Fantastic 4.
This one is going to be very divisive.
I can see a lot of people out there hating this movie. It has a long build up, focusing on character and story, which will put off a lot of 'fans'. And for a movie that is on the back foot before it even gets shown in a cinema, it will not withstand the backlash.
I however really enjoyed it. I have never been a fan of the comics, or the 2 previous movies. I went into this with a completely open mind. What I got was a pretty cool sci-fi film with some horror elements. This is not like any other superhero film. The characters don't even gain their powers until about an hour into the movie, and when they do they don't want them (except for one of the group). The reaction of Ben Grimm to what is happening to him is very well done. The guy is horrified and scared. Same with Richards. They handled the first 2 acts excellently.
There are some problems with the final act though.
It does seem rushed through, especially since they spent so much time setting up the rest of the movie. Dr Doom is a truly horrifying villain when he first appears and he seems like an actual threat to the heroes, but he is only on screen for about 15-20 minutes at the end and he becomes your basic 'world destroyer'. The final fight is over before it really gets going. Even still, I thought he was better than most of the Marvel movie villains (but that isn't saying much).
Even with those problems, I still really enjoyed it. It sets up a world I would like to watch again, however I am afraid that might never happen (going by reviews and internet talk - seriously there are so many people hoping for this to fail).
And really....who gives a shit that Johnny Storm is black.
EDIT: Having thought about it a bit more, that 3rd act really does bring it down considerably. I'm revising my score and taking another point off.
6 out of 10.
