[Movie Review] The Fantastic Four: First Steps — Marvel’s Cosmic Family Returns with a Retro, Sparkling But Safe Reboot

Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps lands in Singapore cinemas this week with the weight of expectation trailing it like a comet.

It is the latest installment in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and is also the studio’s virgin attempt to integrate the Fantastic Four into the MCU after Disney’s purchase of Fox Studios. With director Matt Shakman at the helm, a strong ensemble cast, and a bold stylistic shift, this entry leans heavily into nostalgia while striving to reintroduce the quartet in a way that feels fresh, familiar, and family-forward.

We attended the media preview at Shaw Theatres LIDO last evening, ahead of the 24 July nationwide release. Outside the theatre, a Fantastic Four-themed pop-up on the first floor of the mall added some pre-show excitement, decked out with photo ops, branded merchandise, and a clear call to both casual fans and Marvel/MCU fans alike.

Stepping into the cinema, expectations were balanced between hope and skepticism. Marvel’s recent cinematic entries have seen varying degrees of critical and audience reception, and The Fantastic Four franchise in particular bears a bumpy legacy from the Fox Studios days, producing disasters such as the 2015 woke reboot which is consistently panned by critiques and public alike as one of the all-time worst movies ever made. With First Steps, Marvel appears to have done some course-correcting, delivering a film that may not reinvent the superhero wheel, but is a competent, entertaining, and stylistically cohesive chapter in its ever-growing multiverse.

The film begins with a confident aesthetic declaration.

Set against a retro-futuristic backdrop inspired by 1960s space-age design, the look of First Steps is distinct from the grittier realism of recent MCU entries. Think chrome panels, bulbous spacecraft, and interior sets that would feel at home in The Jetsons. Shakman, known for the vintage television motifs of WandaVision, doubles down here, marrying modern CGI with a pulpy, Technicolor visual palette, making it one of the more visually memorable Marvel films in recent years.

This visual confidence extends to the reimagined team itself.

Pedro Pascal (of Nacros fame) brings a calm gravitas to Reed Richards, balancing the character’s intellect with emotional restraint. Vanessa Kirby plays Sue Storm with steely resolve and a maternal warmth that grounds the group. Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm is appropriately impulsive and charming, though the writing does not quite give him the spark his comic book counterpart often enjoys. Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm, ever the emotional core, gives one of the film’s most human performances, especially beneath layers of CGI.

First Steps’ core narrative is about family and vulnerability, both in the literal and figurative senses.

The storyline centers around a scientific mission gone awry, leading the foursome to gain their powers. Rather than rushing to superhero antics, the narrative takes its time to explore how each member grapples with their transformation. For instance, Sue’s surprise pregnancy adds a poignant layer to the plot, complicating her emotional arc and giving the film a heartbeat that pulses louder than its action sequences.

While the family dynamics offer grounding, the film does not neglect its spectacle.

Action sequences, particularly those set in alternate dimensions and cosmic rifts, are imaginative and exhilarating. Marvel’s VFX teams deliver high-caliber CGI work here, particularly in rendering Galactus and the Silver Surfer. The latter, in fact, is among the film’s most talked-about decisions, with the gender-flipping of the Surfer, played with icy grace by Julia Garner. Best known for her Emmy-winning role as Ruth Langmore in Ozark, Garner fully commits to the alien detachment of her character, yet allows flickers of emotion to pierce through. Her performance is coldly elegant, matching her reflective, liquid-metal appearance. Th Silver Surfer is arguably one of the most visually arresting Marvel characters to date.

Garner’s casting may have surprised some fans, but it is a masterstroke. There is an ethereal quality to her portrayal, enhanced by the shimmering, mercury-like rendering of her body. Online reactions have noted how the CGI avoids the overdone ‘Capri Sun effect’ of past iterations, instead leaning into surreal realism that lets the character feel sculptural, powerful, and strange. Silver Surfer’s presence in the film is limited in dialogue but expansive in impact, serving as a kind of herald not just narratively, but symbolically, ushering in a new tone and era for the MCU.

If there is a critique to be made, it is that the plot adheres too closely to the familiar structure of Marvel origin stories. There is a mission, an accident, a period of adjustment, a threat, a resolution.

While this does not detract from the entertainment value, it does prevent First Steps from reaching narrative transcendence. The film is safe, perhaps necessarily so, after a string of Marvel releases that have stumbled with overcomplexity or tonal dissonance. Here, the tonal balancing act is more assured.

Throughout the movie, Marvel fans will delight in spotting Easter eggs. From blink-and-you-will-miss-it nods to WandaVision to more overt references to the X-Men and upcoming Avengers crossovers, the film lays down a breadcrumb trail for Phase 7 of the MCU. Without giving away too much, do stay for the mid-credits scene for an important clue on future developments in the MCU and an optional end-credit scene which probably is more for pure entertainment.

From a pacing perspective, the film moves briskly, rarely lingering too long on any one subplot. This keeps the energy up throughout and overall, it delivers on entertainment values.

While the movie does not take narrative risks, what it does attempt, it accomplishes with polish and sincerity. The cast is excellent, with Julia Garner’s Silver Surfer likely to become a fan favourite. The production design is bold and cohesive and the thematic core of family is universal. Is it groundbreaking? Not quite. But is it the best Fantastic Four film we have seen? Undoubtedly.

This may not be the step that changes the MCU forever, but it is a firm, confident first step in the right direction.