“Welcome to the family.
Against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel’s First Family is forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, while defending Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer.” – Letterboxd Synopsis
I’m not saying I’ve been out on Marvel, I just haven’t been as locked in recently as opposed to how I was around a decade ago, even just five years ago. The last movie I saw was technically Deadpool and Wolverine, but before that it was Multiverse of Madness. So it’s really been a while, but this movie was bound to draw me back in. I love the Fantastic 4. As a team, as a concept, as characters. This is one of my favorite Marvel properties. I still have a soft spot for the 2000s movies and that cast. You couldn’t pay me to watch the 2015 version, and I was ultimately really disappointed with Mr. Fantastic in Multiverse of Madness. There were so many good decisions made from the jump that set this movie up to be great. From the great casting to the retro-futuristic aesthetic and making it an elseworld story. Something that’s disconnected from the mainline universe and its baggage so it can do its own thing. And after watching it, I think it’s great. And for the first time, I can finally say that when it comes to the Fantastic Four on the big screen, they got it right.
I find it interesting how they put the F4 in a position of influence and political power in this universe. It’s actually quite refreshing to see this powerful, smart group of people kind of be in charge, brokering peace deals worldwide, making the world a better place. This story drops us right into the middle of their lives as the F4 with a 5th member on the way. With the scale of the threat of Galactus being so large, the world looks to them to solve this problem as they have with many others. This is a movie first and foremost about family and getting through things as a family. This Galactus situation puts them in a tough spot when it comes to the possible solutions. I liked when that friction started to become very palpable, mainly between Reed and Sue. The dilemma that’s presented to them works so well and, in turn, it makes Galactus even more threatening. The looming inevitability of him adds some good tension to the movie. Overall, while it does have some weird pacing moments, and I wish it would’ve slowed down a bit sometimes because it does feel very quick despite its two-hour runtime. This story is rock solid man.
The main thing about the F4, one of their taglines, is Marvel’s first family. First and foremost, nailing that family aspect is a must for me to ever call an adaptation of these characters good. I’ll forever have a soft spot for the original F4 movies in the 2000s. I still think they had good chemistry, but this cast here? They really feel like a family. They deeply care for one another, and it shows in every interaction between them all. I think every distinct part of their own personalities was shown really well. Reed is a great guy but often very pragmatic and too logical to a fault. Sue is a motherly figure, but her emotions can get the best of her. Which really helps balance out Reed. Johnny wasn’t as much of a hothead as we may know him, but he was a big goofball. And Ben was that cool uncle type. Hard exterior, very soft on the inside. They all meshed so well, and the movie found ways to play with each of their strengths as characters. It also never forgot that these characters are all very smart and specialists in their own fields. We saw Reed do his smart guy thing a lot. But we got Johnny doing his thing, Sue being a diplomat, Ben showing off his piloting skills a lot. This movie knew how to use its characters effectively to their fullest. This is easily the best rendition of these characters on the big screen, no contest.
I have been a Silver Surfer fanboy ever since Rise of the Silver Surfer. It was very interesting to get a flip on the gender. It doesn’t really change too much about the core character, but I like what they did with her and Johnny. The Silver Surfer has always been a very empathetic character to me. Doing mass evil for the sake of their home and their family. Which juxtaposes well with Fantastic Four as a unit. They really dug into that here, and it was some of the best parts of the movie. We also finally got a good live action Galactus. Another interesting character that can easily be written (incorrectly) as a mindless planet devouring monster. When in reality, he is an old, troubled cosmic being who has an insatiable hunger for planets and just wants to be free from that. This movie actually tapped into that a lot but also still kept him evil enough that you wanted the F4 to defeat him. All in all, these renditions of these iconic characters were done really well here. I don’t know if we’ll ever see Galactus again, but I hope to see the Silver Surfer.
The aesthetic of this movie is chef’s kiss. Retro-futuristic is my shit. I love the old school high tech vibes of this earth. They never shy away from it. From the character costumes to the civilians to the streets and buildings. This movie is oozing this aesthetic, and I love it. Even the soundtrack has that vibe, and that main F4 theme is going to be stuck in my head for a while. Visually, while this movie looks really good, this is still a Marvel movie. It still has some noticeable CGI, but I thought it looked really good outside of some moments. There was way more space stuff than I thought there would be, and the action scenes in space were amazing. The Silver Surfer in this movie surfing through different environments in space is some of the coolest shit I’ve seen on screen recently.
So yeah, I really liked this movie. I feel that if I saw it again, I’d like it even more. The aesthetic, and vibes were great. The story was rock solid. And finally, as a fan of these characters, they finally got it right. They finally made these four fantastic people a genuine family. The chemistry was so good, I would watch a movie of just Johnny and Ben babysitting Franklin. Marvel always finds a way to get me back in, and they got me with this one.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps – 9/10
Notes: That post credit scene got me hype. I really feel that with all the news and performance of recent movies that Feige is really tightening the ship towards another great finale, and hopefully a strong reset and start of a new era.
