Last night I finally watch The Fantastic Four First Steps, after going through all the buzz around this movie I gotta say Marvel might have actually pulled off something decent but for me is just not enough, too many details that throw me off. This is attempt number four at bringing these characters to the big screen and while the last few tries were complete disasters this one actually feels like somebody gave a damn about making it work, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards sounds crazy on paper but the dude really delivers even if they barely let him stretch throughout the entire movie which was honestly pretty disappointing, besides making things just too obvious when it comes to science, aside from saying "whats the difference between and egg and Earth" TF you saying??. The whole retro 1960s vibe they went with on Earth 828 works way better than expected, it feels high quality and not trashy different from all the generic MCU stuff we been getting bombarded with lately, plus having the Fantastic Four be the only superheroes in their world makes everything feel more focused instead of the usual cluster of characters everywhere trying to get screen time. The strongest part of the movie for me was how they handled the family aspect between all four characters, it feels like they do care for each other without it feeling forced or fake like most other superhero team movies tend to do, very similar to what we saw on Thunderbolts so drama I think was a strong leg for this movie, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm was a very very solid performance overall since he nailed that cocky but charming personality without being completely annoying about it which is harder to pull off than you might think, also how is not like super intelligent as Richard but the dude try and work out.
The biggest surprise was definitely how they brought Galactus to life on screen, finally we get a proper version of this cosmic threat instead of that cloud garbage from 2007 that nobody talks about anymore because it was so fucking terrible. This version actually looks like the massive world eating entity he should be with incredible scale and design work that makes you feel the size of this cosmic level threat, the only problem I have with this character is how easy they got rid of him, I remember the Fantastic 4 animated series didnt have the most insane villains but Galactus should be at Thanos level on their universe so getting rid of him with a push, idk sounds like too little and low effort. The Silver Surfer being a woman works surprisingly well too, Julia Garner brings this serious herald energy to the character that feels both familiar and fresh at the same time, her whole "I herald his beginning, I herald your end" delivery was absolutely perfect for what they were going for, the Silver Surfer was by far my favorite character specially during the fight scene when they go to Gargantua, yeah Nolan stuff embeded on my brain, they way she literally surf on space was fkn awesome. The movie does a good job of making Galactus feel like this ancient cosmic force rather than just another generic villain, you get the sense that this being has witnessed universes live and die and now its just doing what it needs to survive even if that means destroying entire worlds in the process, but specially how he feels tired of this life and just want to pass the curse into someone else. The Thing looks great throughout the entire movie and you can feel there is a human beneath all that orange rock, the only problem I have with him is the voice, usually its a more intimidating and deep voice but the character does captures both the frustration of being stuck in a rock body and the determination to make the best of his situation an aspect that is a such a classic, you really feel for this guy when his fiance breaks up with him on the street and leaves the engagement ring on the ground because she cant handle what he has become. Sue Storm being pregnant eeee I was not too sure about it becuase it might be use to push certain girl power and sht message but they manage to not make it look like that and bring the family even closer, Vanessa Kirby does great work showing a woman who is tired and dealing with all this cosmic level bullshit while trying to protect her unborn child from forces beyond comprehension, her force field powers get some really creative uses throughout the movie including this scene where she makes her belly translucent so they can see the baby which is sweet but kinda creepy too, so how does she decide just to show the baby without anything else.
The pacing was really nice, nothing during the movie feels rushed or dragged out, they get the origin stuff out of the way quickly in the opening scenes by recreating how the entire transformation happen along with some other scenes before Sue gets pregnant so it was nice they didnt have to mansplein things all over again like nobody knew the characters, Paul Walter Hauser shows up as Mole Man which was apparently not a joke when he mentioned being in the movie during interviews, he doest get some screen time and making him a friend of the Fantastic Four also felt like not every villain on the movie is a bad person. On the movie The Fantastic Four family is love by everyone because they care, participate and solve others people problems world wide, they are seen as leaders but then Galactus ask for Sue baby and she says NO, things get very complicated and I though this would be a bigger deal during the movie, probably getting world leaders against them but they never did and drop the topic very quick, this sets up an interesting contrast for when they eventually cross over into the main MCU universe where superheroes are treated with suspicion and sometimes outright hostility by the common people. The entire visuals of the movie looks very high quality, from everything they use or wear, the suites I thought I wouldnt like but they do look good specially their space suits, the car and all the tech looks very well design, the only thing I didnt like much is how giant screens literally look like CRT monitors, same for the bubble design monitors they have at their HQ with this optimistic retro future vibe that makes you wish more superhero movies would take chances with their visual design instead of everything looking like generic modern day settings.
Even though they fight together against Galactus I feel like they didnt properly show off their powers, the biggest exmple been Reed Richards, this is the least stretchy version we have ever seen on screen and Pedro Pascal does nails the brilliant scientist aspect of the character, even when some things are just too obvious and others completely exaggerated like the transportation of Earth, it feels like a missed opportunity to not have more fun with his abilities. I wish the could have explain more the science stuff behind their plan like they have tried on previous movies, but when your main power is being able to stretch your body into any shape imaginable you should probably use that more than just extending your arm to reach something across the room. Johnny Storm gets plenty of chances to fly around and throw fire which looks great and my only problem with him is how his regular clothe didnt got burn but over all is a very solid character special when you compare him to previous movies how they all failed, Sue Storm has some creative invisibility and force field moments, Ben Grimm is obviously just a walking tank who punches things real hard, but Reed lack action in the powers department even though Pascal brings great parental conflict energy to the role, between whats necessary and what he wants, the decision making aspect that Sue hates so much as he always thinks about what could go wrong but its his job too.
The final battery arrive and honestly it took me by surprise, I try not to watch the timeline on the screen to avoid spoiling things for me, very quick they have to figure out how to deal with Galactus wanting to take Franklin Richards who apparently has these reality altering powers that could replace Galactus as this cosmic force of nature, the whole teleport the Earth to another galaxy solution is exactly the kind of big science fiction concept that feels right for these characters and I do feel like taking Galactus from his ship was a great plan, personally I didnt know how he harvest and accumulate his energy, they do go into details and thats something the audience screams when it comes to super hero movies. Sue Storm gets this great speech about not giving up her child for the world but also not giving up the world for her child which captures the impossible choice they are facing, the fact that they get the entire planet to work together on this plan shows how different Earth 828 is from the world we live in where nobody can agree on anything, makes me think Earth would become hell and there would be riots from both sides if it comes to something like that in the world we live in. The post credits scene with little Franklin talking to someone in a Doctor Doom mask sets up obvious future storylines but for some reasons the version of the movie I watch didnt show the Fantastic Four ship arriving in the main MCU timeline so I have to look it up online, whenever I wait for movies to touch the internet I avoid all kind of spoilers on Youtube although its very hard, overall this feels like a solid 7/10 that actually makes me want to see more of these characters but not because I think this is one of the best MCU movies, so far Thunderbolts (2025) is the best one for this year, I want to see more of the characters to give them a second chance to expand and provide more details about them.
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