Eventually, Von Doom turns evil and it is now up to the Fantastic Four, as the media labels them, to save each other from what becomes their arch nemesis Dr. Doom.

I'm not familiar with the Marvel comic book this picture is based on, so I can't comment on how "to the book" it is. Stan Lee does make a cameo as a mailman in Reed's apartment building however.

I thought this picture was pretty well done in parts. I thought the time spent exploring Ben Grimm, aka "The Thing," was appropriate and inevitable as he attempted to come to terms with his new appearance. This was also the first comic book inspired picture I've seen that follows the superhero characters as they try to change themselves back to normal. Usually, they just accept it, like in "Spiderman." So, THAT part of the storyline made this picture a little different.

However, once Dr. Doom, who was WAY TOO SMALL physically, went on his tirade and attempted to kill the fantastic four, the picture took a nose dive.

For a superhero movie, the story lacked heroism. Every comic villain knows, the way to get to a superhero is to threaten the lives of the innocent people of their city. Doom never even thought of that, SO there was no grand finale where the Fantastic Four ever had to "save the world." They only saved each other, and that to me lacked.

However, "Fantastic Four" is definitely better than "The Hulk." THIS movie actually cared to make the picture somewhat methodical and real--as real as comic book movies can be anyways. "The Hulk" was the polar opposite. THAT was director Ang Lee cashing a paycheck.

Overall, I think "Fantastic Four" excels at being average and if you blindly enjoy these kinds of picture, you should love this one. If you're very picky, you'll probably hate it. Otherwise, I've seen much worse Marvel movies out there.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?

I thought this was an entertaining movie and it was better than the reviews that I read and the reviews that I heard. I will say that the action between good verses evil was not very good and too quick, almost as fast as the epic battles between Aliens and Predators in their movie. However, the back story was entertaining and Jessica Alba is hot so the movie is worthy of watching.

I don't know if the movie back story had anything to do with comic book back story, I would guess a modernization of some kind took place, but I thought it was very believable. The human interest sub-plot of how Ben Grimm, who turns into the Thing, was believable, even if it does put a bad light on shallow minded women. The love story between Reed Richards and Sue Storm wasn't as believable as I would have liked. Too much wasn't explained between the beginning and the end of the movie that the wedding proposal at the end was just not believable, unless it's a comic book of course.

I have no problems with the acting in the movie. None of the actors portrayed their characters over-the-top and Michael Chiklis (TV's The Shield) did a wonderful job as The Thing. He was a much more believable character then the last larger than life superhero character, The Hulk. Of Course, The Thing was an actor in make-up and costume and The Hulk was a CGI creation, so kudos to the director for using make-up and leaving the computer to create the scenery.

I find that Jessica Alba is starting to become one of my favorite actresses. She has talent and she can act. Plus she is a hottie. During most of the movie she was in very nice, tasteful outfits, and she was attractive all the time. Oh and there was the scene where she was in nothing but her underwear, that didn't hurt either.

The action in the movie was woefully small. While it was cool to have Dr. Doom play Ben Grimm's desire to become human against the group, but there was no real danger at any time for the group, and that is just plain boring. Next movie I am sure there will be more action.

Overall, this movie is by far better than The Hulk and for me a little better than Spiderman, but not quite X-Men quality. I do look forward to the next movie and the continue development of Jessica Alba's acting and body.