Fantastic Four: Family and Fun by Michael Katz

I thought the Fantastic Four First Steps movie was excellent.

It ranks among the best Marvel movies. As I state in my title above, the movie focuses on family with a large dose of fun. Reed and Sue Richards get most of the attention, the family dynamic playing a huge part in their scenes together and the storyline as a whole. I believe they have equal time; I saw nothing about the movie focusing on Sue Richards as the supposed leader of the team. The two spouses are given equal time, equal pathos, are well fleshed out, and easy to feel for.

Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm don't participate as much as the other two, but their characters are just as well rounded. They are the sources of the fun aspects of the movie, joshing back and forth or doing humorous things on their own. Apparently some scenes with them were left on the cutting room floor for time.

These are the best versions of the Fantastic Four to ever hit the screen. I had my concerns ahead of time, as I didn't think the actors were good fits for the roles. But instead of being miscast, each actor did a good job of inhabiting the person they were playing. Johnny Storm was a bit more intellectual than in the comics, but it worked. And this was the best version of The Thing ever. As for the story itself, it was very linear. The movie begins with the foursome already established, only briefly mentioning their origins. It directly flows into establishing each person as an individual.

Then a crisis comes in the form of the Silver Surfer, famed herald of Galactus. Although I prefer the original Norrin Radd, I didn't have a problem with the gender-swapped Surfer; it really didn't make a difference to the film. The last time Galactus appeared on screen it was in the form of a cosmic cloud. This time, he appears in all his Jack Kirby-created glory. He is truly an imposing figure, and even though you know the Fantastic Four will win in the end, you will have doubts about how everyone can survive.

The ending itself was a bit lacking, in my humble opinion. I don't want to spoil anything, but there are basically two deus ex machinas that, even though they made sense, seemed a little too easy. You suspect what is going to happen, and it left me slightly dissapointed when they couldn't come up with a better spin. But I walked out of the theater knowing I had just seen a terrific movie, one that I would willingly watch again.

Now, can Marvel learn anything from this film? I don't think so.

Each property is different, some are based on characters that hit, some on characters that fail. The Marvel recipe is followed, with doses of action, humor, and humanity. But each movie has to be judged on its own merits. This just happened to be a film where the recipe came together to make something better than usual.

The mid-credit scene leads directly into Avengers: Doomsday, which is being directed by the Russo brothers, so it is bound to be good. In the interim, there will be another Spider-Man film that could go either way.

We just have to wait and see what the future movies hold for us, and judge each one on its own merits.