Fantastic Four: First Steps General News & Discussion Thread (TAG SPOILERS)

[BlackFox]

Going to see it again today. I don't focus too much on what others think, but can still be surprised by such things.

I was surprised by the 2nd weekend drop, but it doesn't really matter much. It's gonna be fine when its run is over. I don't often see movies twice unless I really like them. I liked Thunderbolts and thought Florence Pugh was really great, but didn't see it twice. Good RT scores don't necessarily translate to BO success and you'd think those in the business of making money would be able to figure that out. The thing is that, at least with these two movies, they didn't need to make big changes. They just needed to make some good tweaks.

Its easy to get lost in the numbers and negativity of BO and at the end of the day that doesnt mean anything when watching this film now. It only impacts potential sequels and stuff going forward, this movie is what it is and if you enjoy it then thats all that matters. Cinemas are in a weird place post Covid and Marvel is post Endgame as well so its just hard to predict what will do well and what wont, even with good reviews. Nobody predicted D&W would blow the doors off last year but other than that Marvel has struggled of late, its not like Thunderbolts or BNW did much good for the Marvel bottom line so they were not on a great run anyway. There's probably a number of facts that combined to make it what it is not just one.

We have an F4 movie that the majority like that have seen it and is a massive upgrade on what came before at least. Very tempted to catch it one more time myself on a big screen it was joy both times for myself and I aint even the biggest F4 fan.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Box office won't ruin anything for me. If we never got a sequel, I would be sad about that. But I think we are, so all this negativity is sort of irrelevant IMO.

 

[InCali]

Box office won't ruin anything for me. If we never got a sequel, I would be sad about that. But I think we are, so all this negativity is sort of irrelevant IMO.

Yeah.....for me, if it's entertaining and I get more movies, I'm cool. I must be out of the loop because I don't hear a lot of negativity. By and large, everything seems pretty positive. I saw it for the second time today and, while, sure, some editing changes would have enhanced the movie, I really, really liked it.....even more than the first time, but the tacos, frijoles borrachos, guacamole, and margaritas "might" have enhanced the experience.

 

[Web-Head]

I think I liked it maybe a teeny tiny bit less on a second watch but my opinion pretty much stayed the same and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters, the family dynamic, I need more of it and I can't wait to see them again. I noticed things were rushed on a rewatch though and that's really my only nitpick.

 

[InCali]

I think I liked it maybe a teeny tiny bit less on a second watch but my opinion pretty much stayed the same and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters, the family dynamic, I need more of it and I can't wait to see them again. I noticed things were rushed on a rewatch though and that's really my only nitpick.

While different, the family vibe kind of reminds me of what we got in Infinity War when we got our first glimpse of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the movie. When I saw their ship and then we got a shot of them listening to music, I felt like I just met some old friends I hadn't seen for awhile.

 

[TheGDBatman]

I think we’re just seeing the result of Marvel losing the goodwill from casual moviegoers & needing to earn it back. The formula hasn’t really changed + some mediocre products has undoubtedly had some impact on the box office.

Stringing together some well received movies should hopefully plant the seeds for larger earnings down the road.

 

[Web-Head]

While different, the family vibe kind of reminds me of what we got in Infinity War when we got our first glimpse of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the movie. When I saw their ship and then we got a shot of them listening to music, I felt like I just met some old friends I hadn't seen for awhile.

I think the family aspect is a big reason why F4 resonated with me much more than Superman

 

[Web-Head]

I think we’re just seeing the result of Marvel losing the goodwill from casual moviegoers & needing to earn it back. The formula hasn’t really changed + some mediocre products has undoubtedly had some impact on the box office.

Stringing together some well received movies should hopefully plant the seeds for larger earnings down the road.

Possible, I hope so, but I think it's much more complicated than that and I think Disney+ is a big reason for the lack of box office lately.

