This Fantastic Four is better than Trank's; but only just!

Rating: 4/10 (6 April 2017)

What is it about Marvel's first family that Fox just can't get right? Is it the optimism of the source material? Is it the far-fetched concepts that made the comic unique when it was first published? Or is it that Fantastic Four is SO integrated with the Marvel Universe in the comics that on their own, the team isn't nearly as interesting as it should be? I think the problem with these movies, is EXACTLY the latter one I cited!
These characters are so uninteresting in this film that it makes you sad for the Fantastic Four to still be stuck at Fox, ever since the 80s (when Marvel had to sell their film rights off to save their asses from bankruptcy). And this film feels lonely, though it does have some sense of fun in it, precisely because the interactions between the team and supporting characters are weak compared to the cast of the much-wider Marvel Universe. I love the comics of the original Fantastic Four, but damn the film lacks the imagination and originality of its creative source material. It has the colours, but the content is lacking and derivative of other superhero movies. Spiderman worked well, and X-Men blew us away in 2000. So why couldn't Fantastic Four do the same? I don't know.
Colourful but lacking in story, character development, and the direction is soapy beyond belief. But at least it's watchable: unlike Josh Trank's notorious 2015 reboot.