Fantastic Four

Since I was a young boy, I have had a strong interest in comic books. In the past few years many of the comic heroes I read about as a youngster have become movie heroes. The improvements in computer generated animation have made it possible to create realistic looking scenes and events that could only be represented in drawings by comic book artists thirty years earlier. For Fathers’ Day, I treated myself to a superhero movie called the “Fantastic Four”. Surprisingly, I found the movie to be entertaining, for it had an interesting plot, strong characterization and believable-looking special effects.

The plot is the sequence of events in a story. A good movie needs a good plot if it hopes to make mountains and mountains of money. In the “Fantastic Four” the story was just long enough to cover all the important information that comic book readers expect in an adaptation of a book. It was also short enough to ensure that my butt remained comfortable in the theater seat and that my popcorn and soda pop did not run out. The exciting or action scenes were artfully placed throughout the movie. Sometimes, action and special effects are used to hide the fact that the plot is not good, but this was not the case here. Also, a good movie has smaller stories or “subplots” in it that make the audience more interested in the film. In the “Fantastic Four," the relationships between the heroes and their personal problems are the subplots that the audience will enjoy.

Another important part of an entertaining movie is characterization. A well-developed character has an interesting history or past. For comic book readers, they will already know the histories of the characters, but for non-readers it is important for the moviemakers to “develop” the characters by making the actors say and do different things. In this movie there are many funny moments that help the audience understand the characters. For instance, the characters use their super powers to show their emotions or to solve an everyday problem like hiding a pimple on their face. The characters in this movie are believable and likeable because the director spent his time on characterization.

The special effects in the “Fantastic Four” help to make the movie complete. Although special effects are not as important as a good story and good characterization,