Fantastic Flop

In my younger years, I was a major comic book geek. One of my favorite comics was the Fantastic Four. Why? Because they had really cool powers. I mean, imagine what it would be like to fly across the world as a living ball of flame, or to be able to reach across the room and bitch-slap some jackass without having to leave your chair! And, of course, who could forget their arch-nemesis, the Most Badass of the Badass Villains: Dr. Victor Von Doom - Marvel's quintessential villain who has bested everyone, from Spiderman to the Beyonder.

Last night, I went to the theater to see Fantastic Four, hoping that this wouldn't be a repeat of the travesty known as "The Hulk" (another one of my favorites sullied by the transition to film). I left the theater feeling disappointed.

The special effect were stunning, especially the Thing. He didn't look hokey and fake - well, about as un-fake looking as someone can when they have orange, rocky skin. Character development was really good, from Johnny Storm's flippant, carefree attitude to Von Doom's all-consuming arrogance. However, the dialog was trite and forced.

Probably the most unforgivable offense was the treatment of Dr. Doom. Doom was someone who had the power to take on the Fantastic Four all at once, and had the brains to be able to do it effectively. Sadly, that was not the case in this movie. Even before I went to see this movie, I thought that how Dr. Doom was treated would make or break this film.

Consider this film broken.

The final battle scene against one who is supposedly the baddest villain in comic history turned out to be one of the lamest battles on screen. It wasn't as bad as the Hulk, though.