Crappy Four, indeed

Rating: 1/10 (10 July 2005)

There's not much that gets me excited about the film once I stepped out of the theater. Maybe if I were a Fantastic Four comic follower then I might have more appreciation to the movie. But the thing is, I never were and this movie failed to convert me to be one.
Perhaps it is a bad thing that I watched Batman Begins prior to FF. Batman Begins is almost flawless in every way that it sets such a high standard on any comic-book-to-movie adaptation from then on. Granted, Batman Begins and Fantastic 4 are much different in tone. Fantastic 4 is a "light" movie that you don't take it seriously (and you shouldn't, BTW). Unlike Batman Begins, You can even bring your young children to see FF without worrying about them getting scared in the theater.
But despite their different tone, you can't help but expect the movie to be at least decent movie that makes you satisfied and excited when you talk about it with your friends on your way home. Unfortunately, it never happened. But that's about it. I never felt sympathy for any of the characters except "The Thing" and his inner struggles. The story is extremely campy and over-the-top. There are so many plot-holes and inconsistencies here and there. And I noticed there are even sound glitches and scene editing problems on the second-half of the movie. I know this is not "Batman Begins" caliber, but it certainly a below average movie with poor execution.
Moreover, it is a pitiful indication that the movie relies so much on jokes, one-liners, flashy special effects and MTV generation lifestyle to cover up the lack of storyline and depth. Is this an indication of movie-making in the future? The director really needs to go back to the basics: STORYLINE, SCRIPT and other movie-making "101." I should have seen it coming. The marketing department spent millions of dollars to hype up Fantastic Four months before its release. We see FF advertisements on TV, websites, radios, movies, posters, electronics (Samsung) pretty much everyday and everywhere. You wonder if the reason they are doing that is because they know the movie sucks so much that the only way they can gain audience is by heavy marketing. Turn out it's true.
So, word of advice: if you wanna watch good comic book movies, skip Fantastic Four. It's not one of them.