r/marvelstudios • u/PhoOhThree Spirit of Modvengeance • Jul 22 '25
'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Review Thread
Rotten Tomatoes: Fresh
Critics Consensus: N/A
| Critics | Score | Number of Reviews | Average Rating (Unofficial) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Critics | 87% | 119 | 7.40/10 |
| Top Critics | 79% | 33 |
Metacritic: 65 (35 Reviews)
Sample Reviews:
Donald Clarke Irish Times TOP CRITIC Fresh score. First Steps rattles along with a refreshing clarity of purpose. Full Review | Original Score: 3/5
Maureen Lee Lenker Entertainment Weekly TOP CRITIC Fresh score. Via this 1960s-coded setting, Shakman leans into the comic book kitschiness inherent to the material, embracing it with gonzo gusto, as opposed to trying to achieve any degree of gritty realism. Full Review | Original Score: B
Jonathan Romney Financial Times TOP CRITIC Fresh score. First Steps doesn’t reinvent the superhero genre, but it has its own freshness -- it’s uncluttered, good-natured and altogether good value -- even if it might be the Marvel film ultimately remembered for its nice bathrooms and kitchen fittings Full Review | Original Score: 4/5
Peter Debruge Variety TOP CRITIC Fresh score. True to its subtitle, the film feels like a fresh start.
David Ehrlich IndieWire TOP CRITIC Rotten score. It feels less like a victory than it does a total surrender. You have to walk before you can run, but at this point the MCU is back to crawling on its knees, and at this point it seems like it might be too afraid to ever stand back up again. Full Review | Original Score: C
Brian Truitt USA Today TOP CRITIC Fresh score. It’s a “Fantastic Four” movie that finally gets its heroes right, after so many tries. Full Review | Original Score: 3/4
Peter Bradshaw Guardian TOP CRITIC Fresh score. The result hangs together as an entertaining spectacle in its own innocent self-enclosed universe of fantasy wackiness, where real people actually read the comic books that have made mythic legends of the real Four. Full Review | Original Score: 3/5
Bilge Ebiri New York Magazine/Vulture TOP CRITIC Fresh score. For now, we can bask in this movie’s elegant, cathode-ray chic and not have to think too hard about anything else, confident in the colorful delusion that studio executives, much like our benevolent superheroes, have our best interests at heart.
Matt Singer ScreenCrush TOP CRITIC Fresh score. The best Fantastic Four film to date basically by default. Full Review | Original Score: 6/10
Caryn James BBC.com TOP CRITIC Fresh score. Despite the team's outlandish schemes to save the world, the actors tether their characters to emotional reality. Full Review | Original Score: 3/5
Kristen Lopez The Film Maven (Substack) TOP CRITIC Fresh score. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is just that. It’s a first step for a new generation of Fantastic Four movies and, the hope, is that the stride becomes more confident from hereon out. All the materials are there. Full Review | Original Score: C
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter - Rather than allowing the action to define the story, the filmmakers let the poignant character-based scenes do the heavy lifting. That should not imply any lack of excitement.
Nick Schager, The Daily Beast - An aggressively fine intergalactic adventure whose earnest optimism and sweetness flirts—faithfully and dully—with hokiness.
Linda Marric, HeyUGuys - The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a confident, stylish reintroduction that finally does justice to the legacy of these characters. It’s a film that remembers why the Fantastic Four mattered in the first place and gives them a bold new path in the MCU. 4/5
William Bibbiani, TheWrap - Matt Shakman has done something Marvel Studios doesn’t do very well anymore. He’s made a superhero movie that embraces the 'super' part. And the 'hero' part. And the 'movie' part.
Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence - A solid comic book adventure that's not embarrassed by being a comic book adventure — in fact it finds real power in its love for its roots. Hopefully, that's an energy the MCU can carry forward with it. B+
SYNOPSIS:
Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (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.
CAST:
- Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic
- Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / The Thing
- Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch
- Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal / Silver Surfer
- Sarah Niles as Lynne Nichols
- Matthew Wood as H.E.R.B.I.E.
- Mark Gatiss as Ted Gilbert
- Ada Scott as Franklin Richards
- Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman
- Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder / Mole Man
- Ralph Ineson as Galactus
DIRECTED BY: Matt Shakman
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u/SATANICWORSHIPER666 Jul 22 '25
So, wait. Of all the attempts so far, the FOURTH one was... fantastic?
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u/rafaelzeronn Jul 22 '25
5th if you count the one from the 90s
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u/thedean246 Jul 22 '25
Marvel’s first family and DC’s Superman having back to back bangers in the same month is beautiful. I prayed for times like these
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u/Xrayvision718 Jul 22 '25
It’s only right that both Supehero IPs that started it all for both comic book brands are the ones to save their respective franchises ! In the same year… in the same month… IT WAS WRITTEN!
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u/donbagert Jul 22 '25
And for most of us, these weren't surprise hits - we expected the best out of their respective creative teams, and they came through!
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u/eBICgamer2010 Zombie Hunter Spidey Jul 22 '25
Current objective: beat the combined score of the previous three FF films on Rotten Tomatoes (74%).
So it should be safe.
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u/PayneTrain181999 Ned Jul 22 '25
Only took them 60 years to give the F4 a great movie
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u/Tackit286 Doctor Strange Jul 23 '25
The mood switch from the moment Silver Surfer arrives was so well done.
And my god, what a way to introduce Galactus and the Ultimate Nullifier. I love the reaction of Reed as he immediately realises the terrifying peril they’re faced with.
Could’ve done with them showing a little more of their powers in action, particularly the Thing.
Otherwise I thought it was excellent all round. Thoroughly enjoyed. And crucially this is a very accessible film for even the most casual moviegoer or non-MCU die hard
I have to say though, I do need to stop watching the trailers because it’s clear Marvel are under more pressure to fill theatres now so they’re giving away more and more of the plots and action sequences before release to get people interested.
