In a nutshell, The Fantastic Four was anything but. As far as superhero movies go, it doesn't hold a candle Batman Begins or Spiderman 1 and 2, for that matter. Those movies have raised the bar for the genre and Fantastic Four just doesn't measure up. Tedious and tired, Feeble Four would have been a better name.

Those familiar with the comic (and I wasn't) know the basic story. Five people head out into space to investigate a radioactive cloud that has a similar make-up to the cloud that caused the Big Bang. An adventurous billionaire Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon); brilliant scientist Reed Richards; sort of brilliant hot scientist and Reed's ex-girlfriend Susan Storm (Jessica Alba); Susan's thrill-seeking hot shot pilot of a brother, Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) and Reed's sidekick and pilot Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis).  All five end up exposed to varying degrees of radiation that alters their DNA. Almost overnight, they begin to manifest powers. Reed can stretch like elastic. Susan can become invisible and wield force fields. Johnny can set himself on fire. Grimm morphs into The Thing. And Von Doom is turning into some sort of metallic man. Just as they are getting accustomed to their new abilities, a dramatic rescue involving a would-be suicide, multiple car crashes and a fire truck thrust our unlikely quartet into the spotlight. Of course, the title is the Fantastic Four, not the Fantastic Five and with a name like 'Von Doom' you can bet that someone plans to use his powers for something other than good.

The problem with The Fantastic Four is that they spend the majority of the movie learning how to accept their newfound talents and adjust to the overnight celebrity that came with. The battle with Doom is almost an after-thought. In fact, more attention is paid to Reed and Susie's relationship than to battling the bad guy. If their relationship were really that interesting maybe that could work but it doesn't.

Ioan Gruffuld (last seen in King Arthur) as Reed Richards doesn't make a charismatic leader. And his relationship with Alba suffers the same fate. It's boring. McMahon (of Nip/Tuck fame) does the best with what he has but they haven't given him much at all. The only one who seems to be having fun is Chris Evans as The Human Torch.

For most of The Fantastic Four, you are sitting around waiting for something to happen. As odd as it sounds, even the big rescue scene on the bridge, the one that introduces the world to the Four and their powers wasn't even interesting. And because Von Doom isn't as fully as developed as he needs to be, the climatic fight scene didn't work for me either. Some of the effects were good, especially the fire ones, but that in and of itself isn't enough to save this movie.

While I was sitting in the theatre, it occurred to me that just about every superhero is getting a shot at the big screen. While I never was a big comic book reader, I did watch a lot of cartoons as a kid, especially the Superfriends. I say let's mine that show for potential movies. We've already had the Superman and Batman franchises and rumor has it that Wonder Woman is on her way to a multiplex near you. At this point, it's only a matter of time before we get Aquaman: The Movie. Personally, I'm holding out for The Wonder Twins. It couldn't be much worse than the Fantastic Four.