So, I have seen all of the Fantastic Four movies that have come out to this point. Four in theaters and one on Youtube. If you do not know, there is a Fantastic Four movie made by legendary schlock director Roger Corman. It was made in 1994 and has never been projected on the silver screen. Well, as far as I know. Maybe it showed at some conference room at a Con or something. The only reason why it was made was so that some random studio could keep the rights. And for the longest time, to me, it had been the most accurate translation of the comics.

A decade later after the Corman movie, FOX Studios got their hands on the rights to F4 and made two movies, an origin story 2005 and a sequel 2007. Both were good and fun but kind of meh when it came to F4. And then came the reboot a decade after that, came Fant4stic. And I will say this for the movie: It was a bad superhero movie, it was a very poor interpretation of the F4 comics, but it was a very interesting experimental horror movie.

BTW, I had in fact seen Fantastic Four 2005, 2007, and 2015 in theaters. Yes, I have been watching this franchise each decade since the turn of the millennium. And it is kind of funny that a F4 movie has been released each decade.

Here is the thing, I do like the Fantastic Four but I’m not a super fan. I actually have more of an interest in Doctor Doom, one of the most awesome comic villains ever conceived. So I have no comics of the Fantastic Four that do not have Doom involved. Yes, despite my extensive comic collection and am trying to sell a huge chunk, I have little to nothing of F4.

And even with all that, going into the current movie, I came out with this: I had fun. It was every bit as fun, whimsical, and batshit goof as a superhero movie set in an alternate futuristic 1960s should be. This movie was so engaging and entertaining that I’ve got little negative to say about it.

I’m glad each of the four had their own time to shine. And I do like that Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm are not just the muscle but actually have pathos and some brains. And for once, Sue Storm is not just the girl, she is a leading figure with charisma and leadership skills. And Reed Richards will Reed and Reeds hard in this (thin line between genius and insanity).

I have seen Vanessa Kirby in other works and I always thought she would be a good fit for something in the superhero genre. Little did anyone know she would be Sue Storm. Pedro Pascal has Mandalorian cred and has been in enough to establish himself as a leading actor. And he gets Reed Richards and I sometimes wondered “Is going to be a Super Villain?” but he doesn’t. However, Pascal does sell that Reed is unhinged and the other three know it and have learned to cope with his eccentricities.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn have interesting careers that I am not familiar with at all. Quinn actually played Eddie in Stranger Things but I did not recognize him since he had so much hair in the series. The CGI for both the Thing and Human Torch was top notch. Graphics have come far, so far that I believed there was a fire dude and a rock man fighting sexy silver space chicks.

And I come to Julia Garner as the Silver Surfer. And I know there was some buzz about this movie having a girl Surfer as opposed to the typical bald and smooth man Surfer. I’m all for the change but I kind of wondered why Marvel went in that direction. And then the movie plays out before me and has Johnny trying to connect and empathize with the Surfer. And there was some tension between them. And while that is an interesting twist, I feel Marvel missed out at Johnny being gay and putting his charms on a male Surfer. But, maybe we’ll have that in the next reboot in 2035, since a new reboot comes out every decade.

I did like the plot point of Johnny learning about the Surfer’s origin through cosmic radio waves from other planets. Johnny being smart enough to translate an alien language is so refreshing. He has always been shown as the cocky hot head and audience surrogate in the past, to be the less smart one to Reed’s MadGeniusExplaining.

Ben being a believed hero is so refreshing too. Him being a rock man has always been treated like some allegory to Frankenstein but in this universe, he likes being the Thing. People call him Ben and not THE THING. Kids love him, adults think he’s cool, there are ladies who are not screaming in terror and think he’s a cool and nice guy. Geeze! The rock man being treated like a celebrity and a person is so damn refreshing.

Sue is a world leader and basically the leader of the team. She is a female lead who is not just the GIRL, she is given plenty to do. There is a moment where the world as a mob is after her new baby (long story) and she stands before the public and gives a speech. And it is a believable and heartfelt speech that actually turns the crowd around and they applaud her.

And Reed . . . is Reed and will always be Reed. World’s smartest man and usually, that super intelligence causes some shit to happen. Some really bad shit. But at least Reed in this version has a conscience and knows that a lot of his super ideas are not good ideas but they will work. Reed has a lot more self awareness then in past movies or interpretations I’m aware of. Still, Sue, Ben, and Johnny know Reed is super smart but not really wise.

So, Franklin Richards is in this movie and plays a huge part of the movie. Apparently, Galaticus is putting earth on the menu but Franklin has the power cosmic and could be the solution to his endless hunger. And of course, the Four are all like “Nope to you eating earth and damning Frankie to cosmic eternal hunger!” And Johnny tries to convince the Surfer to help them defeat Galactus.

I’m happy we got a Galactus is a dude in a Jack Kirby outfit and not a gas cloud. And knowing his history, I got his motives to use Franklin as a means to end his suffering. I’m still LOLzing that Sue’s powers were enough to push Galactus around. Yes, that happens and its more of a “Mom lifting car to save children” thing but I still love it.

I’m not going to spoil anything more because I’m sure anyone who wants to see this movie will be seeing it. I had fun and really, really appreciated being on a different earth with its own lore separate from the convoluted main continuity of the MCU. Earth-828 is displayed right in the forefront and Reed tries to teach kids about dimensions, so the movie tells you flat out that yes, it is an MCU movie but it is separate from all that other stuff. I wondered about the significance of 828 but during the end credits, a quote from Jack Kirby is shown and his birthday is 8/28. I like that, good homage to the King!

Oh, I enjoyed HERBIE. Even something as panned and ridiculous as the robo sidekick of the F4 was enjoyable in this movie. And his retro build is adorable. His face is a cassette tape. I’m not joking and it’s one of those blink and you will miss it things. And HERBIE was given plenty to do and is loved by the Four, treated like a member of the family then a piece of hardware.

Anyway, if you had not tell from my rant, I enjoyed this movie because it was fun. And yes, there is a post credits thing but I will not spoil it. I did enjoy it though and I am so glad that it is the only little bit of MCU continuity that creeps its head. That is where lore building belongs, in the post credits and not zoomed in on every ten minutes.

This was fun and, like I had said during my Superman 2025 blog, it was all I could ask for! FUN!

Good Luck and DOOOOM!

—BUCK

PS: Yes, there was Doom! And crossing fingers for Doomsday!