Fantastic Four

There’s nothing fantastic about the latest big-screen incarnation of Fantastic Four, showing that in this case, a new approach doesn’t work any better than the old one.

It’s been less than a decade since the last cinematic attempt to adapt the venerable comic book (which included a silly sequel), so in the current marketplace, this feels like more of an ill-conceived attempt to hop aboard the gravy train more than anything else.

At any rate, the latest in a glut of comic origin stories adheres pretty closely to established formula and takes itself way too seriously, especially during a long and tedious expository segment.

The story should be familiar to some, as it tracks aspiring young scientist Reed Richards (Miles Teller) and his friend, Ben (Jamie Bell) in their efforts to realize a dream of building a teleportation device.

Once he gets the funding, the project is overseen by Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey), who brings in his enthusiastic son, Johnny (Michael B. Jordan) and adopted daughter, Sue (Kate Mara) to join the team in the lab. Also along for the ride is temperamental Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell), whose name pretty much reveals his traitorous fate.

Once they’re all successfully shifted into another dimension, however, things go awry and each of them is given a strange set of powers – Reed becomes Mr. Fantastic, Johnny is The Human Torch, Sue becomes The Invisible Woman and Ben is The Thing.

These actors have all done better work elsewhere, and it’s difficult to begrudge them the chance to cash an easy paycheck. They certainly can’t rescue an incoherent screenplay by director Josh Trank (Chronicle) and three other writers that bogs down in scientific mumbo-jumbo and angst-ridden self-loathing.

The film features subpar visual effects and one-dimensional characters, along with a story that lacks emotional depth or any meaningful subtext leading to the obligatory trumped-up finale with the future of mankind in the balance.

Trank might be trying for a darker and more cerebral concept, but doesn’t seem to have a handle on the material, as it’s essentially a story about science nerds more than it is about superheroes being, you know, heroic.

The result might be enough to thrill indiscriminate fanboys, yet if there’s any justice, its attempt to launch another franchise might be destined for the same fate as the first go-around.

Rated PG-13, 100 minutes.