ANY man who can boast the ability to stretch every part of his body gets the thumbs up from me.

And that is exactly what geeky scientist Dr Richard Reed (Ioan Gruffudd) discovers he can do after he and his three friends are struck by a powerful intergalactic storm which modifies their DNA.

However, while Dr Reed is transformed into the very elastic Mr Fantastic, his pals each acquire a superhero ability of their very own.

Sexy scientist Susan Storm (Jessica Alba) becomes the Invisible Woman while her cheeky, hotshot brother Johnny (Chris Evans) is transformed into the Human Torch.

But while Susan, Richard and Johnny can switch their superpowers on and off, poor pilot Ben Grimm has to live as a grotesque monster with amazing strengths known as The Thing. Together, they become the Fantastic Four, creating superhero havoc against the skyline of New York.

Dr Reed's billionaire boss, Victor Von Doom (Julian Mcmahon) is also transformed in the storm into the evil bad guy, whose sole aim is to wipe out the Fantastic Four.

This film is all about the fun of being a superhero and that's not a bad thing. It has plenty of comic moments and doesn't take itself too seriously - a major fault of many comic book adaptations.

But this is an original film, in which we find out how the Fantastic Four become so fantastic, and there is little time for much else. But I guess Hollywood is leaving that for the sequel!

EB