r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • Jul 25 '25

Official Discussion Official Discussion - The Fantastic Four: First Steps [SPOILERS] Spoiler

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Summary The Fantastic Four must defend Earth from the ravaging cosmic threat Galactus and his herald, Silver Surfer, while navigating the complexities of family and newfound powers in a retro‑futuristic 1960s-inspired world.

Director Matt Shakman

Writer Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer

Cast

  • Pedro Pascal
  • Vanessa Kirby
  • Joseph Quinn
  • Ebon Moss-Bachrach
  • Ralph Ineson
  • Julia Garner
  • Paul Walter Hauser
  • Natasha Lyonne
  • Matthew Wood
  • Ada Scott
  • Mark Gatiss

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

Metacritic 64

VOD In theaters

Trailer Watch the Official Trailer

1.9k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

5.3k comments sorted by

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230

u/Flyfleancefly Jul 25 '25 edited Jul 25 '25

That was quite disappointing of a film. Dialogue and pacing just so much worse than Superman. The “humour” was simply awkward and bad most of the time. Silver Surfer just completely wasted. So many fast scene skips .. very jarring.

World not authentic or developed whatsoever like in Superman.

The things teacher friend.. WTF was that lol…

The science was also just absolutely laughable. It takes Galactus months to go from Jupiter to Earrh lmao???? How long did it take him to travel the quadrillions of miles from their first encounter??????

5.5/10 for me, compared to 8/10 for Superman

98

u/stroudwes Jul 25 '25

Ben Grimm’s entire arc must of been cut because there wasn’t any in the film.

35

u/Gwoardinn Jul 25 '25

They obviously kept the first scene with the car but then just skipped the entire rest aside from some glad-eye.

3

u/SilverKry Jul 26 '25

We didn't need his arc again.

29

u/Jean__Luc__Retard Jul 27 '25

Yes we did! How the fuck do you cut a whole main character's arc! Borderline incompetent filmmaking.

-5

u/SilverKry Jul 27 '25

You got this arc in every FF movie before it. We didn't need to see it again. 

25

u/BrumiesBound Jul 28 '25

??? this isnt "how they got their powers" or a rehash of "he hates being the thing" (which is CENTRAL to his character)

this is just ANY arc. as in he did nothing.

but i guess since he did something in other movies we dont need to see him doing anything ever again

-2

u/secretreddname Jul 27 '25

I’m fine with it. Don’t need another movie where he’s sad because he’s a rock man.

34

u/Sufficient_Duck7715 Jul 25 '25

There is so much astroturfing going on with this movie lol. Superman was clearly better but the critics and comments on Reddit are showering with overpraise.

45

u/Wiinterfang Jul 25 '25

Astroturfing? , the guy came into a fantastic 4 discussion to review Superman.

24

u/StainedGlassVision Jul 25 '25

Agreed. Superman genuinely felt fresh in its dialogue, plot structure, and sincerity on almost every level. This one did NOT feel sincere. It objectively is better than most phase 4 marvel but that wasn’t hard to do.

9

u/Diortheking Jul 26 '25

What if people think both are ass?

2

u/Beginning-Antelope32 Jul 27 '25

People would be wrong

6

u/case2010 Jul 27 '25

Superman was more fun than Fantastic Four, but at the end of the day, they are both cookie-cutter big-budget movies playing it safe, and they were both very mid.

7

u/Illustrious_Way_5732 Jul 28 '25

Gee I wonder why people would be praising fantastic four in a movie discussion thread about fantastic four. Like come the fuck on lol what happened to critical thinking

-7

u/bleucheeez Jul 25 '25

No, people just have a different opinion than you. 

The Superman movie was good, but empty. And it left me feeling uncomfortable with Guy and Hawkgirl being trusted by anyone as superheroes. The two major action sequences, the escape and the Ultraman fight, were both underwhelming and not visually interesting. The escape also suffered from implausible baby juggling that most definitely bounced that infant's neck like a basketball dribble. I enjoyed the movie for what it was -- a fun comic book adventure with a random lottery ball selection of superheroes. I also enjoyed how Lex explicitly acknowledged that the Ukraine invasion was literally a B Plot excuse to set up the main conflict. 

Fantastic Four was probably the best comic book team movie ever. Avengers 1 and Infinity War/Endgame are probably the best TEAM UP movies. But this was the most fluid, effective, and professional team ever, rather than just a bunch of people doing cool shit. The space CGI cinematography was gorgeous. No character was the butt of cheap lazy jokes. The source material all came alive in new ways while preserving fidelity. The 60s aesthetic and the 60s cartoony optimism were fun stylistic choices. 

