Not quite 'fantastic', but still very entertaining.

Rating: 7/10 (2 January 2008)

After being exposed to high levels of cosmic radiation during an accident on a space station, four scientists discover that their DNA has mutated, giving each of them a unique special power: Rex Reed becomes Mr. Fantastic, a man with an elastic body; Sue Storm finds that she can become invisible; her brother Johnny is a flying fireball called The Human Torch; and big, bald softy Ben Grimm turns into a huge hulking orange beast called The Thing. Together, they are the Fantastic Four.
Unfortunately, their megalomanical boss, Victor Von Doom, who was also present during the accident, develops his own superpower: he can store electrical energy in his body and use it as a weapon. And, like all good super-villains, he plans to use his newfound ability to rule the worldMwa ha haaaaa!!!
Having already watched the Rise of the Silver Surfer and been thoroughly underwhelmed by what I had seen, I nearly passed on viewing the first movie altogether. Thankfully, my wife convinced me to settle down and watch it with her, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that Fantastic Four is far superior to its sequel.
Maybe it's the whole 'origin of' aspect to the film that I preferredgetting to see each character discover and master their new talents is a whole heap of fun. It's possible that this movie succeeds due to it's witty script, light-hearted approach, and well-defined villain (The Silver Surfer wasn't really 'evil', and his boss Galactus was a massive disappointment, being nothing more than a hungry space cloud). Or perhaps it's just the fact that there is more action and better special effects.
Whatever the reason, I'd choose this film over the team's decidedly average second outing any day of the week.