Yesterday I went out and caught the newest Marvel movie release Fantastic Four, the story of four (well, five really) individuals who are, who guessed it bombarded with mysterious radiation and given superpowers.

I’m a big fan of the superhero genre, and will generally go out to see almost anything, regardless of what the critics are saying. According to Yahoo’s movie guide for the film, the critics are averaging a C rating, while people who are generally watching the film are giving it a B.

Having seen the film, I can understand why. It’s definitely an okay film. It has cool action sequences, nice effects cool superheros. But unfortunately, it has very little else. In the words of the critic from the Seattle Post Intelligencer, William Arnold:

instantly forgettable as it is momentarily enjoyable

It is movie snack food, not a meal. When one compares it to nobler entries in the genre such as Spiderman, there is simply no comparison at all. Spiderman granted us a rich background, full of characters that we understood and became invested in. We saw ordinary individuals become heros and villians, and conflicts between people become conflicts of, well, superhuman proportion. It was good stuff.

Fantastic 4 has nothing of this. You know who the villian is. He has no backstory. There is no conflict more than “I’m going to get Mr. Fantastic” and ultimately, you just cheer for the nice people and boo the bad people.

Go out and see it, but I suspect you won’t be looking back on this film very often in the future. It’s just not that good.