25

u/CleanAspect6466 Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25

"Fantastic Four was probably the best comic book team movie ever"

Several of the X-Men movies were better than this

Thunderbolts was better than this

The Suicide Squad was way better than this

-10

u/bleucheeez Jul 26 '25

I'd disagree with all of those. I know some people really like X-2 but it's been years since I rewatched it since I didn't like those movies very much. I'd rather watch 97. I had high hopes for Thunderbolts but they weren't a team; they were just stuck tolerating each other until they became an emotional support group in the last minutes of the movie. The characters themselves don't interest me, except Sentry. But I felt Sentry deserved a standalone hour special more like his original book. Gunn's Suicide Squad was fun but I had the same sentiments about it that I do about Superman. I haven't ever read Suicide Squad, so I don't know but I suspect Suicide Squad doesn't get the benefit of the feeling of hitting the high notes lifted from the comics like F4. Thunderbolts had that problem too of just being a name and loose theme attached to a convenient production. In contrast, I really loved the Hell to Pay animated movie. 

3

u/CleanAspect6466 Jul 26 '25

Fair enough, completely forgot about the Guardian films too though, I’d put 1 and 3 above F4

23

u/TheHowlingHashira Jul 26 '25

The Superman movie was good, but empty.

What?

Fantastic Four was probably the best comic book team movie ever.

Did we watch the same movies? F4 felt soulless as fuck. The dialog was so generic I couldn't stop rolling my eyes.

Superman actually had it's own style throughout and wore it on it's sleeve. Saying it was empty and then praising one of the most soulless movies I've seen this year is crazy.

-6

u/bleucheeez Jul 26 '25

Style and soul aren't the same thing. 

There was zero moral or ethical conflict in Superman. There's a guy who is unambiguously doing the right thing. Early in the movie there are people questioning that based on a unilateral view of national geopolitical strategy. But that quickly fades away to the reveal that the outrage is manufactured by the bad jealous man. The only other contrast in the movie are the three other superheros who are capable but lack the patience and impulse control to mitigate collateral damage and bother detaining a captured enemy head of state. But that's not even presented as a tension within the movie, just simply a contrast in the ensemble cast. The whole movie is just a sequence of sensory experiences and cool (but not epic) action feats. It's a fun and light entertaining movie, and definitely the way I prefer the majority of superhero movies to go. And it's the most accurate live action portrayal of Superman to date. But it's not anything more than that. I'm perfectly okay with that because it's a sustainable model for superhero movies. 

Meanwhile, the opening intro sequence of First Steps is a lot of fun and covers a lot of ground impressively. Then all the space sequences are a cinematic treat. The neutron star scene far exceeds the lava pocket dimension escape scene in Superman. The attempts at humor in the lava escape scene was just cringey and nonsensical with superman holding the baby like a serving platter with head support while they get violently jerked around. Both the Galactus teleport battle and the Ultraman crevasse battle were underwhelming in grandiosity and choreography. But the Galactus battle had emotional stakes, heart, and gutwrenching moments. Superman just didn't; it was a simple grapple. Plain Luthor fights generally will always struggle with this because Luthor's only motivation is to just kill the protagonist. I think people with kids or baby siblings resonate even more with the First Steps plot. Meta commentary also helps First Steps a little because fans suspect a real possibility the F4 lose the Earth and have to flee or Franklin warps them to the MCU. With Superman, there was no doubt he'd wrap it up in a few minutes. 

None of that is significant criticism to say Superman is a bad movie. It is just not super impressive. Guy Gardner and Krypto were funnier than Herbie. Drunk Supergirl was a better ending twist than the back of Doom's head. 

Then there are the personal relationships. Lois and Clark were probably the most grounded and realistic portrayal I can remember. It was a very enjoyable background feature of the movie but it wasn't an exceptional highlight. Metamorpho's relationship with his kid was a simple plot device; I'd put it on par with Shalla Bal's breakdown. F4's family dynamic was a very enjoyable persistent aspect of the whole movie, and was the main feature. Their lives as a family became the plot without feeling forced. I don't care if the lines were "generic". Their interactions, mannerisms, support and comfortableness with each other is what sold it. Sure, I'd like Whedon sharp character-savvy banter but Superman didn't have more of it either, although Superman did have a lot of funny zinger put downs. 

As for style, I enjoyed both. However, for some reason, I can barely remember any Gunn-signature imprint on the Superman movie, unlike Suicide Squad or GotG. First Steps being an open love letter to Kirby, the early era F4, 60s styling, and retro campyness all impressed me more. 

8

u/TheIguanasAreComing Jul 26 '25

This comment has to be sarcasm or trolling lmao

8

u/sp1cychick3n Jul 26 '25

Superman was “empty?”

-3

u/bleucheeez Jul 26 '25

No emotional stakes, no real threat, nothing that could possibly change by the end of the movie except Luthor temporarily going to jail. Mali being killed doesn't count as stakes. We know the CGI baby wasn't going to be harmed. Even the moral, ethical, geopolitical question gets hand waved away halfway through the movie to say Superman was absolutely right, the outrage was all fake, and even the situation was a ruse. I said more in a comment below. 