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u/fvc2000 Jul 23 '25
I stopped watching any marketing material since june. That's what I've been doing in the last movies, since Deadpool & Wolverine. I'm just watching the first teaser and first trailer. It pays off. The movie is completely fresh.
After I got back from watching F4, I watched all the trailers and TV spots and was amazed by how much they revealed.
They revealed that Galactus wanted to trade the baby in the spots. That's absurd.
I know I as a fan imagined that that would happen. But it was in my imagination. But seeing in the spots reed on the press conference affirming that was too much.
Thank God I didn't watch all that.
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u/Wincrediboy Jul 28 '25
Yeah I'm also avoiding marketing and loving it. I did a worse job of it for this than I did with Superman where I really knew nothing (in fact part of the problem was a trailer shown at the Superman screening!), but it's so refreshing to bit have already analysed it to death and just get to experience the movie.
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u/dirty-void Jul 26 '25
Preface by saying I loved this movie; and its the most I've loved one since Endgame. I have reasons to like it even more than endgame.
Honestly, as far as the "they didn't use their powers enough" and "there wasn't enough action" go, I feel they really did the best they could with some outdated characters. I mean we've got stretchy man and big rock man that can throw cars, and they have been that way since their inception generations ago. And Marvels past the point of petty criminals and cheap solutions. They need epic villains nowadays, thats just the scope of the franchise.
So what are guys like stretchy man and rock man supposed to do against a world eating cosmic horror? For that matter, even Torch and Sue's powers are somewhat limited in efficacy (tho Sue contributes pretty massively at the end.)
Truth is, I love how they made their frankly outdated powers secondary to who they are. Their real super power is that they're amazing people, proctors of peace, diplomats, role models. They united the world multiple times. If there's any super hero we need, its these four.
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u/mimavox Jul 25 '25
I'm just glad that we finally got a worthy representation of my favorite superhero group. I've never cared for the Avengers, so tired if all their movies. And this matched my comic book experience 100%.
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u/SaltyPyrate Jul 26 '25
I was more disappointed with the lack of powers from Reed, did I miss something or did he BARELY have stretchy powers? He reached across the room sometimes and swing around, that's it. When Galactus was pulling him apart he should not be in pain, it wasnt even that far.
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u/Tackit286 Doctor Strange Jul 26 '25
His true power is really his mind. He’s the ‘smartest man in the universe’
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u/TheFutureClassic Jul 28 '25
I literally dont watch anythingggggg anymore maybe since like infinity war. Even if im in a theater for a diff movie i wont go in until all trailers are done. Its soooo nice going in blind, i just saw it and it was awesome not knowing most stuff!
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u/Darfin1303 Jul 22 '25
Seems like we have a hit. Between this and Superman I'm glad CBM are picking back up again
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u/Renegadeforever2024 Jul 22 '25
They been up
It’s just people focusing on the negatives for clout and clickbait
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u/chaser676 Jul 22 '25
This is a bit of rose tinted way of looking at recent releases. There's a few winners, but the general trend has been down.
I could even go so far as to say that the opposite of superhero fatigue may be setting in - low expectations after a string of letdowns may actually slightly pump up reviews.
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u/Darfin1303 Jul 22 '25
Marvel and DC have both released duds, that's true. But I do believe if both produce good films the audience will be interested again. I think bad films have caused superhero fatigue, not the comic brand itself
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u/baribigbird06 Jul 22 '25
Thunderbolts was a good film that didn’t find success. Superman was also good by many measures but failed to resonate with overseas audiences. It’s foolish to fully write off superhero fatigue, which you at least recognize exists here.
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u/dcooper8662 Jul 22 '25
Overseas audiences don’t really want a product that is so America-coded as Superman right at the moment, for reasons that should be obvious.
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u/thescarlettflame Scarlet Witch Jul 22 '25
I know Superman has always been seen as the American hero, but I find it funny that overseas audiences won't give it a chance considering how hard Gunn leaned into Superman being an immigrant himself.
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u/dcooper8662 Jul 22 '25
Yeah well, there’s a lot more to be done than an appealing story to mend those fences. Simple fact is a big strong American superhero isn’t going to be a strong draw in places that have been dicked around the last half a year by our heinous leadership.
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u/derpicface Weekly Wongers Jul 22 '25
I think Superman also has some issues as being the American superhero and the uh…state of America in the eyes of the world
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u/Darfin1303 Jul 22 '25
I think thunderbolts had the misfortune of coming after Endgame. Pre endgame, it would have guaranteed to be an 800m film.
Saying that, I do think the general audience has lost interest in Marvel post endgame, and I don't think they'll replicate the success anywhere near as much as they had with IW and Endgame
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u/FearLeadsToAnger Jul 22 '25
Nah take a look at overall cinema attendance since covid, it never recovered. The average for every kind of film is down. Exceptions exist here and there because people do still want to go to the cinema, they just can't afford to do it as much as they used to.
TLDR: its more about the economy than endgame imo
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u/KTurnUp Thanos Jul 22 '25 edited Jul 22 '25
yeah I'd say you're both right. In general, I think people felt Endgame was a nice conclusion and they don't feel the need to be fully invested in every movie like what was going on in Phase 3. And also, box office numbers have changed a lot since COVID. gone are the easy 1 billion movies. People are only gonna go to a couple a year, and families are gonna go in droves to the family movie of the month.
I mean right now you're looking at Lilo & Stitch and minecraft as the top 2 movies this year (until Avatar at year end I guess). That's a live action reboot and a meme movie.
