The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the second reboot of the film series. Directed by Matt Shakman, the film stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, and Ralph Ineson. Against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel’s First Family is forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, while defending Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer.

I remember seeing the 2005 version of Fantastic Four three times in theaters. It had nothing to do with me liking it. In fact, I have always felt quite neutral about those movies. The movie was simply super popular. Everyone wanted to go see it even when it wasn’t getting great reviews. Needless to say, I am glad we are finally getting a proper entry after the abysmal 2015 entry. While I did enjoy this new entry more than any of the other ones, it does feel underwhelming at the same time.

It’s ironic how there have been two movies that have come out this summer that feel like a sequel to a movie that you never saw. Superman just did it better. This one immediately throws you into this established world where Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny all have their superpowers and everyone already knows them for who they are. That’s an enticing way to bring you up to speed with a film’s backstory you already know. The problem with doing that though is that we have never seen these characters before. I think to actually pull this off, there needed to at least be more backstory for these characters, or at least establish them in a prior movie. It’s also ironic how Marvel now feels like they are the ones trying to catch up, not DC.

For what it’s worth, I do think the main cast leading the Fantastic Four team are not only great, but much better than I could have ever anticipated. Pedro Pascal is convincing as Reed Richards. Vanessa Kirby is perfect casting as Sue Storm. Ebon Moss-Bachrach worked better as Ben Grimm than I could have ever imagined. Joseph Quinn brings a lot of heart to Johnny Storm. When the film quickly goes over their backstory though, it doesn’t give us much to go off of with these characters or what problems they deal with. There’s something mission in the characterization to keep them compelling.

Julia Garner’s performance as the Silver Surfer truly surprised me. I guess I shouldn’t be all that surprised, but what worked here is her arc, which is something that is missing with the other characters. Yes, these characters operate as a family and the themes shows that family is good, but that arc has nothing more to say. With the Silver Surfer though, we get a compelling arc that is ultimately satisfying in the end. I can’t say the same for Galactus. Ralph Ineson is genius casting with his deep, iconic voice. We get it though. He’s bad. He just doesn’t have any proper motivation behind his madness. Any sort of motivation that character has leans into how baffling the writing can be at times.

Since the film immediately throws us into this established world, characters make decisions that make no sense. While Sue Storm is incredibly close to going into birth, she still goes on a dangerous mission. Why didn’t her husband or brother tell her to stay behind? There was also one moment where Reed could have stretched, but didn’t. The climax involves the ENTIRE population of New York City underground for safety. It also involves one of the most predictable third acts I have seen out of the MCU, and it doesn’t help that there is a reveal that only gives the characters more plot armor. Natasha Lyonne is wasted with the screentime she gets, even though she has great chemistry with Ebon Moss-Bachrach. There are so many baffling writing decisions that makes me conclude that the film was rushed, and my next point proves that.

Visually, the film has its moments of looking great from its retro style and character decisions with the core four. It sort of stops there. There is a CGI baby that is not just noticable. It’s bad. The sound stages are noticable. The Silver Surfer looks like an actual toy. I have never worked with visual effects, but if you’re going to do it right, it needs more time. Between the next MCU movie coming out next July and with the last one releasing only two months ago, I think this could have been released in November or December. This could have been a solid movie for the holidays that would have given the film more to improve its visuals.

The 1 hour and 55 minute runtime was an interesting choice for a movie meant to establish new characters and a new world. The runtime allows the film to fly by, but it can also result in meaningful plot developments being rushed. Whenever something important happens, there is either a quick solution to it or a montage to help with the passage of time. It all works with Michael Giacchino’s score, which just happens to be one of the best of the year. For a film to make us feel more compelled to the story and feel the stakes though, it simply needed more time to flesh out the important plot points.

Overall, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the best Fantastic Four movie thus far, but it’s still far from being fantastic. The cast helps sell the movie. The humor works. The score and action provide entertainment value. However, the film needed more time to improve on its visuals and needed to through a couple more revisions with its script. It is a good time and I did enjoy it, but I am also feeling a bit underwhelmed at the same time.

VERDICT: 3.5/5 (Pretty Good)