Fantastic Four - 1994

I'm always in the mood for a good low-budget superhero film. And one that wasn't released? I'm in!

Reed is working on some space thing. He has his best friend, Victor, helping him, but when it all goes wrong, Reed stands there and watches Victor get crispy. Eventually, Ben gets him out of the lightning, but Victor is "dead." Ten years pass, and now Sue and Johnny Storm are old enough to travel to space. Hooray! Yeah, they were children in the beginning of the movie, and that made it a bit awkward when Reed showed back up later and took them to space. The huge, weird diamond has been swapped out by a circus-themed, mole-manish villain named The Jeweler, so things go wrong. Dr. Doom is after their new powers, and everyone wants to get with the blind girlfriend of Ben. 

This movie was a wild ride. The girlfriend was a major character for some reason. Ben runs into her once, but then the next time she gets the chance to talk to him, she tells him she loves him. WHAT?! Also, you'd think if you were going into space, you'd double check things and not just take your priceless diamond without at least checking it out, right? And what qualifications did those kids even have? The Thing keeps saying "It's clobbering time," but it is a stupid catchphrase. Reed had the personality of a piece of paper, and his powers were creepy. I did like how toward the end of the movie, everyone seemed to discover new powers, but they were unsurprised at them. The thwarting of the laser beam was questionable and confusing, which made it beautiful.

Dr. Doom was my favorite. I don't know why they thought his mask was functional, but I could only understand about 30% of what he was saying. And it was beautiful. My favorite quote from him is when he comes back to find his minions all defeated. He had his speech all ready to go. Instead, he just says, "Huh." Amazing. He also talks with his hands a lot. I think that was in an effort to make his own sign language so people could understand him better. Anyway, I'd love to have him in our cinematic universe. I have to let the kids have a say in that, though. I think he'll make it. If you get the chance to watch this, I'd recommend it. Definitely watch it with friends. Good Movie!