Have you noticed the new narrative around Marvel movies? They have to be the saviour of the franchise if they want to hold up.
But there’s even more pressure on The Fantastic Four: First Steps than there ever was on Thunderbolts. These lot need to lead us into the next Avengers film, and the new era of the MCU.
So, is First Steps any good? While the reviews have scattered scoring, the overall outlook is suitably fantastic, leaving the film with an impressive 86% Rotten Tomatoes score at the time of writing.
What are the critics actually saying? Let’s dig in.
IGN gave the film a solid 7/10, saying that while it may not be memorable, massively action-packed or world-beating, it’s a decent film.
It calls First Steps “a solid foundation on which to (re-)introduce Marvel’s first family. Wherever they go from here, it’ll be on to bigger and better things.”
The Guardian’s write-up reads mostly positively, even if the 3/5 score isn’t what fans would hope for. It calls First Steps “a very silly movie” without necessarily suggesting that’s a bad thing.
It’s “an entertaining spectacle in its own innocent self-enclosed universe of fantasy wackiness,” says the review.”
One of the most positive reviews comes from rogerebert.com, with a 3.5/4 score attached.
The spoiler-free version of the review says the film is "a solid, intelligent, occasionally inspired comic book movie that delivers most of what a popular audience demands from the genre… plus a little bit more.” Not bad at all.
Empire’s review is also super-positive. Its 4/5 write-up calls The Fantastic Four “the best Marvel movie in years.”
It says this is the first time the Fantastic Four has actually been done justice in a movie (which, granted, isn’t saying much) through a combination of “the casting and the world-building.”
And how about a stinker of a review for good measure? The New York Post wasn’t persuaded at all, saying that, sure, while it’s better than the previous Fantastic Four flicks, it’s also “grave, gloomy and un-fun for most of the runtime,” in a 1.5/5 review.
That negative note aside, it sounds like The Fantastic Four: First Steps is well worth a watch for all but the most burned-out of Marvel watchers.
The film is expected to make between $190 and $210 million across the world in its opening weekend, comfortably higher than Thunderbolts, released earlier this year.
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