Fantastic Four

All his life, Reed Richards has wanted nothing but to do something great for humanity. It doesn't matter much what that thing is, just that it be something to help. Because of this drive, he - along with his best friend Ben Grimm - have worked on a project to come up with the working technology to make matter travel from one place to another without stepping on a train, airplane, or other vehicle (i.e. the mode of transportation used in Star Trek). For years, Reed's figured out how to get matter to one place, but he's never been able to bring that matter back to it's original position. That all changes during their high school senior science fair when Reed and Ben meet Dr. Franklin Storm and his daughter Sue. Dr. Franklin and Sue have been working on the same project for years, but have never gotten as far as Reed and Ben have. Dr. Franklin offers a a chance to work for an organization called the Baxter Foundation to fulfill Reed's lifelong dream of accomplishing something great for humanity. What none of the team realizes is how Reed's invention not only opened up a new way of transportation, but he also opened up a portal into another dimension.

I didn't see Fantastic Four until it was at the local dollar theater, primarily because of all the bad reviews it received almost universally. I wasn't really all that excited to begin with, I thought the previous two Fantastic Four movies were ok, but I was honestly hoping the rights would revert back to Marvel Studios. Yet again, I'm in the minority with this opinion, but I really didn't think the reboot was that bad. It was nowhere near a great movie like I was hoping, but neither was it boring or hard to follow like some reviews have made it out to  be. Story wise, it was pretty easy to follow, even into the convoluted plot by Dr. Doom in the second half of the film. Character wise, I thought - for the most part, anyways - each of the actors/actresses played their parts well enough. Sure, there were some points where it felt like they were just phoning in their performances so they weren't very convincing, but I thought each of them did well with the material they were given. I really don't understand the hate Fantastic Four received. I even thought Micael B. Jordan did well as the Human Torch/Johnny Storm. I used to be a purist when it came to casting beloved characters so well known, but over the years I've come to the belief that even though I may disagree with who was chosen to play a specific part, if the actor/actress did a good job with the part they were given it shouldn't matter too much whether or not they completely look/sound/act like their comic book/novel counterpart. The movie should be seen as its own stand alone story, rather than constantly viewed through the lens of what the original story was like.

If you haven't seen Fantastic Four yet, I honestly am not sure what to say. I liked it for what it was - an entertaining, but very flawed comic book movie. As evidenced by other reviews, I'm in the minority with that opinion. I do think you should go ahead and see it for yourself, but go in with low expectations.