I have always been a closet fan of the Fantastic Four. Though I never avidly read the comic books or watched the animated series back when, they've always been among my favorite superheroes. Why? I'm really not certain, honestly. Yet I was very excited when I heard about the movie, and I was looking forward to it from the first trailer - the one bashed by many.

I went into the movie with average expectations. I'd heard some rumblings and wasn't expecting a whole heck of a lot, and that is what I got: an average action movie. The first half hour of the movie is slow, as we have to get everyone up to speed with the exposition of our main characters, the villian, and all of their powers. But once we hit the "bridge scene" (as seen in all the trailers), the pace picks up quite nicely. You have four disparate people working to realize their new place in the world.

My favorite part of the picture was Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. I loved his freewheeling, carefree attitude about life and the love of his new powers. "Am I the only one who thinks this is cool?," Johnny embraces his mutation and acts like I would like to think I would: joyous. Johnny has a great personality, has a lot of fun taunting his friends and the media, and he's the life of the party (of the film).

If you go to see Fantastic Four (what happened to the "the"?), you'll be treated to a decent flick that takes a little while to get up to speed. It, of course, lays the foundation for a bunch of sequels, and I'd be all the happy to pay to see them....as long as everyone comes back. I think they found just the right people to fill the roles, even if some of them are a bit too young versus their comic counterparts. I'd give this one a solid B, and I hope it has a nice DVD come fall.