Here’s a snippet of HNR’s review of Fantastic Four:

Director Tim Story seems to have a difficult time striking the right balance between pathos and levity. And at times, screenwriters Michael France and Mark Frost seem to have become so carried away with cheesy jokes and double-entendres that it almost feels as though a competition ensued between them.

Still, in the pantheon of comic book movies, Fantastic Four certainly isn’t the worst of them. Better than Daredevil, significantly better than Elektra, but not as stylish or earnest as Ang Lee’s Hulk, Fantastic Four is hampered in equal measure by concept and execution.

Fantastic Four is basically a competent piece of filmmaking, but it lacks the emotional involvement of Batman Begins or the sense of wonder we all felt when we first watched Superman in 1978. Moreover, there are no surprises or meaningful arcs in the characters’ development. It’s not a bad film, it’s just a mediocre one.