After the last two attempts to adapt the Fantastic Four, I believed that they were just unadaptable in modern society. Just their name as a group made them antiquated, even a bit cheesy. Do we need a stretchy smart guy and a womanizing fire flyer? Don’t even get me started on the dumb naked invisible woman jokes.
I’ll also admit to not being fully on board thus far with the multiverse. It invalidates most of the deaths that happen because Marvel can just write in some universal trickery and suddenly Gamora is alive and well even if she is from a different year. Since they already introduced Captain America in his own WWII timeframe and then had him super-sleep to get him in modern times, they couldn’t really do that again.
What Marvel has done here is utilize their multiverse in an intelligent way by making these Fantastic Four of a different Earth whose society is soundly in the 1960s era stylistically. A time when they could exist without feeling out of place. The costumes. The sets and cars. The fonts. All of it. Stylistically, this film is so very beautiful to look at. I also love that this isn’t an origin story. The Fantastic Four are already established on their world so we get a fun montage of how their society has viewed them during the four years of their super powered existence.
The tech, though, is modern. Space ships can travel at the speed of light. They can build a teleporter big enough to move an entire planet. Their uniforms acclimate to each hero’s abilities. This aspect of the film was similar to The Incredibles without feeling derivative. Honestly, this film feels like the 2009 Star Trek and The Incredibles had a Marvel super baby. I mean that as a compliment because none of this film feels copied from anything.
The cast is perfect, but the two standouts are Vanessa Kirby and Joseph Quinn. Sue Storm goes full on MOTHER and Vanessa Kirby owns every second of it. Human Torch is less of a womanizer and more of the type of guy who just wants to find someone interesting which he does in Julia Garner’s Shalla-Bal. Pedro Pascal and Ebon Moss-Bachrack are convincing too but Vanessa Kirby shined so bright its hard to compare.
And FINALLY, Marvel gives us a score that is actually good and maybe even a little memorable. They have really been lacking in that arena for quite some time. Glad they give this film’s score some thought.
My only complaint is the CGI baby. It’s not that the CGI is bad, its actually decent. Its that its obvious when the CGI is utilized in certain scenes instead of a real baby or the animatronics used. Perhaps it was the IMAX screen being so big, but I found it noticeable. That is the ONLY thing keeping me from giving this new stand alone Marvel film five stars.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
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Becky Tyler Art and Photography 
After the last two attempts to adapt the Fantastic Four, I believed that they were just unadaptable in modern society. Just their name as a group made them antiquated, even a bit cheesy. Do we need a stretchy smart guy and a womanizing fire flyer? Don’t even get me started on the dumb naked invisible woman jokes.
I’ll also admit to not being fully on board thus far with the multiverse. It invalidates most of the deaths that happen because Marvel can just write in some universal trickery and suddenly Gamora is alive and well even if she is from a different year. Since they already introduced Captain America in his own WWII timeframe and then had him super-sleep to get him in modern times, they couldn’t really do that again.
What Marvel has done here is utilize their multiverse in an intelligent way by making these Fantastic Four of a different Earth whose society is soundly in the 1960s era stylistically. A time when they could exist without feeling out of place. The costumes. The sets and cars. The fonts. All of it. Stylistically, this film is so very beautiful to look at. I also love that this isn’t an origin story. The Fantastic Four are already established on their world so we get a fun montage of how their society has viewed them during the four years of their super powered existence.
The tech, though, is modern. Space ships can travel at the speed of light. They can build a teleporter big enough to move an entire planet. Their uniforms acclimate to each hero’s abilities. This aspect of the film was similar to The Incredibles without feeling derivative. Honestly, this film feels like the 2009 Star Trek and The Incredibles had a Marvel super baby. I mean that as a compliment because none of this film feels copied from anything.
The cast is perfect, but the two standouts are Vanessa Kirby and Joseph Quinn. Sue Storm goes full on MOTHER and Vanessa Kirby owns every second of it. Human Torch is less of a womanizer and more of the type of guy who just wants to find someone interesting which he does in Julia Garner’s Shalla-Bal. Pedro Pascal and Ebon Moss-Bachrack are convincing too but Vanessa Kirby shined so bright its hard to compare.
And FINALLY, Marvel gives us a score that is actually good and maybe even a little memorable. They have really been lacking in that arena for quite some time. Glad they give this film’s score some thought.
My only complaint is the CGI baby. It’s not that the CGI is bad, its actually decent. Its that its obvious when the CGI is utilized in certain scenes instead of a real baby or the animatronics used. Perhaps it was the IMAX screen being so big, but I found it noticeable. That is the ONLY thing keeping me from giving this new stand alone Marvel film five stars.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
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