Fantastic Four First Steps is a step in the right direction for an MCU that was waning. Spoilers are ahead, read with caution.
I want to start with praise for the movie, I feel like this is the first time in a while that the MCU has captured comic books, for me there have been a lot of misses in terms of characterisation in an effort to either ignore the more "comic booky" aspects of the characters or to "modernise" them. As somebody with great love for comic books I disagree with this approach heavily and honestly this start is something that is needed.
Each of the four were very well characterised, I thought there were a lot of moments for each of them that endeared the viewer to them though I am a little disappointed in the characterisation of the Thing but I'll get to that later.
Mr Fantastic was the star of the show, as he should have been. This is a movie to introduce his family and his ideology to the wider viewing audience. At first you see the facade of the genius inventor with a perfect family but as things get out of hand later in the movie with the looming threat of Galactus Reed begins to unravel. He becomes snappy and hyperfocused into his work but at the core of it all is his family. This movie doesn't ever forget that Reed blames himself for everything. He is a genius who cannot wrap his head around the fact that things could be out of his control. He is constantly second guessing himself and seeing the worst possible outcome of every situation to make up for the fact that he didn't in their original space trip.
Invisible Woman is the beating heart of the family. She is pregnant with Franklin throughout the film and as a result he becomes a focal point of the entire film (and I assume will be a focal point of Doomsday going forward) I really enjoyed that her powers were showcased in such a big way. It's often forgotten but in usage, Sue's powers can be quite powerful themselves and this is shown when she goes toe to toe with cosmic beings like Galactus and Silver Surfer.
Johnny is positioned as a lady's man with a heart of gold. I loved that they used that aspect of his characterisation that is very much in the zeitgeist to allow him to form a bond with the Silver Surfer. Another aspect of his character that I loved was the way that his self doubt and youth played into his actions throughout the movie. He sees himself as below Reed because of Reed's position as the leader of the team and as a result he looks to him for approval and when Galactus returns he goes to make the ultimate sacrifice for that approval.
I enjoyed Silver Surfer in this movie, she doesn't do the most but her love of her world and the hatred of her role in the universe was quite compelling.
Unfortunately, the Thing needed far more time. There were small moments that hinted as his wider emotional state after everything that had happened to them and I enjoyed the hints towards his Judaism, an important aspect of his character but unfortunately I don't feel much towards his relationship with Rachel Rozzman (Natasha Lyonne's character) though I do like that she was based on Jack Kirby's wife. (much like Jack Kirby himself was the inspiration for the Thing) Another aspect of the Thing I didn't quite enjoy was that they had him dislike his catchphrase saying that it was "only for the cartoon", as much as it built up to a nice moment between him and Johnny I believe that we need to remove ourselves from the era of comic book films running away from silly aspects of the characters they're adapting. He's a man made of rocks for crying out loud!
All in all, I enjoyed the movie. I thought that the Fantastic Four were really well characterised despite a few pitfalls. I hope Galactus isn't just a one-off villain and the mid-credits sequence of course promises more out of the Four.
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