July 25, 2025 • 24 mins
This is a SPOILER-FREE review of the newest MCU installment. Check out our spoiler-review and deep-dive on Monday's episode!
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(00:00):
This is the Drive In podcast Take One.
(00:25):
We've seen it. Let the MCU's basics begin.
Ricky Flicks, We have just left the theater from Fantastic Four
First Steps. We saw it with our parents.
We saw it with Missus Flicks. We're here for instant reactions
very special edition of the driving podcast Ricky Flex
(00:47):
spoiler free for the next 15 ishminutes before our spoiler
filled deep dive coming this Monday, which will be can't miss
when we have Jax returning to the podcast after he helped us
with our bold predictions. Make sure you check out that
episode. If you haven't seen Fantastic
Four, which I assume you may have not if you're listening to
(01:08):
this podcast, check out our boldpredictions and preview.
But Ricky Flex, I want to know, is the MCU off to a great start
for Phase Six with Fantastic Four?
We're off to a good start. That's what I'll say.
I think we're off to a really good start.
I think when you look at this movie, you need to do a lot of
(01:31):
things right. It kind of had to introduce you
to this next phase, which I think it did pretty
successfully. I don't think it really is like
a hey, the next movie or like, Hey, get ready for doomsday.
I think it does that and like obviously one big scene, but
other than that, it's not I I I think overall it's like, all
right, let's let's just introduce you to the next like
(01:53):
big a listers of the MCU that itdid well at right.
And I was bought in. I was bought in from start to
finish. I think I was bought into each
of these characters. I think each of them did a great
job. Most of their story individual
storylines work for me or were were properly properly fleshed
(02:14):
out proper time. And.
It was ballsy to go with the 60sand I think that might have been
the best part of the movie was the actual setting and the
character dynamic in this time frame, in this time period and
in this place. And I think that Jetsons like
old school yet futuristic society that all.
(02:34):
And then also like Fantastic Four being celebrities, the
Fantastic Four being the only superheroes on the planet.
That that whole setting vibe, itfit.
It worked so well. So as in like, did it?
Does it set us up for Phase 6? I think it's set up.
These characters are stars of Phase six up very well.
That's what I'll say. I'll say it's a great start.
(02:57):
Not a good start. I'll say it's a great start for
Phase 6, and I think a huge partis that we are on Earth 828 for
this movie, not Earth 616828-A tribute to the birthday of Jack
Kirby, right? The creator alongside Stan Lee
for the Fantastic Four. Having this movie on a separate
Earth with a different aestheticand a different, I guess, vibe
(03:22):
than most MCU movies, I think was such a smart decision.
It's not like we wanted or clamored for A616 movie where
people will ask questions. Where are these heroes?
Where are they at this time? Why are they not helping out?
No, we're going to Earth 828 so we can make sure we can have the
focus be on the Fantastic Four and not the universe at large.
(03:44):
I think that was such a smart decision if you want to look
towards the future heroes that you want to see return.
And no one is stealing the spotlight from them.
They are the rock stars. They are The Beatles of this
world, the World 828. I love that decision, one of the
huge parts. But I think the other thing is I
want to see these characters again after leaving the theater.
(04:05):
I'm like, OK, I can't wait to see him in Doomsday.
OK, I can't wait to see him in Secret Wars.
I think that some characters hadsome really great arcs in this
movie. Vanessa Kirby stands out, right?
She has a lot of love, right? During this movie, The writers
gave her a lot of love and I think Pedro Pascal, I think is
going to shut up a lot of hatersfrom this movie.
(04:26):
I think Joseph Quinn's going to shut up a lot of haters about
this movie, right? Julia Garner as Shia Labal I
thought was a really good, I guess, inclusion for this movie
as one of the villains I think necessary with like the minimal
screen time of 1. Ralph Innocent as Galactus, you
know, I think she works in this movie.
I want to see these characters again.
(04:47):
I love the world that they set up and I love the world that
they're teasing. I don't think it'd be hard to
find a a movie that has me more excited for the future and a
better start to phase six. I honestly loved it.
