“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” {Movie Review}

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” opens in theaters tomorrow, July 25th and showcases Marvel’s First Family, Silver Surfer, H.E.R.B.I.E. (robot) and a retro period look of the ‘60s.

Earlier this week, my family and I watched an early screening of the film.

Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” introduces Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.

“The Fantastic Four” is about family, friendship, and motherhood. Yes, that’s right – motherhood. To say that Sue Storm is the ultimate working mom is putting it mildly.

The action is captivating, the storyline compelling, and the acting completely on-point. Standouts for me are Vanessa Kirby and Joseph Quinn, although Pedro Pascal is amazing as usual! I love Ebon Moss-Bachrach in “The Bear” and his voice carries a lot of emotion as The Thing, alternating between sarcasm, anger, and excitement, like when he utters the phrase “It’s clobberin’ time!”

The action adventure also stars Paul Walter Hauser in a hilarious turn as Mole Man, Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman (potential love interest for The Thing), and Sarah Niles as the Fantastic Four’s chief of staff.

As an avid fan of “Ozark,” I was so surprised to not have recognized Julia Garner as the Silver Surfer until a certain pivotal scene.

The film is fantastic (pun intended) and I’m happy to say that the retro-futuristic aesthetic — from the costumes to the set pieces and visuals — totally works!

Overall, the movie is highly entertaining, and I give it a 4.25/5! Go see it in theaters when it opens this Friday! Pro Tip: Go see it in IMAX, it really makes a difference.

Thanks, Marvel Studios for the invite!

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” opens in theaters on Friday, July 25th!
“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is rated PG-13.
Visit the official website here for more information.

Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received for this post. This blog post is for informational purposes. I attended an advanced screening of the movie which helped facilitate this write-up. Images shown in this post are used with permission. As always, my opinions are 100% my own.