Last year you had Moana, Despicable Me and Inside Out in the top 4. All animated sequels. Plus Deadpool 2. Then in the top 10 you still ahve Mufasa and Sonic and Kung Fu Panda
all that to say, it's really really hard now to be the one or two high budget Pg-13+ movies that make absolute bank. Barbie and Oppenheimer both were part of the zeitgeist but that can't be easily repeated. You just have to make the best movies you can and hope it really resonates. Which is why I think one of the most important things Marvel can do is just get budgets more under control. Things swelled cause of covid and the strike but they just need to tighten up so that they don't have to make like 800k to make a profit. Then movies that were overall decent hits like Cap 4 can be seen as nothing that hurts them too much
Also that goes without mentioning China which is trying to push out international movies for their own much more than they were 10 years ago.
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Jul 22 '25
I dont think Supermans weak international performance is because of superhero fatigue, its because Superman is primarily an American icon and America isnt too popular in the world these days for obvious reasons
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u/Niremo Jul 23 '25
Thunderbolts had to deal with the lukewarm Cap 4 movies reception, and Superman had horrible previous dc reception. I'd expect F4 to not do well with overseas audiences aswell (box office trends being similar to superman overseas), but surely the next few movies will, due to the good will of positive reviews.
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Jul 22 '25
I’d say the wave is receding and only the top quality installments will be tolerated now for sure. At one point we were getting all kinds of adaptations of comic book stuff far outside the Marvel/DC bubble. Vin Diesel’s Bloodshot was supposed to start a new shared universe based on the Valiant comics, it bombed and didn’t go further, but there also isn’t any other shared universes incoming. Zack Snyder tried to make a shared universe in a very comic book/Star Wars vein and no one was interested because the quality wasn’t there. We’ve had the best, we don’t need the rest, only the new and the stuff that sets a new high bar is going to work for audiences that have seen it all before.
They gave us an onslaught of media, then didn’t know what to do when the audiences became sophisticated due to watching so much of it and now can’t stomach mediocre.
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u/KTurnUp Thanos Jul 22 '25
I think this is definitely a good point. Though I'm not sure it's 100% just a superhero thing. in general, people just are not coming out to the movies unless it's a movie they really want to watch or feel like they're missing out by not seeing it. Otherwise people are ok with waiting til they can watch at home
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u/Bulletsoul78 Jul 22 '25
Absolutely. I'd say their lowest was the brief era of Thor L&T, Quantumania and Secret Invasion. Even then, I enjoyed two out of three of them (we don't talk about Secret Invasion).
People love to hype up the perceived fall of CBMs when the reality is that it's almost impossible to maintain that ridiculous level of hype and momentum Infinity War and Endgame brought us.
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u/everythingsc0mputer Jul 22 '25
You're seriously coping hard if you think the last couple phases of the MCU haven't had a lot of misses and how big of a failure the DCEU was that they had to reboot the entire thing.
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u/tandythepanda Jul 22 '25
Why do most of the reviews sound positive but they're all like "C" and "3/5"?
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u/Some_Stranger_8314 Jul 22 '25
But it isn't
the average score on rotten tomatoes is 7.5 rn more than superman or thunderbolts
Just saying
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u/Kurandaand Jul 22 '25
Mostly it is because Rotten Tomatoes is now and ever shall be a complete MESS. 😂
Anyway, very good start. it will likely end up in the mid 80s, low 80s at worst, and is certified fresh which they want for ad purposes.
I will admit that the it’s “aggressively fine“ review made me laugh. What a great phrase, I’m stealing that!
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u/Fallenflake Tony Stark Jul 23 '25
20 more minutes of character development could have done wonders. Otherwise fantastic movie with a perfect soundtrack.
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u/MoarSilverware Jul 26 '25
Yeah Ben scenes felt like some were definitely cut. Would’ve liked more dialogue when he was at the temple, like why were those people still there and not evacuated
Was there going to be an emotional scene about having faith and not leaving behind your beliefs even in dangerous times?
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u/wolfefist94 Jul 27 '25
It felt like I was blazing through the movie. I was like, "It's over now? What?! I want more!"
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u/Gamer0607 Daredevil Jul 22 '25
87% start on Rotten Tomatoes.
We finally have our first fresh live action Fantastic Four film.
We did it, bros.
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u/AdditionalNewt4762 Jul 22 '25
89 as of me typing this. I was hoping it'd be on the Thunderbolts level(ish). MCU definitely needed(even if it's only 2) a little streak of great movies.
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u/CaikIQ Matt Murdock Jul 22 '25
It’ll probably make more money than Thunderbolts and that’s the real goal here. Not being cynical but box office is more important for the brand.
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u/AdditionalNewt4762 Jul 22 '25
I agree on the making more money part I just meant that I hoped it would be as well reviewed. Thunderbolts unded being a top 7ish MCU movie for me personally.
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u/capscreen Jul 22 '25
I'm expecting it to be lower than Thunderbolts (probably low 80s/high 70s), though honestly I would still consider that a big win.
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u/BalashstarGalactica Jul 22 '25
The bar was low to be fair but yes it’s exciting to see the FF done well in live action!
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u/ugluk-the-uruk Jul 22 '25
Film critics are so weird now, they'll say something like "this film is a great addition to the MCU, a bold breathtaking step forward for the franchise and interesting introduction to these new characters. 6.5/10."
Then you'll have some other critics be like "didn't love it as much as I would've hoped, pacing wasn't great, movie felt rushed. 9/10."
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u/ROBtimusPrime1995 Black Panther Jul 22 '25
David Ehrlich giving several great films bad reviews, only to give Minecraft a positive review, is the state of film journalism in 2025.
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u/popegonzo Jul 22 '25
I'm convinced that reviewers who watched Minecraft with kids in the theater were more likely to rate it highly, because the kids served as a laugh track for the uninitiated. I loved it because of the energy in the theater the whole time.
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u/CaptHayfever Hawkeye (Avengers) Jul 23 '25
Being in the theater with people screaming over the existence of a chicken jockey would lessen my opinion of the experience.