You brought the aesthetic, right?
So we talked about the them being like The Beatles of this
world. They they have like Ed Sullivan,
like ask Ted Gilbert is like theEd Sullivan of Earth 828.
(05:13):
What what, what else did you like about like the 60s retro
style that they had going? Like they all, like the costume
design was awesome. Yeah, I think it really did fit
very well. And yes, there's flying cars in
the movie. Yes, there's they're trying to
do, I'm trying to do not spoilers, but like alternate
dimensions and what not. There's a lot of talk of, you
(05:33):
know, crazy sci-fi that is very futuristic.
But it was like The Jetsons where it seemed to like be
seamless. You know, it wasn't like, oh,
come on. Like with the technology, like I
thought it worked really well. And I think a big part of that
also was Herbie. I thought Herbie was really
effective in this movie. And we talked about in the
(05:53):
Jurassic World review and all these other things where it's
like, oh, look at the cute like little like shtick that they got
going on here. Like in Jurassic World is like
the baby dinosaur or like Rogo in The Mandalorian.
Like Herbie was not that used the right way and the correct
amount of screen time. And I thought was a good plot
device going forward with the group as you were able to focus
(06:15):
on the Fantastic Four, the dynamics within the group and
the storylines with each character and each of their
arcs. But Herbie was there to kind of,
you know, as again, a plot device kind of filling in holes,
filling in gaps. And I thought that was really
well done to go along with the aesthetic.
I felt right. Marvel's first family debut in
the 60s. It feels like they belong in the
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60s and they them adopting The Beatles persona I thought was
literally perfect. It's a refreshing movie in my
opinion for the MCU because of the constant look from every MCU
movie looking the same. I thought the look of this movie
was great not just cause of 1960s but I think also the
cosmic stuff was really cool. I think the some of them were
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honestly the best shots of the movie.
Jess Hall was a cinematographer.Her cinematographer here.
I think what they did with the Silver Surfer in space with
Johnny Storm, there is a great chase sequence that happens in
space. It looked really good to me.
You know, I thought I was all into it.
It it was, it was kind of a you forget about everything that
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happened in phase four and five.It's like you're looking towards
a new future. That's kind of what it felt like
watching this movie, moving fromthe aesthetic, but talking about
these actual heroes here, when we talk about the visible Woman,
Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch and the Thing, I mean, where do you
want to start to give a favoriteperformer out of the out of the
team here? I think most people will say
(07:41):
Vanessa Kirby because I think she had the most to do, as in
most written for her with the baby dynamic, with being the
mother in like the heart of the team and what not.
But I would say like, you're right, Pedro Pascal will shut up
a lot of haters. I think we talked about it on
our preview pod. He kind of needed to like show
out here. You know, he's never been the
(08:02):
lead in a big theatrical movie, let alone a superhero Marvel
movie. And anything small he's ever
done, he's always been a supporting character.
And to take on a Reed Richards role, again, going to be the
leader of this group, but also not just like a big, like, hey,
I'm a good looking guy. Like he has to play like a nerd.
Like a lot of doubts over him playing Reed Richards.
(08:23):
I had some doubts. I thought he did very well.
And I think he was the question mark in this group of four,
right? Vanessa Kerr was like, oh, she's
a great actor, Oscar nominated, playing a mother.
She was the only Oscar nominatedfrom being a mother kind of from
a piece of a woman. You have a Evan Moss Bacharach
who's on an absolute heater, andhe's also not even being shown
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in the movie, really. And then you have Joseph Quinn
who's also on a heater and also could be that playful Johnny
Storm that we know, right? It was really the Pedro Pascal
casting that we all were questioning saying, will this
work? Is this going to work?
And it did. And I thought he was actually
excellent. I really like Pedro Pascal in
this because he put on a performance here.
