A dream of scientific advancement turns into a nightmare when an experimental space mission exposes four astronauts to a cosmic storm of unknown radiation. Returning to Earth, the team discovers their DNA has been irrevocably altered, granting them bizarre and powerful abilities: elasticity, invisibility, rock-hard strength, and flame manipulation. As they struggle to adapt to their new lives as celebrities and superheroes, they must unite to stop their former benefactor, Victor Von Doom, whose own transformation has driven him down a path of metallic villainy.
Information |
|
|---|---|
Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
July 8, 2005 |
Running time |
106 minutes |
Genre |
Action Adventure Fantasy Sci-Fi |
Budget |
$100,000,000 |
Box Office |
$333,535,934 |
Crew |
|
Directed by |
Tim Story |
Produced by |
Bernd Eichinger Avi Arad Ralph Winter |
Written by |
Mark Frost Michael France |
Music by |
John Ottman |
Cinematography |
Oliver Wood |
Edited by |
William Hoy |
Production Co. |
20th Century Fox Constantin Film Marvel Enterprises |
Distributed by |
20th Century Fox |
Top Cast |
|
|
|
Official Trailer |
|
Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #01 in Fantastic Four Collection
|
The Plot
The Proposal and The Expedition
Dr. Reed Richards, a brilliant but timid and financially insolvent physicist, is driven by the conviction that evolution on Earth was triggered millions of years ago by clouds of cosmic energy in space. Having calculated that one of these clouds is due to pass near Earth soon, he seeks a way to study it. Accompanied by his best friend, the gruff but gentle astronaut Ben Grimm, Reed approaches his former classmate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Victor von Doom. Victor, now the arrogant CEO of Von Doom Industries, listens to Reed's pitch to access his privately-owned space station. Despite their strained history, Victor agrees to the deal, but only on the condition that he retains control over the experiment and receives the majority of the profits from any biological benefits it yields.
Victor assembles a team for the mission, bringing aboard his chief genetics researcher—and Reed's ex-girlfriend—Susan Storm, as well as her hot-headed brother, Johnny Storm. Johnny, a private astronaut who specializes in fast cars, pretty girls, and extreme sports, was formerly Ben’s subordinate at NASA but is appointed as his superior for this mission, much to Ben's disgust. The quintet travels to the space station to observe the event, but Reed discovers too late that he has miscalculated the speed of the approaching anomaly; the cosmic energy clouds materialize well ahead of schedule.
The Cosmic Storm and Mutation
Realizing the imminent danger, Reed pleads with Victor to abort the mission. Victor, desperate to produce results to justify his massive expenditure, refuses to back down regardless of the human risk. With Ben already outside performing a spacewalk to set up the sample equipment, Reed, Susan, and Johnny rush out of the shielded inner area of the station to rescue him. As the cosmic cloud engulfs the station, Victor seals the shields behind them to protect himself. While Victor remains seemingly safe inside, the others are exposed to the storm's radiation. Ben takes the full brunt of the exposure in outer space, while Reed, Susan, and Johnny receive a more limited dose within the station’s airlock.
The astronauts manage to return to Earth intact, but it is not long before the cosmic radiation triggers radical mutations in their DNA. Reed discovers his body has become pliable, allowing him to stretch like rubber. Susan gains the ability to bend light, rendering herself invisible, and can generate powerful force fields, particularly when emotional. Johnny discovers he can engulf his body in plasma at supernova-like temperatures and fly. Ben, however, undergoes the most shocking transformation; he turns into "The Thing," a massive, rock-like creature possessing superhuman strength and durability. Victor, too, was not spared; although he hides it initially, he begins mutating into organic metal capable of manipulating electrical energy, bearing a scar from an exploding console during the storm.
The Brooklyn Bridge Incident
While Johnny embraces his new abilities and the potential for fame, Ben is horrified by his permanent disfigurement. His fiancée, Debbie, unable to cope with his monstrous appearance, abandons him. Devastated, Ben retreats to the Brooklyn Bridge to brood. There, he inadvertently causes a massive traffic pile-up and explosion while stopping a man from committing suicide. The chaos endangers a fire apparatus and its crew, threatening to send them plummeting off the bridge.
Reed, Susan, and Johnny arrive on the scene, and together with Ben, they use their unique powers to contain the damage and save the firefighters. The rescue is captured by the public and press, who dub the team the "Fantastic Four." While Johnny basks in the media attention, Ben continues to suffer, shunned and feared by the people of New York. Blaming himself for Ben’s condition, Reed vows to find a cure to return him to his human form. The team sets up a base in Reed’s high-tech loft-turned-laboratory in the Baxter Building.