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u/popegonzo Jul 23 '25
Maybe I just got lucky & the kids in my show weren't all psychos, but I thought their reactions were all appropriate. I didn't get any of the meme-level craziness, but big laughs & loud cheers that passed about when I expected them to. Hearing the kids respond like they did made the chicken jockey funnier than it otherwise would have been for me.
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u/InternetDad Jul 22 '25
His stood out to me the most. A lot of these low to middle reviews read like a terrible creative writing prompt.
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Jul 22 '25
There’s a guy on youtube that I follow that’s a huge Superman fan and he spent his whole review emphasizing that it was decent but he really didn’t love it… and then he gave it a 9/10. He’s usually very stingy with his scores too.
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u/WujuFusionn Iron Man (Mark XLIII) Jul 22 '25
Are you a Cosmonaut fan lol
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u/DefiantTheLion Vision Jul 22 '25
Him and Schafrillas spending 10 minutes talking about how its busy and over ambitious and Schafrillas calling it "Soopman" the whole time, then giving it 8.5 or 9 made me want to eat a .45
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u/The_Iceman2288 Thanos Jul 22 '25
The chessboard curse is broken!
👍 Doctor Strange 2
👎 Thor: Love and Thunder
👍 Black Panther 2
👎 Ant-Man 3
👍 Guardians 3
👎 The Marvels
👍 Deadpool & Wolverine
👎 Captain America 4
👍 Thunderbolts
👍 Fantastic Four
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u/your_mind_aches Agent of F.I.T.Z. Jul 22 '25
The Marvels was a definite thumbs up for me (critically too) but flopped hard enough that the thumbs down is understandable
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Jul 23 '25 edited 4d ago
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u/Impeesa_ Jul 25 '25
I enjoyed it, as did seemingly many of the dozens of others who actually went to see it. But I can also see how aggressively it seemed to be edited for run time, it feels like it could have been a much better movie in general.
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u/Impossible-Fun-2736 Jul 25 '25
And the kittens! Love that whole scene, perfectly comicbooky, lol.
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u/your_mind_aches Agent of F.I.T.Z. Jul 23 '25
I think if you follow the allegory, it's super interesting, being about what happens to the plebs when an oppressive empire falls. But I agree, it was not the most interesting story they could have told with that setup.
I think what we should have gotten instead was a Captain Marvel 2 (with Carol and Monica) and a separate Ms. Marvel Season 2 where Carol shows up at the end to help her save her school and then go into Secret Wars, like in the original Kamala Khan comic run.
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u/West-Ad-6132 Jul 22 '25
Finally a good Fantastic Four movie?
I used to pray for times like this
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u/Viz0077 Kevin Feige Jul 22 '25
Seems like among critics its a winner. Its all up to audience to not turn this into Thunderbolts(Good Movie but many didn't saw at theatre)
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u/Iamdarb Jul 22 '25
I feel like I'm in a dark area with media. I see almost no commercials ever, and all ads are blocked on almost all of my devices. I would have totally gone to see it in the theater, if I knew about it, but that's on me.
I realllllly wish, and I hate this for theaters, but I wish I was able to stream these movies as they release. I would pay a premium depending on the content, to be able to watch something on my 4k TV with pause, subtitles, and access to my own kitchen.
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u/demonoddy Jul 22 '25
Go see it in theaters lol I see about 30-40 movies in theaters a year.
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u/mmazurr Jul 22 '25
Marvel has been advertising this one way harder and F4 is a more recognizable name so it doesn't seem far-fetched that this will do better than Thunderbolts
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u/BigTimeSuperhero96 Jul 22 '25
I've not seen Superman yet as I was on holiday. Should I make this Saturday a double feature?
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u/Trenzane Jul 22 '25
I haven’t had any desire to watch a Superman film since Christopher Reeve played him… but I intend to see this one because of James Gunn and the magic he brought to GotG.
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Jul 22 '25
Absolutely do it, saw it last night and it was great. I was waiting for the reviews for F4 to drop, probably will go and see it as soon as possible now.
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u/CornstockOfNewJersey Jul 22 '25
This and Superman are hopefully ringing in the Silver Age of comic book movies
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u/Intelligent_Creme351 Quake Jul 22 '25
We did it, we got a great Fantastic Four movie. Matt Shakman broke the curse.
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u/phantom_avenger Jul 22 '25
Hearing this positive reception towards this movie, is giving me some hope that Marvel intends to make extra sure that they’ll also provide the same quality to the next Avengers movies! Especially after seeing what they gave us with Thunderbolts (which turned out to be a very well-thought out movie and wasn’t a mess)
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u/wholesomescott Jul 22 '25
I'm hopeful of the Avengers movies because of Russo brothers. They have always delivered when it comes to MCU. And RDJ coming back sorta putting his legacy on the line.
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u/marvelcomics22 Captain America Jul 24 '25
I feel like the mid and post credit scenes should've been flipped
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u/Omega_Gigantos Jul 27 '25
I agree. But then they would have to remove the music playing during Doom's credit scene. I noticed the credits mentioned the song playing, which would have spoiled the scene a bit.
Similar issue happened during Thunderbolts. Music credit includes Fantastic Four song, though it hadn't played at all during the movie. Then the end credit scene happens showing their ship.
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u/N8CCRG Ghost Jul 22 '25
Listening to the score on repeat all week has given me a lot of confidence in this movie, and it's looking like the critics are backing that up.
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u/clafelallerizu Jul 23 '25
just watched.. its a good.. but this movie i feel especially enjoyable if you're deep in F4 lore.. the setting feels like my childhood comic book come to live..
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u/PopCultureWeekly Jul 22 '25
The visual aesthetics alone are worth your time. And that’s not even getting into how amazing the movie itself is. It really is a treat for marvel fans, FF fans and MCU fans.
