After the bitter disappointment of that abomination called the “Batman vs. Superman Trailer,” we couldn’t help but be encouraged by the first real glimpse of The Fantastic Four. Look:”

The fact is, most of us here at AmityvilleNow International ComCen had already decided not to watch it. Lots of rumors. Really bad teasers (big machines, no heart). And then one of the more adventuresome (or less cynical) took a look… and she insisted we should watch it. “No,” she said, “you’ll like it, Really! And  much to everyone’s surprise, she was right at least five times over. To whit:.

1. The revised origin is better than the origin…al. The ancients among us remember that Reed and his buddies build a homemade rocket ship with crappy-ass shielding, went up real fast and came down even faster (apparently the one and only time Reed Richards didn’t invents somethin super-cool that worked the first time) and, because of exposure to cosmic rays gained their strong-stretchy-flamey-invisi-powers. But the new version which predictably includes at least the hint of the cliche’d Big Bad Corporation, explains Sue and Johnny’s interracial siblinghood, explains how they know Reed, and replaces space travel with interndimensional travel, which, given the FF’s long history with the Negative Zone and the Microverse and all, actually makes way more sense.

2. Reed is a real dweeb this time, as he always should have been. Guy can’t even give a proper fist-bump. You have to love him.

3. Kate Mara. Just… you know, Kate Mara. 

4. The Thing actually looks right. More than right: cool. He’s kind of a cross between the original Jack Kirby pile-o’-lumps and the latter-day Friendly Uncle Brickface and we can only imagine how many false starts and rough drafts they had to go thorough to get here, but damn, this looks good. You will believe a Rock can clobber.

5. Doctor Doom. The real Victor Von himself, not some sleazy makeover, and not some corporate fake. Now we get the green hood, the iron mask, the panache — the works, all in a single wordless scene. It actually made us choke up a little.

There are still a few things we’re waiting on. Voices, for one thing. What does Ben Grimm sound like, post-transformation? Does Doom talk with a Latverian accent? What is a Latverian accent? And we’ve only gotten glimpses of Sue’s forcefield, Johnny’s flying, or Reed’s stretchitation. But things are looking better. Much much better. After that other thing this week … we needed it bad.