 

[Frodo]

The negativity towards the film's box office is purely in the fandom bubble, and unfortunately, social media, youtube pages , geek pundits , etc, give off the impression to fans, that everyone, including the GA ,really care about F4's box office expectations, or what it means for Avengers : Doomsday.

In our bubble, all this stuff may be a big deal, but the average filmgoer wasn't invested on whether this film made more money than Superman, or whether or not the film hit a billion.

If anything, the I think the GA is indifferent at this point ,with Superhero films .

I don't know if that's worse than being passionately fed up with the genre , but I certainly haven't evidence that the negativity surrounding the box office expands any further than online fandom ,and online geek pundits.

But we'll have to see how the studio moves forward post Fantastic Four : First Steps.

 

[InCali]

I think the family aspect is a big reason why F4 resonated with me much more than Superman

I thought the best part of SM was Krypto. He kind of reminded me of my dogs when I come home. If I lay down on the ground, they pretty much act the same way.

 

[Web-Head]

I thought the best part of SM was Krypto. He kind of reminded me of my dogs when I come home. If I lay down on the ground, they pretty much act the same way.

Krypto and Mr Terrific were definitely the highlights from Superman! Can't wait to see more of Krypto in Supergirl

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

I’m quite curious Willie, as someone who’s been waiting for this movie for years what’s your full thoughts/review of this movie? Do you lean positive or negative?

Definitely big positive. They nailed the characters and visuals and I felt like it was an FF comic book brought to life.

The flaws were subtle but noticeable (such as the rushed pacing I mentioned above ). There were great moments with great potential that were rushed to the point they were lost. For example, when Galactus was looking in the window and Herbie moved to shield Franklin, that was amazing - one of the weakest beings in the Universe sacrificing himself to protect a presumably even weaker being when confronted by one of the most powerful beings in the Universe. But it was over before it began and we had no chance to savor… or hardly even notice that beautiful moment. They should have slowed that moment down and really showed the audience Herbie was stepping up and saying: “You’re taking this kid over my dead body.” I would have stretched it out by shooting it like a Clint Eastwood showdown with the camera going back and forth between Galactus and Herbie… before Galactus simply brushed him aside.

Also, the idea of

Spoiler

moving the entire planet

was so ridiculous, it shook me beyond my suspension of disbelief and took me out of the moment.

It also needed MUCH more Ben, and the beard thing was stupid.

Galactus was awesome and perfect and not only a great interpretation of the character but a perfect antagonist for this type of film. The stakes were high, the goals were simple and easy to follow, and unlike most comic-book films, the action was key to the story and not a messy, confusing, forced hodge-podge - heavy on visual and auditory noise and light on drama.

There were so many good things, I feel a little guilty focusing on its shortcomings, but the things it did right were hard and the things it did wrong would have been easy to fix, so it was a little frustrating from that perspective.

But from a 30,000 foot view, it was an absolute delight to finally see the FF brought to the big screen after over 50 years of waiting.

 

[InCali]

Definitely big positive. They nailed the characters and visuals and I felt like it was an FF comic book brought to life.

The flaws were subtle but noticeable (such as the rushed pacing I mentioned above ). Also, the idea of

Spoiler

moving the entire planet

was so ridiculous, it shook me beyond my suspension of disbelief and took me out of the moment.

It also needed MUCH more Ben, and the beard thing was stupid.

Galactus was awesome and perfect and not only a great interpretation of the character but a perfect antagonist for this type of film. The stakes were high, the goals were simple and easy to follow, and unlike most comic-book films, the action was key to the story and not a messy, confusing, forced hodge-podge - heavy on visual and auditory noise and light on drama.

There were so many good things, I feel a little guilty focusing on its shortcomings, but the things it did right were hard and the things it did wrong would have been easy to fix, so it was a little frustrating from that perspective.

But from a 30,000 foot view, it was an absolute delight to finally see the FF brought to the big screen after over 50 years of waiting.

Pretty much dead on from my perspective.....I didn't focus on your spoiler, but was really annoyed by the beard thing.