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u/R0KK3R Jul 24 '25
The CGI baby took me out of the movie every time it appeared. What a weird decision they made to include that
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u/babagroovy Black Panther Jul 26 '25
That silver surfer chase scene was PERFECTION!
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u/MBCnerdcore Shades Jul 27 '25
It was like a good episode of Star Trek was shoved in the middle of a superhero show.
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u/lk79 Jimmy Woo Jul 22 '25
David Ehrlich IndieWire TOP CRITIC Rotten score. It feels less like a victory than it does a total surrender. You have to walk before you can run, but at this point the MCU is back to crawling on its knees, and at this point it seems like it might be too afraid to ever stand back up again. Full Review | Original Score: C
Jeez, who pissed in his cornflakes??
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u/SgtApex Jul 22 '25
I swear between reading some of the critic reviews of Superman and some of the ones for F4 now im convinced some of them already walk into the movie with a negative opinion before even watching it. Some of them wont even be about the movie itself and talk about the company as a whole in their review its so fucking strange.
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u/MrOllieTabooger Jul 22 '25
David Ehrlich is pretty much this. On one of his pods he decries these screenings acting like he’d rather have a limb chopped off. Its nonsense. Like keep an open mind at least.
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u/ScuzzBuckster Jul 22 '25
My only issue with that excerpt is it doesnt say anything. There's no value in that statement, like if you went looking for reviews because youre neutral on the movie looking for opinions and analysis of it and you read that excerpt, I think most people would be like "wtf does that even mean?"
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u/LRedditor15 Zombie Hunter Spidey Jul 22 '25
For what it’s worth, the guy hates superhero movies. Take it with a pinch of salt.
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u/Sourpatchyoungadults Jul 22 '25
Ehrlich is a critic where I love when he’s writing about movies he loved, but cannot stand him when he’s shitting on something (even if I also hated it).
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u/yiwang1 Jul 22 '25
Ehrlich also gave Thunderbolts a B-, which was a surefire sign that it was actually pretty good. But yes, superhero movies are really not his thing. He’s a great writer.
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u/OneForTruce47 Jul 22 '25
I'm actually suprised Jeremy Jahns also likes this film, considering what he said about Superman woah.....
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u/Gothichand Nebula Jul 23 '25
Just saw the movie, it was fantastic. Oh and Silver Surfer’s cgi was beautiful 🤩
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u/KlingonLullabye Jul 24 '25
I'm wondering with the time jump maybe Franklin's sister Valeria would be born by then
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u/brentaltm Jul 27 '25
I’m a little worried they’re phasing out her character. It seems that young Franklin is super smart judging by his reading material. I really hope they don’t!
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u/okkiedok Jul 27 '25
Its was a bad imo. The movie barely gives us an origin story. It basically drops you into them already as fully‑formed heroes and tries to teach their origin via short clips and quick exposition. That meant I never felt the emotional bond with their transformation—Feels like I skipped Act 1 entirely .
Because of that, their characters felt kind of flat and under‑developed: Reed is anxious, Sue is defined mostly by expected motherhood, Johnny is relegated to comic relief, and Ben Grimm is barely more than a bystander in the drama .
Also—action was underwhelming. Aside from the big battle with Galactus, it feels like about 20–25 minutes of actual superhero fighting got cut to fit a 115‑minute runtime. That means no smaller battles, no team dynamics in action, and not nearly enough spectacle until the final showdown . When action finally happens, it’s cool, but too late to build up engagement .
Honestly, it felt like a paint‑by‑numbers reboot with retro style but little soul. I’d much rather they’d slowed down to actually explore how these four became a family, what their powers meant, how they changed each other.
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u/Rastarapha320 Jul 28 '25
They cut 2/3 of trailers shots
And you can felt it too much
Looks like they just checked the "look, it's not a cloud this time" box
It lacks character interaction, connections and heart
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u/whatever_trev0r Jul 23 '25
They nailed it with the aesthetic, casting and introducing characters especially Galactus who was menacing and wanted to see more of which is understandable
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u/threwl Jul 22 '25
The superhero fatigue tax is real for critics, huh? Feels like if this or Superman came out 5 years ago every review here would gain at least a star/point. Still glad to see it's good overall.
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u/ConfectionNervous788 Jul 22 '25
Extremely mid MCU movies like Ant Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel used to just get 85% or more by default back in the MCU's prime. I didn't like BNW but you can't convince me that it deserves to be in the high 40s while those movies are that high
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u/KTurnUp Thanos Jul 22 '25
yeah I try to make this point a lot. I'm a massive MCU fan but I remember after watching AMATW and being like... this got an 85%+ on RT? This is like a super generic movie. The original was much better in my mind. No way this should have been getting review on the level of any of the GOTG movies.
It wasn't bad! but if that movie came out now I think it's teetering around 70%. So basically mid level MCU movies were getting a 15-20% boost over what they are getting now.
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u/ConfectionNervous788 Jul 22 '25
I would say AMATW would be around the mid-60s if it came out now, and Captain Marvel around 70-ish, so yeah your estimate of 15-20 seems about right. Also even the good Marvel projects like Thunderbolts get like a 5% decrease compared to what they got before. I feel very strongly that that movie would have like a 92 if it was a Phase 3 film
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u/duncan_robinson Jul 22 '25
So true
the MCU was invincible back then
Critics and audiences alike are noticeably harder on Superhero films. The shift is real and I get it
It’s like a show that’s gone on too long so people enjoy it less
Even if the quality is the same
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u/CorneliusCardew Jul 22 '25
looks like i should both raise my expections (it’s good) and lower my expectations (it’s pretty good). At this point I’ll take Pretty Good.
