Movies: Fantastic Four

Still in theaters at the time of this posting.

I went to see this today in spite of the horrible reviews. I had to. The Fantastic Four was my favorite comic book as a kid (next to Spidey, natch). The relationships between the characters were interesting. Most other super groups just came together to battle evil, the F.F. as we called them in comic book circles, knew each other before getting super powers. Johnny (the Human Torch) and Sue Storm (the Invisible Girl) are brother and sister. Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) was romantically linked with Sue. They eventually married. And Ben Grimm (the Thing) was a long-time friend of Reed's. This created a different dynamic from other comics I had previously read and I especially liked The Thing.

Hollywood tried to bring this story to film once before. The movie was never released, though I did once see a bootlegged video tape of the disasterous attempt. The effects were laughable, obviously low budget - even for 1994 and the script made it virtually unwatchable. Read more about the 1994 version here.

So, now they have the chance to get it right- AND THEY BLOW IT AGAIN! I thought the effects were pretty good this time around. I've heard them referred to several times as "cheesy", but - c'mon - it's a movie based on a comic book - it has comic book style special effects. I even liked the actors chosen for the roles. But the script/dialogue were terrible. Surely, "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine" deserves better than this! Maybe someone will get to take another shot at it in ten or so years and maybe - just maybe - they'll get it right. Unfortunately, the current film is credited with breaking the long box office slump and has grossed more than $143 million. This could mean a sequel. And how often is the sequel better than the original? Perhaps if Bryan Singer ("The X-Men") directs it....