Spoiler Review: 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps'

Marvel's first family has finally entered the MCU

By Christopher HalesPublished 6 months ago • 7 min read

It has finally happened. Marvel's first family have entered the realm of the MCU and are set to link up with other familiar heroes in the not-too-distant future. But the question is, does their first outing in this refresh give us much excitement for what is to come?

We're going to be talking spoilers here and there as we move on through the review, so be warned.

Expect this bit to be as long as Reed Richards' arms.

Right, let's get into it. The MCU's The Fantastic Four: First Steps sees Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm living in the 1960s - a futurist version nonetheless. Yes, the heroes live not on Earth 616, but Earth 838, where the beginning of the movie establishes that they have been The Fantastic Four for four years and are hailed as the savours of their world. They're loved by all.

It is only when they get a visit from an alien being, The Silver Surfer, that things get a bit shaky for the family's dynamics and the favour they hold with their fans. With the villainous Galactus threatening to destory Earth unless he can have Sue and Reed's soon-to-born super child, Franklin, the family are in for a rocky road.

To kick things off, we've got to praise our leading lady, Vanessa Kirby. Everyone's been excited for her portrayal of Sue Storm since she was first cast, and she doesn't disappoint. As both the lead star of the movie (arguably) and a new mother who isn't willing to let her child be taken from her, she gives a truly fierce performance that is powerful and emotional.

For Joseph Quinn's Johnny Storm, we had a real treat. This Human Torch carried a lot of the traits we expected; charasmatic, humourous and energetic. But, what layered this guy even more was how much he actually adds to the plot and how he actually gets to use his brain. The figuring out of Silver Surfer/Shalla-Bal's language and his getting through to her may have seemed a bit easy, but it let Johnny have a strong moment in the plot. Next to this guy, it does make you wonder how Chris Evans' version was allowed to help crew a space mission.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach definitely makes a fitting Ben Grimm. He carries a lot of humanity that is good for the character to have and he does get a couple of moments to shine, just not as many as his co-stars unfortunately. Our only nitpick? His voice needed to be a bit lower to fit the character more. Other than that, zero complaints on this.

We then come to Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards. It goes without saying, Pascal is good at conveying emotion, delivering his dialogue perfectly etc. etc. But this just feels like Pedro Pascal being Pedro Pascal with some science jargon here and there. It's sadly not a performance that is wowing us. Very unpopular opinion, but the last time we got a really out there performance from this guy was Wonder Woman '84. As expected this wasn't a performance with much wow factor. We can just pray he isn't going to be leading the Avengers in the future.

We then need to talk about our villains. Julia Garner, given quite a wooden character on paper, does the best with what she has. It would be good to see her take on Shalla-Bal explored further in the future. Ralph Ineson's Galactus? Pitch perfect. Literally. That booming voice of his is exactly what was needed. Quick FYI - we predicted this casting YEARS before this movie even got developed - evidence right HERE. Marvel Studios, we want credit.

The plot, on the whole, really holds up, mainly thanks to what is at stake for the heroes. The idea of the story really honing in on the family focus by having Frankling Richards' fate at the centre of it all was a smart move. It moves away from the simple "the world is coming to an end" stake and adds something much more personal to it. This also treads more into the comics than ever before. Establishing Sue and Reed's child and expanding the first family of Marvel more than ever done on screen before.

Unfortunately, the plot does have it's down sides. Mainly due to the fact that A LOT of the good stuff is in the trailers. A definite negative with a lot of movies nowadays. Then there's that opening and the way we're thrown into this Fantastic Four's world? It somehow felt too much too soon. Matt Reeves' The Batman and James Gunn's Superman somehow eased us into their respective worlds without an origin story in a much calmer and easier way, playing them out much more like a comic book run. Even the MCU's Spider-Man. Captain America: Civil War gave us our little introduction then we just picked up perfectly in Spider-Man: Homecoming. This was all just a bit overwhelming if you ask me, and it wasn't until the team were standing on Galactus' ship that I was really beginning to lean forward with interest.

We then had the thread of the plot that involves Galactus and Silver Surfer. Surely I can't be the only one thinking it's took WAY too much from 2007's Rise of the Silver Surfer. The surfer arriving in the midst of a celebratory time for the family? Being chased by the Human Torch and then the hero falling? Silver Surfer being the one to ultimately stop Galactus? SUE STORM DYING!? Hell, I'm pretty sure that scene of Reed analysing the planets Galactus had devoured was extremely similar to the 2007 flop. With this being a multiverse story, maybe this was done on purpose in some way (it was kind of done in No Way Home with some nods to the previous Spider-Man iterations) but boy did it show.

But still, there are a few aspects you've got to love about the movie's plot points still. Johnny having a decent IQ for once. Ben Grimm FINALLY not being some down on his appearance and being a lot more accepting. THAT mid-credit scene with the first appearance of Doctor Doom. Chills. Absolute chills. We'll definitely be diving into that in another article at some point. Literally everyone in my screening gasped.

We've now got to turn to director Matt Shakman. First off, the world he created for these characters was unbelievable. Given the chance to put the heroes in another universe from 616 allowed him to have fun with this crazy aesthetic for the 1960s and we have got to love it. It's very Jetsons-esque and it looks beautiful. Thank Galactus these sets are being used once again in Avengers: Doomsday.

But we've also got to note Shakman's affiliation with another found family. the world of It's Always Sunny in Philadelpha. Shakman has directed and produced over 40 episodes of the much-loved show and it shows...kind of. Shakman did say when he got the job that his experience on Always Sunny would somehow feed into how he approaches this similar family dynamic. Yeah, we get moments of it, but we definitely don't really feel it staring us in the face until that final scene with the baby seat and seatbelt in the Fantasticar. Alas, we'll forgive, but there was a lot more room for him to play on that experience.

We obviously can't not mention this movie's groundbreaking score. Now, Michael Giacchino is definitely assisted here by the movie's marketing. Although the trailers gave away a lot of stuff, the overplaying of his amazing music for the movie actually strengthened how we felt about it going into the movie. Giacchino is a master with taking simplistic beats and melodies and making them soar (The Batman is a big example) and it definitely compliments this futuristic 60's vibe (again, did the same with The Batman) so we hope to hear more of this in the future.

Then there's the overall visuals of this MCU outing. Overall, colour us impressed. The CGI for Galactus and Silver Surfer are out of this world. Pun intended. Pretty much every frame of the chase/birth scene in space is incredible. Ben Grimm's look is also unbelievable - the best Thing design to date. The only real downfall? The CGI baby here and there. Did the industry learn nothing from the horrors of Breaking Dawn Part 2 and The Flash?

When it boils down to it, this is the best Fantastic Four movie we've ever had, by a long shot. Is it perfect? I'd say not, but is any superhero movie? (I'll let you guys debate that, keep me out of it).

It does heavily borrow aspects from a previous FF movie, but if anything it does strengthen it. We get to build on characters in a brilliant way and we get to cope with others I guess. But thankfully, this isn't a movie that I came out of thinking "that just wasn;t worth the hype". It was a nice breather from the usual MCU sacred timeline and I am excited to see how these four heroes blend with the Avengers and Fox X-Men next year.