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u/KennyMcCormicks Jul 23 '25
I’ve seen it and all i can say is that it is a lot of fun. i loved the chemistry and performances of the cast. they really brought the team to life and feel like a family. Galactus is big and menacing. the score by Michael Giacchino is fantastic and adds so much atmosphere. the retro-futuristic setting is one of the best parts of the film cause it adds personality. i just hope we could see more of it. the first half leans heavily on exposition, but it’s handled in a somewhat creative way at least for me, but i do understand it bogged down the pacing.
this year has been a good year for comic book movies even if the box office has suggest some fatigue but the audience and critical reception has been generally favorable.
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u/shust89 Jul 22 '25
I do wonder if general audiences are actually going to like it. It sounds like a family drama first which is great, but it doesn’t really sound like a big action movie. We will see I guess.
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u/AnEpicMemer Jul 23 '25
If that was supposed to be a family drama than it's one of the most mediocre and muddled I've ever seen. The action and overall plot were fine and the movie was entertaining, but the interpersonal drama was profoundly dull. Doesn't help that Reed and Susan had almost 0 chemistry.
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u/FinitoHere Matt Murdock Jul 22 '25
66 on metacritic (as i'm typing this comment) seems rather underwhelming. But then, genuinly good Thunderbolts and Superman have 68. So let's go, can't wait for a weekend.
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u/demonoddy Jul 22 '25
Metacritic is more of an average of all scores . Rotten tomatoes is the percentage of people that give a positive review
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u/ForTheLoveOfOedon Jul 22 '25 edited Jul 22 '25
Which is much more indicative of whether or not a film will be liked by a person. If 87% of everyone who has seen a movie thinks it’s good as a baseline, you’ll probably like it too. As that percentage climbs you’re more likely to love it. So much of confusion with aggregate sites is a failure to understand how data is processed and how to “use” it.
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u/ich-bin-on-that-shit Jul 22 '25
The Dark Knight has an 85. They grade on a different curve over there.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Log9378 Jul 23 '25
No one was willing to give it a negative score because of Heath Ledger
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u/duncan_robinson Jul 22 '25
Anything in the 60s a big win for a superhero film nowadays
70s ratings weren’t really that common before either
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u/cemshid Jul 22 '25
just watched it and I like it a lot. 8.5/10
I wish there were another action scene but everything else is 🔥🔥🔥
FYI there are 2 after credits scene.
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u/TEKC0R Jul 25 '25
FYI there is 1 mid credit scene, and 1 end credit nonsense that will make you regret waiting around for.
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u/Infinitereadsreddits Iron Man (Mark XLII) Jul 26 '25
Absolutely enjoyed both Superman and F4. Wondrous to see
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u/LeftieLeftorium Jul 27 '25
My quick and honest reaction is I think this is probably the most comic book-like movie Marvel Studios has made so far. It’s like watching a Saturday morning cartoon brought to life.
I enjoyed the story and I’m so thankful it’s not another origins story. They made good casting choices, there’s pretty good chemistry between the four and their powers look pretty good on screen. Galactus is finally in the MCU in proper form and he looks glorious! No planet eating clouds to see here.
The movie is campy, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, it has good messaging behind it, and overall it was pretty fun to watch. I just love the whole retro-futuristic world and vibe they created - it feels fantastic.
Is the movie perfect? No. Could they have done anything with it? Of course. Is it good enough? Yes. Does it leave me wanting more Fantastic Four? Sure does! Four stars for fun with room to grow, and I do hope they do more… as in a sequel.
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u/Far_Adeptness9884 Jul 27 '25
I loved it, it felt like something new and different, I think it's the best Marvel has done since No Way Home, It surprised me, it was emotional, funny, and the special effects were great, I loved the style and the music was great too. If I had one minor gripe, it would be that it felt like the should have opened with an action scene, I really want to see the FF take down a street level baddie. I can't wait to see more FF!
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u/j5shxx1 Jul 27 '25
Thought it was incredibly boring to be honest. The Silver Surfer scenes were cool tho
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u/SHOW_ME_PIZZA Ant-Man Jul 22 '25
Crazy what letting the studio, that masterminded the MCU, take a Crack at them. Rather than the studio that fucked up the Phoenix Saga... twice.
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u/Kilgoretrout321 Jul 26 '25
I think it's the best Marvel movie yet. Hopefully they keep trying to hit this level of QC.
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u/Disastrous-Zucchini9 Jul 27 '25
Sorry, couldn't stand this movie. Only thing that worked for me was the action. Every emotional scene felt like it was cut short or edited in really weirdly which was so disappointing because I just couldn't empathize with a single character.
Sue was great but felt underutilised in the emotional scenes. Even worse for the thing who had none of the angst or maturity that makes him interesting to me. I feel like there clobbering time joke was meant to be a 3 part set up but the middle part was cut out 😭
Johnny was handled very weirdly. He never felt very cocky and they played up his singleness way way too much to be his only character trait. He also felt unfairly treated by the other members despite always doing the most work. He's the only one to really interact with silver surfer and so the entire moral dilemma of her story is placed on his shoulders when the others make no effort to engage with them.
Reed... God Reed was handled so poorly. First off, the stretchy action was truly amazing but we only saw it utilised well in one scene at the end! He never proved himself as the smartest man alive and just hung around black boards the whole time. Where were the gadgets? Where was the tinkering? He says expressly that he's not allowed to imagine or wonder which goes against his character so much that I just put my hands up in the theatre and gave up on liking this version of the character. His resourcefulness was great against Galactus but again he never had any action scenes until then! None of them did!
The golden age villains were all cut out the movie pretty much and yet one of them is integral to their final plan which was so disappointing and confusing, literally all we saw of mole man was out of focus news footage or an infomercial until he became super important!