Like when you think of Pedro Pascal, you think of him as like
(09:06):
a charming guy. You know, he's not exactly the
most charming guy in this movie.You know, he's a guy who deals
pragmatically. He's a guy who you have to
believe is the smartest man in the world and sometimes will
lose sight of his family in favor of science or like the OR
or like what the world should doin a moment of crisis.
(09:27):
You know, I believed from his performance, this guy's smart.
This guy is a pragmatist. And honestly, they really leaned
a lot on his brain in the movie for Mr. Fantastic.
If I had to, one of my nitpicks with this movie is that we
didn't watch Mr. Fantastic be Mr. Fantastic in terms of
stretchiness, like physically enough in this movie.
(09:48):
I don't think he gets the kind of, I don't know if that was
more of a CGI thing because it looks sketchy at some point to
this movie as Mr. Fantastic. But I think because of that,
like they're they asked him to do a lot in terms of becoming
the character of Reed Richards. I think he became the character.
I wasn't watching Pedro Pascal. I was watching Reed Richards,
which is something I think that Pedro Pascal hasn't really
(10:10):
gotten a chance to do. Like he's been in so many
projects, but he's kind of askedto just be Pedro Pascal in every
one of those projects. I didn't feel like I was just
watching Pedro in this movie. I felt like I was watching Reed
Richards and someone I definitely want to see again.
I like that shout Ricky Flex. I will say my favorite though,
he's not Vanessa Kirby, Johnny Storm.
Joseph Quinn I think was my favorite part of this movie.
(10:32):
Once again, I think we're going and kind of redemptive.
He kind of teased this in the promo for the movie, not being
the Chris Evans douchiness, but still being a little bit of a
brat. Someone that can irk and grind
the Gears of The Thing and a Sister and Mr. Fantastic, but
also someone that has such a pretty good redemptive arc in
this movie. Someone who's underestimated.
(10:52):
It's kind of an underdog. Joseph Quinn.
People are criticizing that casting too.
Overall, the people are criticizing these castings.
I think they all panned out pretty damn well.
I think Joseph Quinn is someone if I got it.
Like also gets a lot of the showhe scenes, gets to have the one
on ones with Shiloh ball, has the flying sequences, gets to
keep his look as Joseph Quinn even when he's on fire.
(11:15):
I think he is my favorite out ofthe four heroes.
I think from the movie. I think a lot of the CGI budget
went to him. Yeah.
And he, I thought I looked pretty, pretty damn good.
Pretty as well as you can when you're you're lit up on fire for
over a minute in a row on screenlike that.
That was pretty damn good. And I think yeah, Mr. Fantastic,
there were a couple scenes here,visible woman.
(11:36):
There's a couple CGI moments that were just you kind of saw
it from the trailer. It looked even worse on the big
screen a few times. But yeah, Johnny was very good
in this movie. And I think some I I don't think
like he was joking a lot. I don't think he was very funny,
but you're right where like his arc and his storyline did work.
The underestimated 1 discountinghim being like the 4th man in
(11:59):
the group when it comes to thinking of a plan and whatnot.
Sure, as some things are unbelievable at times and we can
get to that in our deep dive next episode.
But like overall, you're you're you.
You could, you could. It is kind of like underdogs or
you're bought into this as an. Audience.
Member, Right? And by the time it comes at the
end and whatnot, you're like, wow, that was very effective.
(12:20):
I think even Moss Bacharach's thing is a little bit
underserved in this movie. It's I guess it makes sense
because it it's the thing, it's the guy.
It's harder to connect to. They try and do the thing almost
similar to Michael Chiklis character, but I don't it it
wasn't strong in my opinion. I do want to say Vanessa Kirby.
(12:40):
I see why they cast her in this role.
You know, pieces of a woman and strong feminine figure.
This is a huge theme of motherhood throughout the story.
It's a little heavy-handed at times, but I see why you get
some of the best dramatic. You have one of the best
dramatic actresses to play Sue Storm for this movie because I
think she has a lot of the capital a acting scenes that you
(13:02):
don't literally see in most Marvel movies.
