I grew up reading FANTASTIC FOUR comic books. And I'm familiar with the comics from their inception in 1961 through the mid '90s. I am not familiar with the past 20 years of FF comics including the ULTIMATE version. When the casting of this reboot was announced, it was clear that this was not the FANTASTIC FOUR that I grew up with and wanted to see on the big screen. There would be no Idol of Millions, Benjamin J. Grimm, the Ever Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing or Stretch or Susie or Johnny or Aunt Petunia or the Yancy Street Gang.  When the trailer was released…What a revoltin' development! This was a deadly serious total reinvention of the concept and fun was not part of it.

Knowing all that, I tried to go in cold, dismissing what I wanted to see in an FF movie and just experience what Josh Trank, Simon Kinberg and company actually made. I enjoyed Josh Trank's CHRONICLE and loved X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, which was written by Kinberg. So while this wouldn't be my FF, it could still be a good movie considering the talent of the people who made it.  

The story starts with Reed Richards and Ben Grimm as kids becoming friends and working on one of Reed's crazy experiments. Eventually Reed is recruited to work at a government run science think tank to expand upon his invention of interdimensional travel. This is a story about science and discovery as opposed to colorful superheroes trading wisecracks as they save the world. The storytelling in the first hour is capably done and watchable, but aside from a few moments, it is just not particularly engaging or compelling. Reg E. Cathey as Franklin Storm, the head of the program, is really the only standout performer in the picture.  

The relationship between Reed and his older rival Victor is interesting, but I wish there was more meat on the bone. That's true really of all of the relationships. The FF has always been about family and their strong bonds. Here there are very thin, loose bonds. FF has been cast with some very talented actors who positively shine in other pictures. Here they seem game to really engage with these characters, but the material doesn't support them.

Once the experiment proves successful with a monkey, the government decides to involve NASA and use astronauts as the first interdimensional travelers. But after a drunken night, Reed, Victor and Johnny decide that they should go first and take the credit and be remembered by history. Then suddenly the filmmakers remember that Ben Grimm is part of the team and they quickly shoehorn him in. Somehow Sue doesn't come along, but they'll figure that out later.

The trip is successful, but then things go terribly wrong in the other dimension. Reed, Ben, and Johnny make it back and an explosion explains how Sue is exposed. The four of them are dramatically changed physically and the government has them contained and studied. Eventually Ben is used by the military as a weapon. Johnny is next, once he's able to control his powers. Reed, filled with guilt over Ben's transformation, escapes and goes on the run. Sue plays ball with the government and tries to find him.  All of this makes sense with the story being told. It's just the execution is underwhelming. There is great tragedy in Ben's transformation into a monster and Reed's guilt over it, but it's barely touched on.

I won't go into too much detail about the rest of the flick, except to say that Victor returns as Doctor Doom to cause trouble. In the comics, Doctor Doom is one of the best Marvel villains of all time. The character here is poorly conceived and looks stupid. His return and the danger he presents causes the team to form and face off with him in a strangely truncated third act that is over before it barely begins. This is the least effective part of the picture.  

The end of the picture sets up something more like the FANTASTIC FOUR that I grew up loving, but after 100 minutes of this version, I really have no interest in seeing their further adventures. The effects are solid and their powers are depicted well, though rather briefly. The Thing has been very well translated to live action, far better than previous versions. But I can't recommend FANTASTIC FOUR because it never really takes off. It is not as terrible as some of the reviews I've read, but it's not worth defending either. And for the record if you want to make a list of terrible superhero movies, this FANTASTIC FOUR would be way, way behind such disasters as BATMAN AND ROBIN, SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE and BLADE: TRINITY.  

And I have to mention that perhaps the most disappointing moment in the picture is the use of the Thing's battle cry. In the comics, it's a fun, joyous moment when the Thing charges into battle yelling, "It's clobberin' time!"  Here Ben's older brother says it as he beats Ben up. Really? That's a true example of the filmmakers not understanding or not caring about the property that they are adapting. Oh, and by the way, Johnny Storm is White, just like his sister Sue. Making him Black was done for no discernible reason and now required a back story about Sue being adopted.

The FANTASTIC FOUR comics are some of the best superhero comics of all time and they not only have a long list of great villains, but they also introduced many great characters. All I can hope is that after this failure, the property returns to Marvel Studios and joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Short of that, if Fox reboots it again, perhaps they will finally hire someone who embraces the comics and makes the FF movie that I've always wanted to see.