First, understand this: I love the Fantastic Four. I love superhero comics, and the FF is my overall favorite superhero team. Aside from being a tremendous innovation in the history of costumed crimefighters, they’re also just good characters, each with intriguing nuances that have been well-developed over the years. Tons of great stories have been told about them, stories that are lodged deep in my psyche. There was no way I was going to miss a Fantastic Four movie. I even arranged it special with Laura to do the baby care and everything so that I could see it on opening day. Nevertheless, I approached the movie with dread.
See, I love superhero movies, but there are some I approach with eagerness, and some I approach with dread. The ones with well-established, highly-regarded directors and actors, I’m eager for, and the ones with no-name directors and B-list/TV actors, I dread. Bryan Singer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen? Eagerness. Mark Steven Johnson, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner? Dread. Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst? Eagerness. Tim Story, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis? Dread. I mean really, whose dumb idea was it to entrust my beloved FF to the guy who brought us TAXI and BARBERSHOP? My presentiments are almost always right, too. The ones I can’t wait for turn out to be great, and the ones I dread turn out to suck. Sadly, that was once again the case here.