Victor’s Downfall and Manipulation
As Reed and Susan work on constructing a healing chamber to reverse the mutations, they begin to rekindle their past romance. Susan admits to Reed that she is not interested in Victor, revealing that she had only turned away from Reed in the past because of his fear of making binding vows and his tendency to analyze everything as variables. While Reed’s excessive caution frustrates Ben, who is desperate for a cure, Victor watches from the shadows. The disastrous expedition has caused Von Doom Industries' stock to plummet, leading to bankruptcy and a loss of public stature. Blaming Reed for his ruin and his own grotesque metallic mutation, Victor swears revenge.
Victor begins to unravel, killing a bank chairman who pulled out of the company's IPO. Seeing an opportunity to destroy his rival, he manipulates Ben’s insecurity and anguish. He tricks Ben into believing that his teammates are not working on the cure with due diligence, causing a vicious argument that ends with Ben storming out of the Baxter Building. Desperate to prove the machine works, Reed tests it on himself and nearly dies, discovering that the device requires a massive power source to be fully effective. Victor, having spied on this breakthrough, lures Ben into the lab and tricks him into entering the chamber, providing the necessary power boost himself.
The Rise of Doctor Doom
The machine works, stripping Ben of his powers and returning him to human form. However, the process exponentially accelerates Victor’s own mutation, increasing his power while physically disfiguring him further. With the super-strong Thing out of the way, Victor reveals his true colors. He knocks the human Ben unconscious and attacks Reed, taking him prisoner. Victor freezes Reed's elastic body to prevent him from stretching, sarcastically asking, "What happens when you super-cool rubber?" Now calling himself "Doom" and donning a metallic mask to hide his face, he fires a heat-seeking missile at the Baxter Building, intending to kill Johnny.
Johnny takes flight, using his powers to lure the missile away from the city and out to open water. He manages to ignite a garbage scow to decoy the missile, but the resulting explosion throws him into the water, leaving his fate uncertain. Meanwhile, Susan rushes to the captured Reed, untying him and confronting Doom. Despite her force fields, she proves no match for the powerful villain. Doom is on the verge of killing her when Ben bursts into the room. Having realized Victor’s betrayal, Ben had activated the machine and used it upon himself to restore his mutation, sacrificing his humanity to save his friends. bellowing his signature cry, "It's clobberin' time!"
The Final Showdown
The battle between The Thing and Doom spills from the building onto the streets below. Despite Ben’s immense strength, he is unable to overpower Doom, who knocks him flat on his back. Just as Doom prepares to deal the finishing blow, a recovered Reed and Susan arrive to intervene. Doom scorns their efforts, but he is suddenly blasted from behind by a stream of fire. Johnny, having survived the missile explosion, joins the fight. Doom responds by absorbing all available electricity in the area, growing stronger and blasting the team with lightning.
Reed, finally trusting his instincts over his calculations, coordinates a strategic attack. He uses his elastic body to temporarily restrain Doom and orders Johnny to unleash his "Supernova" heat, despite the inherent danger. Johnny surrounds Doom in a vortex of intense fire, while Susan struggles to contain the inferno within a force field to protect the city. When Johnny and Susan reach their limits, Doom remains standing, his metal body glowing red hot. He sneers at them, asking, "Is that the best you can do? A little heat?" Reed replies, "Time for your lesson—Chem 101. What happens when you rapidly cool hot metal?"
United as a Team
On Reed's cue, Ben kicks the top off a nearby fire hydrant, and he and Reed direct the massive geyser of water directly at the super-heated Doom. The resulting thermal shock creates a massive cloud of steam, and as it settles, Doom is left frozen in place, fused into a statue of inert metal. The threat is neutralized.
In the aftermath, Ben informs Reed that he has come to accept his condition, helped by his blossoming relationship with Alicia Masters, a blind artist who sees the man beneath the monster. The team decides to officially unite as superheroes under the name the Fantastic Four. Reed finally overcomes his fear of commitment and proposes to Susan, who happily accepts, and they share a kiss. Later, as Doom's frozen remains are being transported by ship back to his homeland of Latveria, the electronic manifest on the dock briefly experiences unusual interference, hinting that the villain may not be dead after all.
