7.5 on the Comic Book Scale ! Jack Kirby would Approve !!!

Rating: 7/10 (2 February 2008)

Far be it for me to trash a valiant attempt to bring the "Worlds Greatest Comic " to the screen, and Tim Story does a Good job, not Great !
Because of the time difference in generations , the alterations in updating the "Fantastic Four", does NOT take away from their originality and teamwork !!!
When Jack Kirby and Stan Lee created this timeless group of four, the rivalry between Reed Richard(Ion Gruffudd) and Victor Von Doom(Julian McMahon) chronicled back to college days, where Doom met with a tragic accident , that scarred his looks, explains the mask.
On to the current story, Richards designs an outer space experiment, funded by Von Doom, an extremely successful business tycoon. The experiment goes awry when the cosmic storm arrives sooner than expected, and transforms the occupants in the space station. Sue Storm(Jessica Alba), Johnny Storm(Chris Evans), and Ben Grimm(Michael Chiklis), are all transformed and receive powers after a period of dormancy.
Ben Grimm, devastated by his looks, desperately tires to search for a solution to reverse the process, and a return to normalcy.
Von Doom, always the opportunist, uses his power to complete Bens transformation, and then to destroy his rivals, the Fantastic Four.
The development of the team, and the humanness are carefully conveyed and scripted, so the viewer can relate to their problems, and identify with them, and it works !!!
The story never lingers, and the direction is forwardly placed.
I enjoyed this film on the New playing field of energetic music and younger themes ! So, if you enjoy comic book fantasy, this is a venue that you probably will want to watch ! I gave it a 7.5 for its' ability to capture the karma of the original Fantastic Four , Kirby would have liked it !!!