Directed By Matt Shakman

Starring – Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn

The Plot – Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world. The film follows Reed Richards (Pascal), Sue Storm (Kirby), Johnny Storm (Quinn) and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.

Rated PG-13 for action/violence and adult language

The Fantastic Four: First Steps | Official Teaser | Only in Theaters July 25

POSITIVES

It may have taken seventeen years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and four outsider installments to the Fantastic Four franchise, but one of Marvel’s biggest properties finally makes the leap its die-hard fanatics have been awaiting, and with an experienced hand like Shakman’s behind matters, we have an ambitiously entertaining installment that finally lives up to the expectations of the audience, while once again thinking outside of the box of superhero cinema. Being the man who ushered in Marvel’s most satisfying streaming series to date, in “Wandavision”, a series that psychologically pushed the envelope for science-fiction, Shakman knows what it takes to make properties stand out among their peers, and with the titular group known for pushing the family captivity of their dynamic with one another, Shakman utilizes a family first narrative that helps articulate the unbreakable bond between his characters, at their strongest capabilities, with a refreshing story impulse to deviate away from the conventional origin story that too many of these MCU characters become saddled with, and instead center the story four years into hype of their famed frenzy and powerful prowess, to meet the knowledgeable audience at eye level. While this does lead to a bit of a long-winded exposition dump during the movie’s introductory opening act, in order to catch us up to this version of the Fantastic Four, it does cement a pregnancy angle for Reed and Sue that evokes more of the sentimentality than we’re typically used to within this designated subgenre, with a surprisingly relaxed emphasis in action heavy sequences, and instead more of its ample screen time deposited to building the chemistry between them, that sees them transpiring as a family before our very eyes. This probably sounds dull or attentively challenging to someone obsessed with action in superhero movies, but it actually reinforces some stakes to impenetrable characters in ways that have never felt so up close and apparent to the audience, all the while articulating some legitimately moving sequences and tenderly overhanging emotionality that Shakman lets the audience feel without the use of tension-breaking humor that intrudes upon too many of these movies. For my money, the movie’s most valuable sequences are those quietly reserved and intimate moments away from the action, pertaining to this family experiencing the growing pains of child nurturing, with these highly intelligent and masterful minds failing to put a car seat together, which gave me hearty laughter and charming levity away from the catastrophic Armageddon that continuously persists with underlining ominousness amidst another masterfully eclectic series of compositions from Michael Giacchino. When the film does call for action, it evokes some highly effective special effects in the supernatural capabilities of its ensemble, but beyond that makes the scope and spectacle of this Earth 828 setting in the film feel so universal with the inevitability of forthcoming doom (For lack of a better word) that feels like the single most monumental conflict for the MCU since “Avengers: Endgame”. On top of this, the film serves as an affectionate love-letter to the series’ original artist, Jack Kirby, with more than a few noticeably glaring winks and nods to the comic pioneer that is typically reserved exclusively for Stan Lee. This brings forth the film’s single biggest benefit to most of the more recent MCU installments, in that it conjures a lavishly luscious presentation in color scheme and overall cinematography from Jess Hall that pays off some immaculate set designs from Kasra Farahani accordingly, inspiring a 60’s retro grade canvas to every meticulous frame that somehow feels ripe with the familiarity of the TV generation, while also being entirely innovative by its advanced technology. It makes the production feel like ample time and value was paid towards rendering a world that feels like a character of its own within the movie, and considering the characters require more special effects to the integrity of their designs than most other superheroes, the light and airy atmospheric range makes it feel like the live-action rendering of the same Saturday morning cartoons that longtime fans of the franchise grew up idolizing, with highly expressive special effects that bleed naturally into the canvas in ways that bring these colorfully chaotic characters to life, before our very eyes. Even more inspiring to the character integrities than this, however, is the invigorating work from each of the four main actors, who each imbed so much warmth and egoless confidence to their respective portrayals, particularly Pascal and Kirby, whose on-screen love is dominated by lived-in chemistry as rich with authenticity as you will find in a superhero pairing. Pascal’s perfectionist neurosis towards imperfect science makes Reed complexly convey the weight of the world that continuously hangs on his shoulders, and when matched seamlessly by the stoicism, resiliency and even imposing stature of Kirby’s tumultuous bouts with motherhood, cements dimensional depth to characters typically deemed as one-dimensional, leaving enough room for the magnetizing charisma that we would expect from each, which proves this movie was cast impeccably.

NEGATIVES

While 2025 has proved to be a noteworthy year for Marvel, I do regretfully think that “Fantastic Four” falls slightly to “Thunderbolts”, as a result of script hinderances that keep this from being top tier quality amongst the history of the MCU. For starters, the decision to make this among the shorter MCU installments, at 110 minutes, is one that I think helps to maintain the urgency of the movie’s pacing, but it also comes with a compromise towards the integrity of the storytelling that rushes or completely abandons some of its more fascinating focal points. As previously mentioned, the first act essentially serves as a long-winded catch-up to this new installment of these cherished characters, and what this does is forces the second act to work overtime on the developments depicted in the film, which prove it to be too much weight on the air of character motivations and impacts, that feel abruptly rushed on its way to a climax that materializes with still around 40 minutes left of the film’s duration. If you told me that a few scenes were cut all together and left on the cutting room floor, I would have no choice to believe you, as the pacing of the conflict rightfully avoids the conventional movements of its predecessors, but nonetheless feels like it’s omitting more of the struggle between sides that undercuts the magnitude of the threat that these people on Earth 828 face, leaving what essentially feels like a set-up between the Fantastic Four and Galactus, with the confrontation quick on its heels, not long after that. This leads to my second and bigger problem with the film, involving grave undercooking for some of its most vital characters, which gives them little to nothing to do in what is overwhelmingly Reed and Sue’s movie. The obvious omittance in that dynamic is Ben and Johnny, but as to where the latter receives more of the comedic material to at least fool audiences into thinking he serves a purpose, Ben is simply relegated to a couple of throwaway scenes with a possible love interest that goes nowhere, leaving the misery of the character’s unsettling transformation squandered in abandoning the compelling aspect that makes him stand out among the rest of the group. This also goes the same for Galactus, who is not only awkwardly given the backseat treatment to the Silver Surfer, but never given any kind of development in ways that help him fight the misconception that Marvel still has a problem utilizing fascinating antagonists in their movies. He’s essentially interesting and powerful because he has incredible size over everyone, and with that gimmick wearing thin by the first confrontation with the Four, in which he’s outsmarted and eluded by people 2% of his size, some much needed backstory and screen focus could’ve been paid to a character that has been rumored and featured in a couple of previous MCU installments, to this point, feeling like an afterthought in a movie that practically centers around him, but without anything integral to cast him among the greats like Thanos, Killmonger, or even what little we got of Kang the Conquerer

OVERALL
“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is a stylistically stimulating step in the right direction for one of Marvel’s biggest properties, appraising a family drama dynamic to the conventions of a superhero narrative, with no shortage of heart to its supernatural capabilities. While the characterization is quite imbalanced, and the second act rushes through some of its more vital developments, the gravitational pull of meaningful performances and cosmically retro canvases provide another post-Endgame success for this cinematic universe, enacting a family-first spectacle on the road to doomsday that would make Jack Kirby proud

My Grade: 7.8 or B+