I think it was good. I think they really wanted to
hammer home, and this kind of bothered me.
They, like you, knew she was pregnant with Franklin Richards
and they didn't want to sidelineher, so it felt like they
overexposed her in this movie. Does that make sense?
I thought it was a little heavy-handed, a little forced at
(13:23):
times. Like a lot.
Some of the comedy from Johnny was forced.
I think a lot of the motherhood exactly what you're saying with
Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm, little bit forced here.
And this is this movie is an hour 55.
It felt even shorter than that actually, with all the 38
minutes of of freaking trailers,including the Avatar one,
(13:44):
insane. And that was the longest we've
ever sat for trailers before a movie.
So this movie felt a little short and it felt like wow, like
we're we're seeing a lot of thisstoryline.
A lot of it. Where it's like, we're not
really seeing Galactus. We're not really seeing the
thing. We're not really seeing Reed
Richards trying to figure this out.
(14:05):
You know, he's just saying I hadnothing.
I don't know. It's like I want to see you try
to figure it out, you know. So I do think it was a little
heavy-handed. It was a little much, but it
wasn't like it wasn't bad, you know, It was good.
Yeah, they, Reid was flustered for a decent amount of this
movie, but eventually, you know,Reid Richards always kind of
figures it out. I, I think a huge thing about
(14:27):
this movie, something I strugglewith is the pacing.
It seems like they really tried to introduce you to the 1960s
world. They get the standing of the
Fantastic Four, how they are therock stars of this planet.
And then you have the introduction of Galactus and
Shia Labal, and I think that waselectric.
And then a meeting them and thenfighting them.
(14:47):
And then the second act of the movie, there is a bit of a law
and it becomes very sciency, youknow?
And I know that they're flexing that hey, we're dealing with the
smartest man on the planet. I have a hard time.
We'll get into spoilers on Monday.
But believing that everyone willbe on board with this new plan
that they have. I think there is really not
(15:07):
enough scenes with Galactus himself.
I But in this also brings me to something else.
We're going to talk about the villains.
But was Galactus a little bit maybe almost too Opie for this
movie? You know, I, I, he is a dominant
force. Maybe they needed to have a
strong villain for the first Fantastic Four movie.
(15:28):
You can't use Doctor Doom again.What is the next biggest thing
you could do is probably Galactus, But at times I felt
like maybe he's even too powerful for this movie that
literally can't show him becausehe's so much of of a force.
I'll push back a little bit and say Galactus literally is the
one being in Marvel Comics that doesn't really have weaknesses.
(15:49):
His weaknesses that he has to eat, you know, he literally
could do anything. That's why he's never in the
movies. Why the only movie he he was in,
he was a BLOB. He was a clown.
Because he can't actually show how powerful he is from the
comics because it's impossible to do.
So. I do think they did the best
they could here. I was very like satisfied with
the Galactus ending, I guess, because I guess I'm more
(16:15):
understanding of like, yeah, this guy is Opie.
They did a pretty good job showing that how powerful this
guy is. How are you going to stop him?
And I think that's why the last episode in the preview, I was
like, are they going to use a nullifier?
Are they going to do this or that?
And without spoilers, I will saylike, I was like, you know what?
That's like probably the best that they could.
Probably pretty good getting to comic nullify, you know, crap.
(16:38):
What did you just say before? I wanted to.
Comment on something. Yes, Oh my God.
So I mentioned off the top, I think my favorite thing was the
first act and just getting into this world different than Earth
6168, just learning about 828, learning about this group non
origin story. And we had that montage.
There's a montage of the Ted Gilbert show on the Ted Gilbert
(16:59):
show kind of saying, hey, this is what happened.
So it's like a 5 minute origin story.
But then we get into the movie and you get into the family
dynamics to get into the the celebrity stardom.
And then you get into Galactus at the end of the first act.
It's like, wow, that was a great40 minutes, you know, And then
without spoilers, it's like how are they going to defeat
(17:19):
Galactus? And it was so unbelievable even
for like a superhero thing. And also is stuff with Johnny.
