{"id":12630,"date":"2025-07-25T13:32:55","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T17:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=12630"},"modified":"2025-09-30T22:28:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T02:28:53","slug":"the-fantastic-four-first-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2025\/07\/25\/the-fantastic-four-first-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fantastic Four: First Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Fantastic Four: First Steps<\/strong> (2025)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Marvel\/Sci-Fi-Action-Adventure\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 115 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG-13 (action\/violence and some language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Matt Shakman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Michael Giacchino\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Jess Hall\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: July 25, 2025 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, Ralph Ineson, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, Matthew Wood, Ada Scott.<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0HALLELUJAH! REJOICE! They finally got it right! It\u2019s about damn time. The Fantastic Four: First Steps<\/strong> is easily the best of the F4 films attempted in the past, the last one being the 2015 misfire, a murky mess that makes the 1994 Roger Corman cheapie look like quality cinema. This new one blows them all out of the sky.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Director Matt Shakman is no stranger to the MCU. He previously directed the Disney+ miniseries WandaVision and did a great job of it. Each episode has a distinct visual style inspired by classic sitcoms from the 60s to the 00s. It\u2019s the show\u2019s defining trait. He and cinematographer Jess Hall bring this same visual sensibility to The Fantastic Four: First Steps<\/strong>. It has this 60s retro-futuristic aesthetic that pays homage to the original source (the comic book foursome was originally introduced in 1961) while simultaneously building an alternate world where different eras merge into a place only dreamed of by kids with big imaginations. It is a feast for the eyes.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Cinematically speaking, Shakman pretty much gets everything right with The Fantastic Four: First Steps<\/strong> starting with the narrative. Although it\u2019s a reboot, it\u2019s NOT an origin story. That\u2019s not to say we don\u2019t get a backstory on the super-powered family unit. We do in the form of a quick recap by the host of a TV show on which they\u2019re about to appear. He explains how the titular heroes- elastic-limbed Mr. Fantastic\/Reed Richards (Pascal, Gladiator II), The Invisible Woman\/Sue Storm (Kirby, Mission: Impossible- Fallout), Human Torch\/Johnny Storm (Quinn, Stranger Things) and hulking behemoth The Thing\/Ben Grimm (Bachrach, The Bear)- got their powers after encountering a cosmic storm in space and became the protectors of Earth-828. Then the film gets down to business.<\/p>\n

\u00a0When we first meet this version of the Fantastic Four, they\u2019ve been on the scene for four years. They\u2019re famous all around the world. Everybody loves them. For their part, life is about to get a little more complicated. Sue has just found out she\u2019s pregnant. She and the two uncles-to-be are ecstatic. Reed is concerned. Will they have a normal or super-powered child? He wants to know what to expect. Then fate delivers the proverbial kick in the rear. A celestial being known as Silver Surfer (Garner, Inventing Anna) shows up and announces that they have only seven days of existence left before Galactus (Ineson, Harry Potter) devours the whole planet.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Everybody\u2019s counting on their heroes to save them so they decide to take a quick trip to space to try and negotiate with Galactus. He turns out not to be completely unreasonable. He says he\u2019ll spare them for a small fee. All he wants in exchange is Reed and Sue\u2019s yet-to-be born child. Why? Obviously, he knows something they don\u2019t about their offspring. Of course, they say no way. Now they have to find a way to defeat the planet-eating alien without giving up their baby.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019m going to take it a step further and say The Fantastic Four: First Steps<\/strong> is the best Marvel movie in a long time. They\u2019ve been in a slump as of late (post-Deadpool & Wolverine) with underperformers like Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts. They weren\u2019t all that great and audiences responded with indifference. Personally, I\u2019ve been tired of the whole superhero thing for a while. I still say Marvel should have given it a long rest after 2019\u2019s Avengers: Endgame.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Hopefully, The Fantastic Four: First Steps<\/strong> will breathe fresh life into a genre that\u2019s been gasping for air for years. It\u2019s a fun and often funny movie with a limitless imagination and well-developed super-powered characters that don\u2019t brood over their existence or speak entirely in smart ass quips. Shakman takes a lighter approach to the characters, imbuing them with both humor and seriousness. The actors, all of them well cast, manage to strike just the right balance of the two. They make their characters feel human.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Pascal leads the pack as the patriarch of the bunch, a serious sort who thinks he always needs to know all the answers before making any kind of decision. Kirby lends emotional heft as the new mother who wants to protect her child even if it means losing favor with the once-adoring public. The two have strong chemistry as a married couple who have to factor the fate of the world into their relationship. Quinn adds comic relief as hotshot (literally) Johnny, an impetuous young man who, unlike Chris Evans in the 2005 and 2007 versions, doesn\u2019t bask in the spotlight. He\u2019s actually pretty smart. He\u2019s the one who translates Silver Surfer\u2019s alien language. Bachrach is really good as Thing, a surprisingly sensitive type who loves to entertain kids by lifting Volkswagens over his head. If I have one complaint about The Fantastic Four: First Steps<\/strong>, it\u2019s that his romance with schoolteacher Rachel Rozman (Lyonne, Poker Faces) gets too little attention. I would have liked seeing more scenes between those two.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I was a little shocked when I learned this movie\u2019s Silver Surfer was female, but Garner does a fantastic job with the role. This iteration of the character, a metal-skinned herald who gets around on a silver surfboard, gets a backstory. We come to understand why she works with him. Ineson, through the magic of motion capture and practical effects, makes Galactus a commanding presence.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019m not the biggest proponent of CGI, but I have to admit the effects (also a mix of CGI and practical) in The Fantastic Four: First Steps<\/strong> are awesome. The finale where Galactus tramples all over New York like Godzilla is cool. The production design is pure art. It\u2019s both creative and clever. This universe has flying cars right out of The Jetsons. The heroes have a cute robot butler named H.E.R.B.I.E. who deserves his own short film. It\u2019s fun to observe how similar yet different this world is from ours. It has some of the same products and brands (e.g. Lucky Charms, Canada Dry and Pan Am), but other things (like their movies) belong to it alone.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I suppose the highest compliment I can pay The Fantastic Four: First Steps<\/strong> is that it\u2019s completely satisfying. I didn\u2019t have that empty feeling I usually have after viewing one of today\u2019s blockbuster films. This one, the first entry in Phase Six of the MCU, is more than substantial. It\u2019s smart, exciting and a wondrous sight to behold. It has emotional content as well. This is a blockbuster worth leaving home for.<\/p>\n

P.S. Naturally, there are extra scenes during the end credits, one mid and one post. The mid one sets up a sequel; the other is just fun for fans. Also, keep an eye out for cameos by the main cast of Corman\u2019s version.\"\"<\/p>\n

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The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Marvel\/Sci-Fi-Action-Adventure\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 115 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG-13 (action\/violence and some language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Matt Shakman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Michael Giacchino\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Jess Hall\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: July 25, 2025 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Natasha Lyonne, Paul […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12631,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-action-adventure"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/The-Fantastic-Four-First-Steps-POSTER.jpg?fit=620%2C918&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12630"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12633,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12630\/revisions\/12633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}