Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3/4
The Fantastic Fourth Time's a Charm
Chris Kavan - wrote on 08/18/2025
The MCU continues to course-correct after some rough waters. I loved Thunderbolts and with First Steps, Matt Shakman has done the seemingly impossible - make a good Fantastic Four film. The history of the Marvel's first family is storied - from the never-released but cult favorite 1994 film to the solid, if unremarkable 2005 Tim Story attempt (the sequel, not so much) to Josh Trank's rather disastrous 2015 version - but none of these versions ever felt quite right. First Steps, however, managed to weave a compelling story AND give us a memorable villain along with a solid cast giving leaving the future of the MCU in much better footing after some shaky steps.
What sets apart First Steps first and foremost is that it is set in an alternate universe where our heroes are the de facto …
Rating of
3/4
First Steps - Review
Matthew Brady - wrote on 08/05/2025
Third time's the charm, right?
"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" is arguably the best Fantastic Four film, which isn't saying much to begin with. The highest compliment I can give is that I genuinely felt the suspense and dread of the world-ending threat. Usually, in Marvel movies, such threats are non-existent, but what sets this apart is its setting in an alternate world separate from the main MCU timeline. As a result, any world-ending threat feels genuinely threatening.
I also appreciated the overall aesthetic of the film. It features that 1960s Retrofuturism. It's refreshing for a Marvel movie to have vibrant colors and fully embrace its comic book roots, rather than downplay them with jokes implying they're silly or stupid, as if embarrassed by their source material.
All …
