TL;DR – The best Fantastic Four film by a country mile.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Review –

Well, it is time for another try at bringing the Fantastic Four to life. This would make it the third reboot of the franchise in my time. To catch you up, I liked the camp fun of Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but it has been decades since I watched them, so I am not sure how well they have aged. But also, 2016’s Fantastic Four was an amazingly cast failure at almost every level. Which gives us a wide range to be working with even before we take into consideration the current rocky ground the MCU is standing on. But there is always time to find your feet, and I hope that today is that time as we dive headfirst into Phase 6. 

So, to set the scene, we are on Earth, but not as we know it because this is Earth-828, and four years ago, a tragic accident in space created heroes by cosmically changing their DNA. Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal) who can stretch his body, his wife Sue Storm / Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby) who can manipulate light, her brother Johnny Storm / Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) who can turn into flames, and good friend Ben Grimm / The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) has turned into rock. Their emergence has changed the world, but for their family, the only thing that matters is that Sue is pregnant. It is a moment that brings them all together, which is when a harbinger of doom arrives in the sky. The Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) announces to the world that it has been chosen for destruction at the hands of Galactus (Ralph Ineson). The Fantastic Four want to save Earth, but what happens when the price of salvation is too high?

Okay, let’s get the cat out of the bag right away. This is the best Fantastic Four film by a country mile. There is honestly minimal comparison, especially with the last time they tried this. Part of that comes from the casting process, because for the first time, I actually believed these were a group of friends/relatives that had known each other for an age. You start the film with them being fully in their superhero age, a group of people who both deeply respect each other, but also those who know how to push each other’s buttons expertly. When you have a script that has gone through so many different hands, there is always a fear that things will get lost in the shuffle, but they nail that here.

I liked this version of Mister Fantastic, who is just as smart as he has always been, but that is tempered with humility of having to go to some dark places to find answers. It gives you a much more rounded character for Pedro Pascal to play around with. Given how the theme of motherhood permeates the film, casting the Invisible Woman was probably the most essential role in the movie. Vanessa Kirby brings an absolute presence to every scene she is in, even when her character is invisible. They chose to go with a digital character with The Thing, much like The Hulk in Avengers. Thankfully, Ebon Moss-Bachrach does not get lost behind the pixels, and we get a character with real personality. The biggest surprise in the mix was Johnny Storm, who for the first time feels multi-faceted. He is absolutely still cocky, which I think the character needs. But he has also moved out of his himbo phase and has real agency in the narrative.

The next strength is the production, because they make every dollar work. In much of Marvel’s recent output, you can feel that the digital artists had not been given enough time to get to where they needed to go. Here, there were still one or two awkward moments, but on the whole, it was impeccable. I did enjoy how each of the different characters’ powers was brought to life. Part of what helped this work was that the film’s complete dedication to the period and art style hallmarked every moment. It is a kind of retro-futurism that asks what would the Fallout world would have been like before the bombs, if it were also already a nice place to live. It is the small details, like how Mister Fantastic hangs his tie when he is not wearing a suit, that showed they cared. All supported by a standout Michael Giacchino musical score.

The story is the place where they take the wildest swings while also not always connecting with the bat. We don’t get the main villain that has appeared in every other live-action film, focusing in on Galactus. But more importantly, we are jumping straight into the Franklin Richards (Ada Scott) story. This was the big swing for the film, because babies can make or very much break a movie. Here, Franklin is the main leaver for the story; he is why Galactus is coming, he is why Earth is upset with the Fantastic Four, and he may or may not be their saviour. I think how they handle it works quite well. That is not to say that the story is bulletproof; there are a number of pacing issues, and some side plots that go nowhere. But other than that, I found it to be a significant improvement over what has come before.    

In the end, do we recommend The Fantastic Four: First Steps? Yes, we would. It is not a perfect film, but I did have a good time. The characters were fun, the story was engaging, and the world was a blast. If you liked The Fantastic Four: First Steps, we would recommend to you Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Directed by – Matt Shakman
Screenplay by – Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer
Story by – Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer & Kat Wood
Based on – Fantastic Four by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
Music by – Michael Giacchino
Cinematography by – Jess Hall
Edited by – Nona Khodai & Tim Roche
Production/Distribution Companies – Marvel Studios & Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Starring – Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, Ralph Ineson, Matthew Wood, Mark Gatiss, Sarah Niles & Ada Scott
Rating – Australia: PG; Canada: PG; Germany: 12; New Zealand: PG; United Kingdom: 12A; United States: PG-13