It was just like, there is some huge problems and leaps in the
script. And I was flabbergasted that
they kind of took those steps. No, no, no plan intended.
I I was shocked in the second act.
(17:40):
And then by the third act, you're like, OK, like this is
starting to make sense again. And storylines are coming
together. Character storylines are arcs, I
should say. But it's like, am I satisfied
with how everything kind of cameto be?
Like, I'm fine with the ending, but like, how we got here?
Yeah, maybe not. Maybe not.
And I think they could have figured out something else.
(18:01):
I think they could have figured out something else for sure.
We'll get into it with spoils. Can't you have?
No other superheroes on this planet.
There's nothing else. You literally could have done
anything. It's a different Earth than 616
is completely different. You had so many like your limit,
like unlimited, endless possibilities, and you decided
to do like what they did. I was just a little upset by
(18:23):
that. Yeah, so pacing script, not the
best. I did want to talk a bit, a
little bit shallow ball. Jennifer Garner.
I think she would. Is it Jennifer Garner?
Did I get that right? Julia?
Julia Jennifer's Electra. Yes.
Julia Garner I love the Silver Surfer.
I love the Silver Surfer. I think my favorite scene in the
(18:43):
movie, there is an amazing cosmic like chase scene and to
see the look of the Silver Surfer, like a lot of the budget
went to Johnny Storm, but I alsothink a lot went to Shia La ball
and to see her on the board, thechases against Johnny at chasing
the Fantastic Four that even like I love the 60s and I love
(19:05):
that earth that we were on. But when we were that was a
fright train that felt like, wow, I'm watching an
exhilarating space chase that does not come around often.
You know, the way she was kind of creating her own, you know,
trail she the way she was creating her own atmosphere
around her. And they even had a back story
build and for the character a little bit like, OK, we're
(19:27):
throwing you all this at one time.
You don't type of thing that eventually is going to pay off
in the end. But I like the performance.
I like the look of the character.
I like the action scenes with shallow ball.
That is another character I'm just excited about, You know,
whether we see her again, who knows?
But I really liked her in this movie too as like a secondary
villain that you needed because of the minimal, like the the
(19:51):
minimal screen time of an OP villain like Galactus and also
comes with the Galactus territory I think was a
necessary component of this movie that was really good.
Yeah, and I think again, her character arc that was very good
in this movie, very. It worked to a tee, I would say.
And especially when maybe Galactus was probably the one
(20:11):
character that didn't really getan arc, didn't as the main
villain didn't really get one. They kind of gave more shine to
the Silver Surfer here and Galactus was more just like,
Hey, let me show you this character that's never been on
the big screen and he looked very good that he's just more
there for show less less about substance.
And that's that was a little disappointing because he has a
(20:32):
really interesting story arc too.
And it's just like, again, back to the preview.
Probably did just maybe it was just too much to tackle, you
know, because his character again, the guy was freaking
around in The Big Bang like this.
There is so much to to kind of get over with his or talk about
with his character. They kind of just said, you know
what, let's just go the Silver Surfer route again, but we'll
(20:53):
actually include Galactus, show off his powers.
And again by the end. Hopefully it works out, and I
think it did. He he he looked great as well.
Good detail with the suit. Great voice from Ralph Anderson.
I see the castings for this movie.
All makes sense now, right That's like Ralph innocent.
You need someone with that powerful voice.
(21:14):
That was the key, right And if you watch the movie, you'll
obviously see why it's not recognizably Ralph innocent, but
it's unmistakably his voice and there's a reason why Vanessa
Kirby gets this specific Sue Storm role that fit this movie
in this situation right. I, I like Pedro Pascal getting
able to like flex his acting chops a little bit and being a
(21:35):
true leading man. I and I, I, I just felt like a
lot of the casting decisions that people second guessed.
