to the challenge of being team leader very well. His "No, I was a good little nerd" speech is great, and he has a couple of good take-charge moments. However, it's really not necessary for Mr. Fantastic to have bowling-ball shoulders. Just let him be a nerd. I also like the hints that Sue is discovering more and more just how powerful she is. It's been a known fact that she's the strongest of the group for quite some time. I'm glad to see her go from "Invisible Girl" (if briefly) to "I can kill you with my brain." In fact, the whole cast really jells into their roles, both the actors into their characters and the characters into their lives as superheroes. I'm especially happy to see Johnny and Ben have their moment of camaraderie, despite the bickering.
All in all, it's the consummate action movie. It doesn't mean anything, but it's damn fun.
Posted by orion at June 15, 2007 5:46 PM