[Fantastic 4: First Steps][https://trakt.tv/movies/the-fantastic-4-first-steps-2025] ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I liked it. I loved the aesthetics, a bit of Tomorrowland and 1950s-60s era graphics and style. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this movie was supposed to have taken place in its universe’s 1950s.

In fact, the whole feel of the film is as if they plucked a writer for the comic out of that era, brought him to this time to show him what we could do, and asked that expat of time to write a movie script. The story is thin, the plot is minimal, the characters more layered cardboard than flat, and the action is a bit underwhelming compared to recent Marvel fare. That’s sums up what I remember from reading comics of that era, too. The core of the story, the family that the Four have made together, is the focus here. The movie isn’t trying to make more than that happen.

It’s as if Marvel has caught itself from trying too hard to replicate the intensity and build-up of the first arc of movies, from Iron Man to Avengers: End Game. That was an intense and gratifying story arc, but not everything following it has to replicate the same feeling. Fantastic 4 isn’t a backpedaling, but a loosening up, a willingness to try new styles and new kinds of stories, and in my eyes it works wonderfully. I found myself asking all kinds of questions about the plot (I won’t spoil them here), and wondering why they were papering over what could have been some good drama and questions (again, no spoilers), but not once did I feel the movie was less enjoyable for avoiding those points. It’s a story about family, a group of outsiders hanging together and trying to do the right thing. It’s not trying to do anything more than that, and it doesn’t need to. If you want to learn more about those questions or plot choices, read the comics.

I hope Marvel takes more of these chances. 🎥