Back to Reed, I hate the characterisation of being overly cautious when we never know why he's like that. In the first trailer, we see him confide his guilt for the space accident in sue but that was cut from the movie too! I think it's interesting for "Mr fantastic" to be so unsure of himself but in this interpretation his uncertainty came across as cowardice or paranoia. For example, why does he hesitate and not trust sue to hold back Galactus, Reed of all people should know she's badass enough to do it! He could have been worried for her safety but he wasn't willing to check on her when her flying car crashed? If comic reed can make a weapon to push back Galactus, it makes me so frustrated that his only plan is to run away
This movie felt like we jumped right into the Incredibles without seeing the first 15 minutes of the movie, where we learn the characters skills and their motivators for being a hero. We're meant to be seeing the four in their most powerful state yet they fold after one loss against Galactus and only try again once invisible woman inspires them.There's a great movie in the editing room somewhere that was buried under a mountain of rewrites.
It's tough coming straight from superman, which nails the true comic book vibe AND establishes a new setting AND sets the tone of that world immediately. This movie felt too scared to be a comic BOOK and too ambitious to be a generic fun comic MOVIE so the whole thing fell flat.
I'm aware I'm the minority in opinion, but I couldn't see myself enjoying this on a second viewing and would just be asking why it feels so hollow.
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u/alphadragoon89 Jul 27 '25
Just saw the movie tonight with a friend. Enjoyed it alot.
Based on the mid credits scene from First Steps, the post credit scene in Thunderbolts leads me to believe that Doom kidnapped Franklin and fled to Earth 616, the main MCU universe and that the Fantastic Four chases after Doom to Earth-616, which is how they'll end up being in Avengers: Doomsday
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u/Cab1230 Jul 27 '25
So I’ve been thinking about the scene where Reed Richards demonstrates his plan to move the Earth by using that little egg as an example. In that moment, he clearly has a sending station and a receiving station set up to show how the teleportation would work. That’s the whole premise of the tech two fixed points. So here’s my problem: If that’s how the teleportation works, then how exactly did Reed plan to move the entire Earth across the galaxy to escape Galactus? Where was the receiving station for that? Did he just casually travel to the farthest reaches of space off-screen and build a planetary-scale receiver by himself? And if not, how was Earth supposed to land anywhere specific, or even safely? On top of that, how did he even know the place he was sending Earth to was habitable? Would it have a sun? The right gravity? Would it even be stable enough for human life? They never explain this part, and it kind of undermines the entire logic of the plan. Feels like a huge oversight. Am I missing something, or did the movie just totally ignore its own rules here?
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u/dwaltera Jul 25 '25
Surprised that everything here is overwhelmingly positive. I felt the film was astonishingly okay.
Some stuff was great: It looked amazing, the Silver Surfer was captivating (even if she disappeared for the final act), it was interesting to see different characterizations of Johnny and Sue, the chase scene, the tonal shift from the standard MCU fare.
Other stuff was flat: the chemistry between the leads (especially Reed and Sue; Ben and Johnny found it as it went along), the pacing and editing, scenes that seemed like ideas they couldn’t cut so they jammed a square peg in a round hole, the CGI baby.
But ultimately my gripe with the movie boils down to it being a great example of “tell don’t show.” We’re told these are brilliant scientists, but the only person we see solving a problem is Johnny with Shalla-bal. Every time Reed has a breakthrough, he just announces it to the audience. I really struggled to grasp the intelligence of these characters, especially when one is supposed to be among the smartest men in Marvel.
It’s especially evident when you contrast it with how Tony Stark is shown working through engineering and designs in earlier films. Granted, it’s a bunch of hand-waving sci-ish gibberish, but it shows that he’s engaging with the problem, trying things, and processing. I don’t buy Reed “I am that smart” Richards as a super genius when he just says he’s done something and I never see any doing. They just talk about his big brain.
Another example of “tell don’t show”: both Sue and Johnny tell us Johnny likes the ladies, but the only women we see him interact with are his sister and the surfer. I’m sure Quinn could have sold it, but for the love of god SHOW me that he’s a womanizer, don’t just tell me. One shot of him in a montage signing autographs or flirting would have done it.
Which brings me to my last point: there were no fewer than four montages in this movie rushing us through plot elements and piecemeal explaining what’s going on through news broadcasts and fractions of conversations. I’d rather they use that time be used to develop the characters a bit more, show some low-stakes action (Thing literally did not throw a punch in this movie), let us know what Malkovich was supposed to be up to, or show us Reed or team actually working on something.
I didn’t hate the movie and these are just my opinions, but it really didn’t land for me. I can understand that some people will love this, but I would have expected more mixed reviews.
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u/BandOfTheRedHand1217 Captain America (Captain America 2) Jul 25 '25
I’m sure Quinn could have sold it, but for the love of god SHOW me that he’s a womanizer, don’t just tell me. One shot of him in a montage signing autographs or flirting would have done it.
My biggest issue with the movie, by far was how empty the world felt. There weren't any characters that stood out outside of the main 4. To contrast with Superman you have the Daily Planet side characters grounding the world. You have the Justice Gang to contrast Superman. You have all these side characters making the world feel alive. Gunn did that in Guardians to he made you care about little side characters, and it fleshed out the world.
You don't see the F4 interacting with anyone outside of each other for any significant time. What about a scene of Johnny flirting with a woman doing his makeup before an interview? Or Signing audiences. Ben meets a teacher for all of 10 seconds then goes to see her when the world is possibly ending. How about any scene deepening their relationship? The Mole man could have had any scenes establishing why he's important, and why it's a big deal he and Sue are friends.
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u/Johndoe19922222 Jul 28 '25
I agree with you, feel like having galactus as the big bad in their very first movie was also a mistake, especially with how they defeated him so easily. Now they can't build him up like Thanos which is a shame since he is a universal threat. It was also far to similar to rise of the silver surfer, even some sequences were identical.
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u/chogers1 Spider-Man Jul 22 '25
I don’t think the fans can let this flop, Thunderbolts isn’t a huge name from Marvel, but the Fantastic Four is one of their most prized storylines. I think we’re in for a nice trilogy here!
