2. But we were hoping for more than "okay." The snazzy, candy-colored trailers had us pretty excited, but the movie was a let down.
3. The best part, hands down, is the retro-futuristic Space Age production design. We want to live in that world of reel-to-reel-powered robots, clunky CRT displays, groovy magazine covers, and 1960s fashion. But when you spend $150 million, you probably want elements other than costumes and sets to stand out.
4. To us, Vanessa Kirby always gives cold, brittle performances so casting her as a supposedly warm, maternal figure seems pretty questionable. Joseph Quinn also feels miscast as the Human Torch.
5. Considering how ridiculous their powers are, the Fantastic Four characters are pretty dull and flat here. They may be freed from the shackles of 20th Century Fox movies, but this cast is not that much of an upgrade over the Ioan Gruffudd (2005) or Miles Teller (2015) teams.
6. We do wonder about Pedro Pascal and his agent. What a time those two are having right now. He's literally everywhere.
7. Mole Man!
8. We will stipulate that this one is certainly more polished and epic-feeling than the Fox movies, which are pretty forgettable. But First Steps feels undercooked and weirdly slapdash in many ways (rumors of big reshoots and last-minute edits may be true). A truly awesome movie is in there somewhere.
9. Bonus points to the Galactus climax that was pretty satisfying and also to the clever teleporter subplot.
10. Perhaps most surprising of all is that there's so little humor. We kept wondering what James Gunn could have done with this ragtag dysfunctional family and the supposedly wisecracking characters of Ben and Johnny. We needed more gags like the car seat bit.
11. Thunderbolts* was better.
12. Meh.
13. Are we all just about done with these Marvel movies? This one is the 37th MCU movie. Holy cow. Even the big post-credits stinger scene here with someone who appears to be Doctor Doom - setting him up as the Big Bad for yet another string of movies - feels tiresome.
4. To us, Vanessa Kirby always gives cold, brittle performances so casting her as a supposedly warm, maternal figure seems pretty questionable. Joseph Quinn also feels miscast as the Human Torch.
5. Considering how ridiculous their powers are, the Fantastic Four characters are pretty dull and flat here. They may be freed from the shackles of 20th Century Fox movies, but this cast is not that much of an upgrade over the Ioan Gruffudd (2005) or Miles Teller (2015) teams.
6. We do wonder about Pedro Pascal and his agent. What a time those two are having right now. He's literally everywhere.
7. Mole Man!
8. We will stipulate that this one is certainly more polished and epic-feeling than the Fox movies, which are pretty forgettable. But First Steps feels undercooked and weirdly slapdash in many ways (rumors of big reshoots and last-minute edits may be true). A truly awesome movie is in there somewhere.
9. Bonus points to the Galactus climax that was pretty satisfying and also to the clever teleporter subplot.
10. Perhaps most surprising of all is that there's so little humor. We kept wondering what James Gunn could have done with this ragtag dysfunctional family and the supposedly wisecracking characters of Ben and Johnny. We needed more gags like the car seat bit.
11. Thunderbolts* was better.
12. Meh.
13. Are we all just about done with these Marvel movies? This one is the 37th MCU movie. Holy cow. Even the big post-credits stinger scene here with someone who appears to be Doctor Doom - setting him up as the Big Bad for yet another string of movies - feels tiresome.
