A simple kid's film, but still better than the first

Rating: 3/10 (14 July 2016)

I loathed the first FANTASTIC FOUR movie with a passion, so when I saw that this sequel was on TV I wasn't really considering watching it. In the event, nothing else was on, so I decided to give it a try. It was everything I expected, and nothing more.
The best thing you can say about this film is that it's slightly better than the first. I find 'origin' stories long-winded and often boring, but that's not the case here. The film straight away gets on with the (slim) plot, so there's not a lot of time for boredom. However, there is a lot of silliness, mostly involving some excruciating CGI effects used to animate Ioan Gruffudd's stretchy arms and legs.
Amid this kid's stuff, there's a very, very thin plot about the titular character, who flies around the world, causing disaster and making craters in the ground. After a couple of lacklustre set-pieces at the London Eye and Black Forest, there's an unsurprising twist, a briefly seen and rather ludicrous super-baddie (the size of a planet) and the unwelcome return of ultra-stiff actor Julian McMahon as the ludicrously named villain, Victor Von Doom.
Gruffudd has the decency to look mildly embarrassed at all this, and Jessica Alba's acting is absolutely diabolical. Chris Evans is, once again, irritating, and only Michael Chiklis seems to be having fun as the guy made out of rock. The silver surfer is well animated (you can see that's where the money went), voiced by Laurence Fishburne and occasionally acted by the skinny guy in a suit Doug Jones (HELLBOY), but otherwise there's little of interest here for adults in what is definitely a kid's film.