Currently Watching Agatha Christie's Marple: Series 1 By Geraldine McEwan, Christian Coulson, Cherie Lunghi, Robert Pugh, Keeley Hawes see related

So did anyone go see the Fantastic Four tonight? I came thisclose to going, but then I just couldn't bring myself to endure what I am convinced will be sheer torture. Torture because my darling Ioan Gruffudd does not belong in silly superehero movies. So I decided to put off the viewing for a bit. The first F4 movie was rather a big disappointment IMO. It seemed to revel in its mediocrity. Now I will see just about anything Ioan Gruffudd is in because, well, he's Ioan Gruffudd for goodness' sake , even though he just can't ACT convincingly in anything but period pieces, nevermind a comic book movie. However, I am a true fan, and as such I will suffer much for m'dear Ioan...

...I mean seriously, can you blame me?  LOL! So I'll bite the proverbial bullet and go see Rise of the Silver Surfer (eventually). I rented the extended cut of the first movie this week and watched it last night -- still the same crappy script, wooden performances (Chris Evans excepted), meandering storyline, tragically underused villain, etc. Couldn't tell much difference between the theaterical release and the extended version -- the main difference are additional scenes that flesh out Ben's relationship with Alicia. Which I didn't really care about...so whoop-de-do for that.

BUT IOAN'S IN THIS MOVIE, DANG IT.

Therefore I have this compulsive need to suffer through it once every year or so to see if my opinion of it will substantially change. So far my opinion has yet to undergo any fundamental alteration...I still really don't care about any of the Fab Four. It appears to be impossible for any of these characters to spark any sort of emotional resonance or sympathy within me as a viewer (unlike Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spider-Man or Christian Bale as Batman).

This quote from Steven D. Greydanus's review of Rise of the Silver Surfer (posted on Christianity Today) sums up my feelings to a "T":

Perhaps this is what is most fundamentally wrong with the Fantastic Four franchise: None of these allegedly "fantastic" heroes has any gravitas, any actual heroic weight or depth of character. There's nothing particularly noble, compelling or even interesting about them. Far from inspiring admiration, they don't rise even to the level of thinking, acting and relating like grown-ups.

Don't you just love the word "gravitas"?! I need to try to use that word more, LOL. Nicely said.

Side note: What kind of a loser superhero power is unlimited stretchiness anyway?!  *sigh*