The Fantastic Four: First Steps

The Fantastic Four: First Steps info:

Director: Matt Shakman

Writer: Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, and Jeff Kaplan

Starring: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn

                Hello and welcome to another week here at 1guysmindlessmoviereviews.com. Last week, I said I hoped to have a fantastic review this week, and boy, do I ever. No small talk this week, as I normally do. I want to get straight into this and share all my thoughts. So, let’s get the spoiler warning out of the way. If you haven’t seen “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” yet and don’t want anything ruined, then you may want to head back over to my reviews page and see what other Marvel fun I have in store for you. For everyone else, let’s get into this fantastic film.

                So, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is directed by Matt Shakman, who appears to be making his feature film debut (unless I’m overlooking something). He has directed hundreds of television shows and has an impressive resume, but this is a significant leap into the MCU. I think he does a marvelous job with this franchise that had three previous movies to try and outdo. Personally, I didn’t mind the first two from 2005 (“Fantastic Four”) and 2007 (“Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer”), they weren’t great, but I liked the cast and the simple storyline. However, the 2015 reboot (“Fantastic Four”) left a lot to be desired.

                The first place this went in the right direction was the casting. Pascal as Reed Richards, Kirby as Sue Storm, Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, and Quinn as Johnny Storm couldn’t have gone better. Not only did they play those roles with such passion, but it makes me excited to see them reprise those roles later on (in Avengers: Doomsday). That’s not even mentioning Julia Garner as the Silver Surfer, Ralph Ineson as Galactus, Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman, and Paul Walter Hauser as Mole Man.

                The second thing I enjoyed so much about “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is that we don’t get a super long (and unnecessary) backstory about how they got their powers. At this point, if we are watching this particular film, we are most likely familiar with those events. So, a very well-paced and thorough recap to start the film does the job very nicely. Much like they’ve done in a few of the other recent MCU films… no long backstory needed. So well done there.

                The third part that makes this great is the story. Here we have four (for now) new heroes entering the already crowded Marvel Cinematic Universe, and somehow we still care and root for these characters way before the end of the movie. This made me feel a little bit like I did after watching “Guardians of the Galaxy” for the first time. But, I’ve also been a huge fan of The Fantastic Four since I was a kid. When my friends were all excited to talk about the X-Men, I was all about this group of four and their archnemesis, Dr. Doom!

                The story itself is a fun one. Very similar to the aforementioned “Rise of the Silver Surfer”, Garner’s Surfer arrives on this universe’s version of Earth to tell them they are marked for destruction by Galactus. Our heroic family travels to space to try and make sense of what is going on. During that journey, Reed and Sue’s son is born (Franklin) and Galactus asks for him as payment to leave their planet alone. Like most parents, they turn him down and return to Earth to devise a plan.

                Back home, Reed comes up with the idea to transport the planet to another destination that is too far away to be reached. The group is also fighting with the results of their decision not to give up Franklin, as the citizens in the city don’t agree with their choice. It’s a nice human moment for the group that has been in the limelight for so long.

                Another great moment I enjoyed is when Johnny figures out what the Surfer was saying and decrypts her messages. He is passionate about understanding her language so he can communicate with her. When he finally does, he learns that she is only working for him to keep her home planet safe. However, that doesn’t stop her from coming in at the last minute to destroy the bridges that are supposed to transport the planet.

                Left with their only option, they use Franklin as bait to try and lure Galactus into the last remaining bridge to force him to another universe. As the four of them use their abilities together, the Surfer comes in at the last second to save the day. Right as this happens, Sue collapses from over-exerting her powers. As she lies there dead and the three guys gather around her, Franklin (who they previously thought didn’t have abilities) touches his mom and brings her back to life. It’s a great heartfelt moment!

                That was just a quick, mindless recap that doesn’t nearly do it any justice. You need to watch for yourself to form your own opinions. But I’m confident that if you are a Marvel fan or a Fantastic Four fan, you will agree with me. I can’t wait to see where these characters go from here, especially with the Dr. Doom sneak we got at the end.

                Overall, I have very few issues with “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”. Some of the ending was predictable, when the Silver Surfer flew in to save the day, and when Franklin brought his mother back to life. I was able to figure those out in my head before they happened. I may have leaned over to the person I was with and said that to them as well. But this was somewhat of a known story, so that is to be expected. Moving forward, I doubt that happens as much with this team.

                Like I said, I loved this movie, and this is one of the best Marvel movies in years. I’m not exactly sure where I would rank it just yet, I will need at least one more viewing in a few weeks to see how it still feels. But with everything I’ve said so far, I can easily give this a 9 out of 10. (10’s are reserved for my top favorite movies, so this is a pretty high honor). This is a well-earned score and gives me hope for the MCU moving forward.

                Ok, that’s it for me this week, but I want to hear from you now. Have you seen “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” yet? If so, what are your thoughts? Were you a fan of them before you saw the movie? Where would you rank this among the other Marvel films that have been released recently? Let me know in the comments below and I will be back next week with a super mindless movie review.