Not Horrible

Rating: 7/10 (8 July 2005)

First let me say that I love the Fantastic Four comic books. I know exactly what works and what doesn't. So I feel well qualified to evaluate this film.
Secondly we need to address the issue of: Should a movie be 100% faithful to source material? Well, even if it were possible would you want the movie to be a carbon copy of the source material? Some things don't translate well to the screen. And sometimes (Harry Potter 1 *cough*) trying to be just like the original material is a bad idea! But when a character is fundamentally changed that's usually a bad idea. Fantastic Four takes many liberties with the characters some are worse than others. But a director and writer need to find the right medium that is a balance between the source and making a good movie. In this movie they changed the story around to try to make a better movie and failed! Perhaps they should have hired Goyer (Blade films, Batman Begins) to write the script, somebody who appreciates the original material.
Fantastic Four is a film about a group of four people who are changed in a cosmic "accident" and form a Super-Hero team. The film tries to make it a movie about coping with change and family strife, which is in theory a good idea but fails here. We are presented with a film that tries many things and all of them feel half-done. The only things that saved the film and made me give it a 7/10 are the Ben Grimm parts of the story. We have somebody who is transformed into a monster and hates it. Also the movie tries to rush into the transformation, which is a good idea, but slows down right afterwards and just meanders forward.
Overall: Not horrible. But if the people at FOX are reading this: You had a chance to make a great movie and blew it with a mediocre script, crappy director and over mediocrity!