MOVIE REVIEW! - "The Fantastic Four: First Steps"

The Fantastic Four finally arrive in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! This time, they are set in an alternate 1960s timeline outside of the main MCU timeline. The Fantastic Four have been around for a minute and this time, they must try to stop Galactus, a huge planet devouring entity that is set to make Earth his next meal.

I did really enjoy the movie, but there were a couple of glaring criticisms that I need to get out of the way. The first is that the special effects are great for the most part, but there were some effects that definitely needed more time in the oven before the movie was released.

To go into the biggest problem with the effects would be to venture into spoiler territory, which I’m not going to do here. I will say, however, that this is not the bigger of my two main criticisms of the movie.

The Fantastic Four race to face Galactus in "The Fantastic Four: First Steps".

The biggest criticism is the lack of development for Galactus. We get a brief summary of who he was before he became the planet devourer, but it’s vague and only talked about and not seen. For a film that is just shy of two hours, including credits, they could have spent more time with this character than they did.

This means that Galactus follows a long line of underdeveloped MCU villains that are simply used to be the threat for our heroes and nothing more.

In spite of the two problems I had with the movie, I definitely enjoyed the hell out of it overall. The performances are, dare I say, fantastic all around. Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards and Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm definitely have the chemistry and Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm and Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm bring the humor and more heart to the movie.

Julia Garner is the Silver Surfer in "The Fantastic Four: First Steps".

In the effects department, I want to reiterate that for the most part, I liked them. The Human Torch looked great, Julia Garner’s Silver Surfer was smooth, and this is the best representation we’ve seen yet for the Thing. The 1960s aesthetic was also a perfect choice for the movie’s setting as it matches the 1960s origin of the comic book series.

The action sequences are pretty solid when they happen and they don’t go too overboard with the group’s various powers. This is especially true of Reed Richards whose ability to stretch has been a hard thing to convey in the live-action films up to this point.

At the end of the day, the movie is one of the better Marvel movies out there. I can honestly say that I may have liked “Thunderbolts*” more than this one, but it was also a much stronger film than “Captain America: Brave New World” from earlier this year.

It’s not a perfect movie, but it is (here I go again) pretty fantastic and a fun time at the movies.