I think a lot of people prove these at this cast proved
everybody wrong. The look for the most part, I
like CGI wasn't a huge issue, although it was kind of faulty
at times. Teasing of the world, not only
of the future for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole,
(21:55):
but the teasing of the world throughout the movie of Earth
828 I thought was excellent. I can't wait to see this group
again. It'll be interesting to see
Pedro Pascal potentially leadingDoomsday or as like maybe the
leader of The Avengers in Doomsday alongside maybe an
Anthony Mackie going against Doctor Doom.
You know, I think that's where we leave at Ricky Flex.
(22:18):
Do you have any final comments before we close up today's short
porn pod? I'm I'm debating and it's the
first film in phase 6, but I'm looking back and phase phases
4:00 and 5:00 and we'll do this on some on next review.
But just to think about like immediate reactions, top three
movie of the past couple phases.It's right around there.
(22:42):
I'm not willing to say anything higher, but I'm thinking like
guardians three. I'm thinking Deadpool,
Wolverine. I'm thinking it's better than No
way home. That's what it's like kind of
competing with for like best movie since End Game.
Yes, I think it's in that tier where it lies.
We will talk about it on Monday.So make sure if you're watching
(23:02):
on YouTube, make sure you subscribe, make sure you check
out if you haven't seen the movie, look at our bold
predictions in preview that is on our channel.
And then also stick around for Monday.
We're going to have it also on YouTube spoilers with Jax
evaluating our bold predictions and we'll talk about prospects
(23:22):
for Marvel when we might see these characters.
Actually, we know they're going to be a doomsday, but yeah, so
and if you're listening, I'm going to be put putting this,
you're listening maybe on Apple or Spotify, make sure that you
guys are following. Make sure you raise five stars
and leave a review. So that's going to do it for the
Fantastic Four spoiler free review.
(23:43):
Until next time, we will.
This is the Drive In podcast Take One.
(00:25):
We've seen it. Let the MCU's basics begin.
Ricky Flicks, We have just left the theater from Fantastic Four
First Steps. We saw it with our parents.
We saw it with Missus Flicks. We're here for instant reactions
very special edition of the driving podcast Ricky Flex
(00:47):
spoiler free for the next 15 ishminutes before our spoiler
filled deep dive coming this Monday, which will be can't miss
when we have Jax returning to the podcast after he helped us
with our bold predictions. Make sure you check out that
episode. If you haven't seen Fantastic
Four, which I assume you may have not if you're listening to
(01:08):
this podcast, check out our boldpredictions and preview.
But Ricky Flex, I want to know, is the MCU off to a great start
for Phase Six with Fantastic Four?
We're off to a good start. That's what I'll say.
I think we're off to a really good start.
I think when you look at this movie, you need to do a lot of
(01:31):
things right. It kind of had to introduce you
to this next phase, which I think it did pretty
successfully. I don't think it really is like
a hey, the next movie or like, Hey, get ready for doomsday.
I think it does that and like obviously one big scene, but
other than that, it's not I I I think overall it's like, all
right, let's let's just introduce you to the next like
(01:53):
big a listers of the MCU that itdid well at right.
And I was bought in. I was bought in from start to
finish. I think I was bought into each
of these characters. I think each of them did a great
job. Most of their story individual
storylines work for me or were were properly properly fleshed
(02:14):
out proper time. And.
It was ballsy to go with the 60sand I think that might have been
the best part of the movie was the actual setting and the
character dynamic in this time frame, in this time period and
in this place. And I think that Jetsons like
old school yet futuristic society that all.
(02:34):
And then also like Fantastic Four being celebrities, the
Fantastic Four being the only superheroes on the planet.
That that whole setting vibe, itfit.
It worked so well. So as in like, did it?
Does it set us up for Phase 6? I think it's set up.
These characters are stars of Phase six up very well.
That's what I'll say. I'll say it's a great start.
(02:57):
Not a good start. I'll say it's a great start for
Phase 6, and I think a huge partis that we are on Earth 828 for
this movie, not Earth 616828-A tribute to the birthday of Jack
Kirby, right? The creator alongside Stan Lee
for the Fantastic Four. Having this movie on a separate
Earth with a different aestheticand a different, I guess, vibe
(03:22):
than most MCU movies, I think was such a smart decision.
