The Fantastic Four are astronauts who come by their supernatural powers, and catchy comic book monikers, after they are exposed to radiation while in outer space. Dr. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), their brilliant but not quite stalwart leader, becomes Mr. Fantastic when his body develops amazing stretching capability. Sue Storm (Jessica Alba) dematerializes into the Invisible Woman, who sheds her clothes when she wants to push her way through a crowd or run away from groupies (both silly uses of her power). Her younger brother, Johnny Storm (Chris Evans), turns into the Human Torch, his body ablaze as he diverts heat seeking missiles, or creates an instant hot tub in the mountains for him and his snow bunny girlfriend. Michael Chiklis is Ben Grimm who transforms into The Thing, a rock solid mass of boulders in human form, with superhuman strength. His body mass is so dense that he overloads the elevator’s weight capacity. Together, these four battle the evil, power hungry Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon), who gradually morphs into Doctor Doom, an enemy with an electrifying presence.

Reed and his crew of scientists are on a research mission in space, chasing a major cosmic storm that may unlock the secrets of the human genetic code. The storm arrives hours ahead of when it was expected and Ben is trapped outside the ship. To save him, the hatch is left open a bit too long and they all are exposed to radiation that fundamentally changes their DNA. The egomaniac, Victor Von Doom is on board as well, a departure from the comic book scenario that devotees will recognize. Back on earth, the failure of the space mission causes Vic’s company to lose major investors and his stock goes into a free fall. And so emerges Dr. Doom.

Victor is in love with Sue, who now works for him but she’s still in love with Reed, in spite of the fact that he is a dork ¾ her word. Although the enemy seems to be far away at first, it soon becomes clear that Doctor Doom is in mortal combat with the Fantastic Four. The special effects are best executed (pun intended) in the lab with The Thing and Dr. Doom, and by Johnny’s high-flying exploits as the Human Torch. But after seeing Mr. Fantastic stretch various parts of his body to save the day on numerous occasions¾ a feat that worked better for us in the animated Oscar winner, "The Incredibles"¾ the tone of the film becomes tongue-in-cheek humor. Humor is a good thing, as when Johnny calls Ben "Pebbles," or when Ben pilfers clothes from a Big & Tall store.

The acting is mediocre, with the exception of Michael Chiklis, from TVs "The Shield," who brings a bit of the menace of that character to this dual role as Ben and The Thing. His character has far more depth than the others, keeping in mind that he springs from a comic book, and he adds a lot of humor to the role.

Those that know of the story of the "Fantastic Four" from following the Marvel comic book series will probably like the film better than we did.