Slightly better than mediocre

Rating: 6/10 (12 July 2005)

Fantastic Four was better than mediocre, but not by much. I am not familiar with the comic book series (this *is* based on a comic book, right?), but the movie trailer gave away pretty much the entire story so I already knew what was going to happen for almost the entire length of the movie. Take the bits and pieces of the trailer, throw in a bunch of filler sequences, add a decent ending, and you'll have the final version of this movie.
I understand the need for the introductions, explaining how/why the people got their powers, and so on...but come on, couldn't they have made it any more interesting? The special effects were decent in places, but nothing to get all exclamatory about. The acting was...decent...but, again, not all that superb. The dialog seemed forced in many places. Most of the laugh lines were so cheesy I couldn't even force a smile, let alone a laugh. There was only one time when I truly laughed, and one other time I let out a half-hearted chuckle. If you're expecting comedy in this movie (which I wasn't) you will be sorely disappointed.
All that being said, why did I even give out 6 stars? Well, all-in-all it was an okay movie, one that I believe kids and families would enjoy. There were some decent special effects, the ending (the only part of the story I didn't know from the trailer) was worth seeing, and of course the presence of the lovely Jessica Alba.
I know this is supposed to be a review of Fantastic Four...but if anyone is still considering between seeing Fantastic Four or Batman Begins, please go see Batman Begins by all means. There is no comparison between the two.