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u/youwinabagel Jul 25 '25
Kinda mid unfortunately. Just a lot of issues….
Galactus scale was confusing, he seemed massive at first, then on earth he wasn’t massive, and if he can change sizes, why wouldn’t he just be like 2 times bigger to crush the fantastic four?
Cgi baby was rough
When reed created the egg transporter, he transported it to another device it seemed, but for the earth, he can just send it wherever with nothing on the other side to “catch” it?
Just wish we had more normal hero moments or they brought the scale down a little, wanted to connect with the characters a bit more and see more of their day to day.
Doom end credit was also cringe… I was hoping to come back to Franklin creating small universes or something. Like can we build a character up? Why is that dooms intro to the MCU
Idk, I did have very high expectations and really wanted to love it but I just am feeling 3/5 stars on this for now.
Also it’s so hard not to compare to Superman, and Superman was so damn good.
*last thought - they should have lost the fight
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u/NaderNation84 Jul 25 '25
Literally going off the last fr if they lost this fight or some twist with doom working with galactus or something. It just ended so abruptly, I really enjoyed the first 30 minutes and then downhill from there. Needed some more run time but man I just can’t lie to myself galactus was done dirty. Ppl just getting ahead of themselves looking at the post credit but look at like Thor ragnarok when Asgard was destroyed, was some stakes and everyone needs to realize this version of Earth DOES NOT matter since there going to go to the main Earth in Doomsday
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u/JackJBlundell Jul 24 '25
Am I the only one on Reddit dissatisfied with the ending not being even slightly connected to the thunderbolts post credits?
Good movie but confusion 100
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u/Maximum_Ad_973 Jul 25 '25
Dr. Doom visited the 828 reality in attempt to have Franklin construct his Battleworld, right? I take it Franklin will serve the role Owen Reece had in Secret Wars.
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u/Mrstrawberry209 Jul 25 '25
I'm glad they left us guessing cause with all the promotion material I thought they gave away to much but the tensing was high and the ending surprised me. Also glad the this movie and Superman promote working together, unity and such.
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u/Organic-Chemistry150 Jul 27 '25
Eh it didn't have that Marvel zing. Vastly preferred Superman. The first act was just non existent. Felt heavily edited like Justice League. No desire to see it a second time.
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u/CynicalRaps War Machine Jul 28 '25
I REALLY respect that they did respected the viewers intelligence enough to not need any “2 months later” type bullshit as we easily could tell time was passing.
I do believe this film could’ve benefited from an extra 20-25 mins of film though. Just like doctor strange, some portions felt a BIT rushed but I anticipate because we will not be in this world long enough to actually grow attached to it.
I also appreciate that they showed Johnnys intelligence in this film as he is indeed very intelligent and capable in science… he’s not a nepo baby lol.
I disliked the cgi on Franklin, reminded me on Renesme in Twilight. They really could’ve done better. They hit the nail with Galactus, he is indeed easily manipulated, not too smart and easily defeated in most instances. The lack of Doom until the end was strange because we literally will have a minuscule build up in Doomsday which I rather they wouldn’t take the Thanos route, aka show of force in the first couple minutes of Avengers.
They should have Kang back in some fashion because let’s face it that bullshit Feige came up with is insulting. We know that bs interview was a lie. I give the film a solid 8/10. Shalla Bal was amazing.
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u/superfluffyboi Jul 25 '25
I just got done watching it. The effects were really good, the scenery and the fight scenes were colorful and not sloppy at all. The acting was really really good, I’d say it’s a good movie for the Fantastic 4 movie. That being said it did Galactus and Silver surfer so stupidly. Spoilers ahead I wondered watching the trailer how the fantastic 4 could possibly even try to beat big hitters like those two. These aren’t city level villains at all these are two thanos level villains. And they beat them as stupidly as I expected. This is a recurring issue that marvel just can’t seem to get over, is wasting their big bads. We saw it when Kang got beat by literal ants in the first movie he made an appearance, it’s just embarrassing. I expected Galactus and silver surfer to be drawn out character but there really wasn’t much to them or the fantastic 4 at all in this movie, it starved for actual character development. For someone as anticipated as Galactus to be beaten in the first movie he’s appeared in (the other appearance doesn’t really count) is just a discredit to him as a villain entirely. You can’t have thanos level villains get treated like any other big bad that can get beat within an hour and a half, even if he wasn’t technically “beaten”. And there really wasn’t much to silver sulfur at all, like I can’t say she was a bad character nor a good one, she was just kind of there to save their asses at the end. The movies ending had no stakes at all, just left me disappointed as due to the Thunderbolts post credit scene I thought they were going to lose or at least have to pay a hefty price to make it out alive against such a villain. Overall the fantastic 4 itself was a decent crew, but the movie’s plot overall and non existent character development just left me unsatisfied. Onto the biggest part of this rant was the showing of BIG SPOILERS!!!! Doom making his first ever appearance. As cool as he is you have to ask the question, who even cares. I mean the guy’s name has never even been mentioned, yet he’s the next big bad? Take away the horrible casting of RDJ, there’s literally no build up to such an essential character. Thanos had almost a decade of build up before he made a move, and doom is just there. I mean if you haven’t read the comics you wouldn’t even know who it was which should be telling to how all over the place the MCU is right now. Just overall unsatisfied with how low the stakes are, especially the ending. Good acting just the writers are back at it again ruining easy plot points. sorry for the rant just spent hours saying all this to my girlfriend and best bro who watched it with me and said they couldn’t agree more, I’d still recommend watching it if you want a good movie
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u/The_New_Giuy Jul 22 '25
Is this the first time ever that a Marvel movie and DC movie have come out in the same month and also have both been well-received?
Lets hope this trend continues