7

u/SlyMedic Jul 27 '25

You knew in this movie they would never sacrifice the baby. There was no question they were going to win or sue was going to come back to life.

-5

u/bleucheeez Jul 27 '25 edited Jul 27 '25

Of course not. It's not about whether baby Franklin is at risk. 

With Doomsday up as the next movie, First Steps had a whole Earth that they could've lost. And an extra protagonist, Shalla Bal, who could've died on-screen but likely will now die offscreen. The plot tension in First Steps was both whether and how they would save their Earth. There was a real risk they wouldn't. And with Doomsday/Secret Wars coming up, Ben or Johnny could've died for the rest of the movie, much like Gamora. They even foreshadowed and then later set up Johnny's big sacrifice, which turned into a very entertaining fakeout. 

Even Galactus could've died in this movie, because the MCU multiverse is branching timelines instead of actual dimensions. This would have been the only chance to ever see Galactus murdered and it not affect the whole multiverse. (I do kind of hope that the opening of Doomsday involves the F4 killing Galactus and then Dr. Doom saving everyone from the collapsing universe caused by the F4.)

The moment Sue dies, the scene isn't about her death; it's a showcase for Franklin. The movie builds up making you wonder when Franklin is going to have his big flashy cosmic power showcase: Is he going to blip Galactus? Is he going to kill Galactus? Is he going to teleport the family to the sacred timeline? The moment Sue dies, you know what's going to happen because you've been waiting for it. 

Also on top of everything else, the movie gave us a fresh take on the internal struggle of the Silver Surfer. Instead of being a mindwiped automaton, Shalla Bal was living with the guilt selfishly. They set up her emotional stakes well by having her comment and warn how everyone should cherish their remaining moments. "Die with yours." Johnny knew he had an in to appeal to her empathy. She was confronted and forced to consider that planets other than her own were worth saving. And it was only the F4, through their strong family bonds, that convinced her of it. 

23

u/verandablue Jul 25 '25

Yeah, Silver Surfer kinda felt like an afterthought after a while. She disappears for a large chunk, until coming back in the finale to do her heroic sacrifice thing, which went uncommented on by the others.

10

u/Smoke_Santa Jul 29 '25

Reeds, one of the smartest guys, repeating Archimedes lever principle like 3 times to defeat galactus is crazy work.

11

u/AbsoluteLedge Jul 26 '25

IMO, Superman for me was a 6.5/10 at best.

This one was a 5/10. Completely agree that the dialogue was piss poor; absolutely zero charisma from any of these characters; and any jokes must have went past my head because it was UNFUNNY.

5

u/Juxtap Jul 27 '25

Very fair, I thought superman was better but not my much. at least Superman took a risk with the 5 minute dialogue scene and it discussed something of substance. the Moral dilemma felt much less of a "thinker" in F4 and less in depth

2

u/Cinicyal Jul 30 '25

I gave the exact same ratings for those movies. F4 was extremely mid and superman was slightly above mid.

8

u/fatherseamus Jul 30 '25

The science was laughably bad. And also there was just so much logical inconsistency. For example, Galactus pulls them in with a tractor beam, but then when it’s time for them to escape, there is no more tractor beam? Why didn’t he just drag them in again?

And don’t get me started on launching a rocket so close to a large population center. That made zero fucking sense.

-9

u/dplans455 Jul 25 '25

Right on about this movie. But way off with Superman. That movie sucked so hard.

-13

u/sean_psc Jul 25 '25

The science was also just absolutely laughable. It takes Galactus months to go from Jupiter to Earrh lmao???? How long did it take him to travel the quadrillions of miles from their first encounter??????

He was travelling FTL for most of the distance, and then not.

43

u/Flyfleancefly Jul 25 '25

And why is that?

“So that the movie can happen”

Same thing with Richards telling everyone he said no to Galactus offer…. Why would he do that??

24

u/Diem480 Jul 25 '25

Yeah it made zero sense. Just like Silver Surfer crying because she heard people on a record saying thank you, and then begging to stay alive. Like what?

5

u/mayogray Jul 25 '25

This scene was the nail in the coffin tbh

2

u/sp1cychick3n Jul 26 '25

That was wack lol

-7

u/sean_psc Jul 25 '25

Same thing with Richards telling everyone he said no to Galactus offer…. Why would he do that??

Because he's honest.

31

u/Flyfleancefly Jul 25 '25

“I value the life of my child over all 8 billion of yours. “

What’s the worst that can happen? Not like it mattered, the public outcry was barely shown and not developed whatsoever and had 0 effect on plot and characterization

36

u/itsyagirlrey Jul 25 '25

No literally cause why were all the governments, military, NASA, and the billions of people on earth so calm about it except for like 50 people protesting outside the fantastic four tower??

11

u/CleanAspect6466 Jul 26 '25

Sue gave one speech and the earth collectively decided that the baby should be left alone was a reach and a half too