It's not like we wanted or clamored for A616 movie where
people will ask questions. Where are these heroes?
Where are they at this time? Why are they not helping out?
No, we're going to Earth 828 so we can make sure we can have the
focus be on the Fantastic Four and not the universe at large.
(03:44):
I think that was such a smart decision if you want to look
towards the future heroes that you want to see return.
And no one is stealing the spotlight from them.
They are the rock stars. They are The Beatles of this
world, the World 828. I love that decision, one of the
huge parts. But I think the other thing is I
want to see these characters again after leaving the theater.
(04:05):
I'm like, OK, I can't wait to see him in Doomsday.
OK, I can't wait to see him in Secret Wars.
I think that some characters hadsome really great arcs in this
movie. Vanessa Kirby stands out, right?
She has a lot of love, right? During this movie, The writers
gave her a lot of love and I think Pedro Pascal, I think is
going to shut up a lot of hatersfrom this movie.
(04:26):
I think Joseph Quinn's going to shut up a lot of haters about
this movie, right? Julia Garner as Shia Labal I
thought was a really good, I guess, inclusion for this movie
as one of the villains I think necessary with like the minimal
screen time of 1. Ralph Innocent as Galactus, you
know, I think she works in this movie.
I want to see these characters again.
(04:47):
I love the world that they set up and I love the world that
they're teasing. I don't think it'd be hard to
find a a movie that has me more excited for the future and a
better start to phase six. I honestly loved it.
You brought the aesthetic, right?
So we talked about the them being like The Beatles of this
world. They they have like Ed Sullivan,
like ask Ted Gilbert is like theEd Sullivan of Earth 828.
(05:13):
What what, what else did you like about like the 60s retro
style that they had going? Like they all, like the costume
design was awesome. Yeah, I think it really did fit
very well. And yes, there's flying cars in
the movie. Yes, there's they're trying to
do, I'm trying to do not spoilers, but like alternate
dimensions and what not. There's a lot of talk of, you
(05:33):
know, crazy sci-fi that is very futuristic.
But it was like The Jetsons where it seemed to like be
seamless. You know, it wasn't like, oh,
come on. Like with the technology, like I
thought it worked really well. And I think a big part of that
also was Herbie. I thought Herbie was really
effective in this movie. And we talked about in the
(05:53):
Jurassic World review and all these other things where it's
like, oh, look at the cute like little like shtick that they got
going on here. Like in Jurassic World is like
the baby dinosaur or like Rogo in The Mandalorian.
Like Herbie was not that used the right way and the correct
amount of screen time. And I thought was a good plot
device going forward with the group as you were able to focus
(06:15):
on the Fantastic Four, the dynamics within the group and
the storylines with each character and each of their
arcs. But Herbie was there to kind of,
you know, as again, a plot device kind of filling in holes,
filling in gaps. And I thought that was really
well done to go along with the aesthetic.
I felt right. Marvel's first family debut in
the 60s. It feels like they belong in the
(06:36):
60s and they them adopting The Beatles persona I thought was
literally perfect. It's a refreshing movie in my
opinion for the MCU because of the constant look from every MCU
movie looking the same. I thought the look of this movie
was great not just cause of 1960s but I think also the
cosmic stuff was really cool. I think the some of them were
(06:56):
honestly the best shots of the movie.
Jess Hall was a cinematographer.Her cinematographer here.
I think what they did with the Silver Surfer in space with
Johnny Storm, there is a great chase sequence that happens in
space. It looked really good to me.
You know, I thought I was all into it.
It it was, it was kind of a you forget about everything that
(07:18):
happened in phase four and five.It's like you're looking towards
a new future. That's kind of what it felt like
watching this movie, moving fromthe aesthetic, but talking about
these actual heroes here, when we talk about the visible Woman,
Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch and the Thing, I mean, where do you
want to start to give a favoriteperformer out of the out of the
team here? I think most people will say
(07:41):
Vanessa Kirby because I think she had the most to do, as in
most written for her with the baby dynamic, with being the
mother in like the heart of the team and what not.