I just can't help but being really happy with the movie, in spite of any shortcomings.

If they do a Tolkien movie that doesn't follow line for line, I'm probably going to be somewhat disgruntled....

I suck as a movie critic and loved the movie. When my wife and I went to see it last week, I told her right before it started that I'd been waiting for this movie for decades. She looked at me like I had 3 heads. LOL

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Disney Boss Bob Iger Says ‘Creating New IP’ Is of ‘Great Value’ but There’s No ‘Priority’ Among Sequels, Remakes and Originals: Just ‘Great Movies’

Disney CEO Bob Iger says the studio does not have a priority when it comes to sequels, remakes and originals. Disney just wants 'great movies.'

variety.com

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Disney Boss Bob Iger Says ‘Creating New IP’ Is of ‘Great Value’ but There’s No ‘Priority’ Among Sequels, Remakes and Originals: Just ‘Great Movies’

Disney CEO Bob Iger says the studio does not have a priority when it comes to sequels, remakes and originals. Disney just wants 'great movies.'

variety.com

"Disney just wants to make great movies" Well start making them then.

 

[psylockolussus]

"Disney just wants to make great movies" Well start making them then.

They just did with First Steps.

And Thunderbolts* was a decent movie despite me not caring about the characters.

 

[Pennywise]

Take it with some salt.

 

[sdgrandia86]

"Disney just wants to make great movies" Well start making them then.

They did it with Thunderbolts and F4 was descent, amazing visually, hopefully they can improve upon it.

 

[Spider-Fan]

View attachment 144095

Take it with some salt.

That's not an unreasonable assumption. Avengers gave everyone else bumps, so just comes down to people liking them in DD/SW. I am pretty optimistic. Happy Shakman is coming back possibly, too. If true

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

That's not an unreasonable assumption. Avengers gave everyone else bumps, so just comes down to people liking them in DD/SW. I am pretty optimistic. Happy Shakman is coming back possibly, too. If true

Yes. The film will cross $400M globally this week, which puts $500M within reach. I can’t imagine a scenario where a film that makes half a billion dollars at the box office doesn’t get a sequel.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

Speaking of Doomsday and Secret Wars, I’ll be keenly interested in seeing how the Russo Bros translate The FF’s power sets on screens. First Steps showed some cool, more diverse ways that Johnny can use his powers (I especially loved the fire extinguishing scene), but I would’ve liked to have seen Susan doing more, like levitating and gliding on her force fields and Reed contorting himself into various shapes and sizes. I think Shakman played it a bit safe there, but I want him (and the Russos) to let go with these characters in their upcoming appearances.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

I’m curious how they’ll build anticipation and excitement for Doomsday.

Other than people like us, does anyone care about Doomsday?

For Infinity War, they were riding a wave of hugely popular films. The environment is quite a bit different for Doomsday.

And I think RDJ’s involvement may cause more confusion than enthusiasm.

Yeah, people like him, but they like him as Tony Stark.

Unless there’s some plan to lead into it that we haven’t seen yet, I’m having trouble seeng a lot of enthusiasm.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I think in the BND post credits, they may show us Doom. Use that platform to get us excited about the movie

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Honestly, I think they are going to have to rely on the trailers and the marketing for Doomsday. Doom is likely going to be all over that marketing, and they are going to have to show him being the best villain the MCU has ever seen from that movie. Because they don't have that build to rely on.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

Looking back at the various MCU film mid/end credits, there was maybe all of 2 or 3 minutes total of Thanos getting actual screen time in ANY of the films leading up to Infinity War. He was sprinkled in as a shadowy character—a puppet master behind the scenes. It’s clear that First Steps and the next Spider-Man films are laying some groundwork. But I’m thinking that Doomsday will be the formal introduction of Dr. Doom, complete with a huge cliff hanger at the end. Then Secret Wars will act as the actual battle with Everyone vs Doom and his Doom-Bots.