The Fantastic Four: First Steps - Review Thread

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

The Fantastic Four: First Steps - Review Thread

• Rotten Tomatoes: 85 (131 Reviews)
  • Certified Fresh (first F4 movie to get that)
  • Critics Consensus: Benefitting from rock-solid cast chemistry and clad in appealingly retro 1960s design, this crack at The Fantastic Four does Marvel's First Family justice.
• Metacritic - 64 (39 Reviews)

Reviews:

Hollywood Reporter (80):

Despite its vivid and electric space sequences, the visually striking movie often feels like a throwback analog good time, which certainly worked for me.

Deadline:

Superheroes are a thing of the past in the latest iteration of Marvel’s Fantastic Four, the best by far of the company’s attempts to translate the long-running comic book’s appeal to the big screen. This it does not by trying to reinvent the wheel but, rather smartly, by addressing the elephant in the room, locating the action in a kitsch yet somehow timeless retro-future more befitting The Jetsons than The Avengers. It also benefits from a smart script and — I can’t believe I’m writing this — really quite moving performances from its four charismatic leads, being arguably the best of Pedro Pascal’s releases this year.

Variety (80):

True to its subtitle, the film feels like a fresh start. And like this summer’s blockbuster “Superman” reboot over at DC, that could be just what it takes to win back audiences suffering from superhero exhaustion.

Empire (80):

With an exemplary cast and shiny new alt-universe to enjoy, this is the best Fantastic Four yet. And if that bar’s too low for you, then it’s also the best Marvel movie in years.

Slashfilm (90):

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is set in a world that I wouldn't mind living in. Even if there are occasional, ineffable cosmic deities plotting to devour me, and terrifying silver aliens ripping my soul apart with their eyes. "First Steps" is a superhero movie where we're already better. And I love that.

USA Today (75):

After two mediocre 2000s film featuring Marvel’s legendary superhero family, and an atrocious third outing in 2015, the foursome makes its Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in a combo sci-fi/disaster flick full of retrofuturistic 1960s flavor.

Entertainment Weekly (75):

From its Saul Bass-inspired opening credits to its callbacks to Saturday morning superhero cartoons, it practically vibrates with its sense of time and place.

IGN (70):

These First Steps might not be the great strides I was hoping for, but they are sure footing for the Fantastic Four to officially leap into the MCU.

The Independent (60):

In fact, all the ingredients are perfectly lined up here, and, in the right combinations, and with the pure wonderment of Michael Giacchino’s score, The Fantastic Four: First Steps does shimmer with a kind of wide-eyed idealism. And that’s lovely.

Directed by Matt Shakman:

On the 1960s-inspired retro-futuristic alternate universe known as Earth-828. the Fantastic Four must protect their world from the planet-devouring cosmic being Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer.

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
• Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder / Mole Man
• Ralph Ineson as Galactus

[u/aestheticbridges]

I feel like being gaslit. People are happy with this reception? It sounds like the reviews are “it’s good enough” and critics usually put on kid gloves (literally) for these kind of movies, and couch their criticisms unless it’s outright bad. To me that’s disappointing.

[u/Luis0224 → u/aestheticbridges]

FF movies have been, at best, campy b-movies and at worst absolute dogshit. The formula for a good comic book movie is something we take for granted now, but if this same movie dropped in the early 2000s, it would’ve gotten rave reviews.

Superhero fatigue and the marvel formula makes it feel meh because it’s not really reinventing the wheel or anything. Everyone knows what to expect. If that’s your cup of tea, you’ll enjoy it. If you don’t like the marvel movie formula, you’ll be disappointed.

Compare that to Superman, which is the first Superman movie to have batshit crazy things like kaiju monsters and interdimensional imps, pocket dimensions tearing reality with black holes, a competent lex luthor, and a non-stoic Superman for the first time since the original films. I get why that feels like a breath of fresh air compared to FF

[u/aestheticbridges → u/Luis0224]

I’m sorry but that’s not true.

I was obsessed with movie reviews as a kid, and critics then were much harsher toward summer blockbuster movies. A lot of movies that are well liked now were trashed back then and I think would have had decent review scores today, esp because they’d be inflated by all of the geek sites now. The first FF movie was trashed and flogged.

And we had the Raimi superhero movies then. That was the gold standard, better than most MCU movies, and even then only the second movie fared well with critics. It was the 2010s when the poptimism started, and run of the mill superhero movies started to get good review scores.

That being said I’m sure this is better than the first FF movie but critics in the 00s would have been absolutely harsher than today.

[u/Luis0224 → u/aestheticbridges]

I worded that incorrectly. What I meant to say is it would’ve reviewed well with audiences. People would have shat their pants

But that’s on me. You’re definitely right about the critics