Reed Richards (Miles Teller) is a scientific wizard who, as a child, creates a teleport machine. Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) marvels at the teenager's brilliance at a science fair and gives him a chance to show his stuff at the Baxter Institute. There Reed meets other members of the team he will work with: Victor Van Doom (Toby Kebbell), former hotshot scientific genius who dropped out of an earlier project; Sue Storm (Kate Mara), Dr. Storm's adopted daughter; and Johnny (Michael B. Jordan), her wayward brother who's looking for a purpose in life. Their work is of great interest to the military establishment and its representative (Tim Blake Nelson). The foundation of this tedious drama is built on Storm's dream of planting the American Flag on a faraway place which will provide the oil and energy resources the country needs to solve its problems.
The screenplay by director Josh Trank, Simon Kinberg, and Jeremy Slater is a mishmash of ideas about the fate of the world, scientific solutions, the meaning of friendship, and patriotism. When Reed convinces the others to join him in an unauthorized trip to the place he has discovered thanks to the new teleport machine, they all receive powers that impress the military supporters of the Baxter Institute.
And did we forget to mention the ludicrous character of Benn Grimm (Jamie Bell), Reed's best friend, who is transformed into a creature clomping around and looking like a mobile pile of rocks? It is definitely time for Marvel to retire this dreadful comic book adventure.