But I would say like, you're right, Pedro Pascal will shut up
a lot of haters. I think we talked about it on
our preview pod. He kind of needed to like show
out here. You know, he's never been the
(08:02):
lead in a big theatrical movie, let alone a superhero Marvel
movie. And anything small he's ever
done, he's always been a supporting character.
And to take on a Reed Richards role, again, going to be the
leader of this group, but also not just like a big, like, hey,
I'm a good looking guy. Like he has to play like a nerd.
Like a lot of doubts over him playing Reed Richards.
(08:23):
I had some doubts. I thought he did very well.
And I think he was the question mark in this group of four,
right? Vanessa Kerr was like, oh, she's
a great actor, Oscar nominated, playing a mother.
She was the only Oscar nominatedfrom being a mother kind of from
a piece of a woman. You have a Evan Moss Bacharach
who's on an absolute heater, andhe's also not even being shown
(08:44):
in the movie, really. And then you have Joseph Quinn
who's also on a heater and also could be that playful Johnny
Storm that we know, right? It was really the Pedro Pascal
casting that we all were questioning saying, will this
work? Is this going to work?
And it did. And I thought he was actually
excellent. I really like Pedro Pascal in
this because he put on a performance here.
Like when you think of Pedro Pascal, you think of him as like
(09:06):
a charming guy. You know, he's not exactly the
most charming guy in this movie.You know, he's a guy who deals
pragmatically. He's a guy who you have to
believe is the smartest man in the world and sometimes will
lose sight of his family in favor of science or like the OR
or like what the world should doin a moment of crisis.
(09:27):
You know, I believed from his performance, this guy's smart.
This guy is a pragmatist. And honestly, they really leaned
a lot on his brain in the movie for Mr. Fantastic.
If I had to, one of my nitpicks with this movie is that we
didn't watch Mr. Fantastic be Mr. Fantastic in terms of
stretchiness, like physically enough in this movie.
(09:48):
I don't think he gets the kind of, I don't know if that was
more of a CGI thing because it looks sketchy at some point to
this movie as Mr. Fantastic. But I think because of that,
like they're they asked him to do a lot in terms of becoming
the character of Reed Richards. I think he became the character.
I wasn't watching Pedro Pascal. I was watching Reed Richards,
which is something I think that Pedro Pascal hasn't really
(10:10):
gotten a chance to do. Like he's been in so many
projects, but he's kind of askedto just be Pedro Pascal in every
one of those projects. I didn't feel like I was just
watching Pedro in this movie. I felt like I was watching Reed
Richards and someone I definitely want to see again.
I like that shout Ricky Flex. I will say my favorite though,
he's not Vanessa Kirby, Johnny Storm.
Joseph Quinn I think was my favorite part of this movie.
(10:32):
Once again, I think we're going and kind of redemptive.
He kind of teased this in the promo for the movie, not being
the Chris Evans douchiness, but still being a little bit of a
brat. Someone that can irk and grind
the Gears of The Thing and a Sister and Mr. Fantastic, but
also someone that has such a pretty good redemptive arc in
this movie. Someone who's underestimated.
(10:52):
It's kind of an underdog. Joseph Quinn.
People are criticizing that casting too.
Overall, the people are criticizing these castings.
I think they all panned out pretty damn well.
I think Joseph Quinn is someone if I got it.
Like also gets a lot of the showhe scenes, gets to have the one
on ones with Shiloh ball, has the flying sequences, gets to
keep his look as Joseph Quinn even when he's on fire.
(11:15):
I think he is my favorite out ofthe four heroes.
I think from the movie. I think a lot of the CGI budget
went to him. Yeah.
And he, I thought I looked pretty, pretty damn good.
Pretty as well as you can when you're you're lit up on fire for
over a minute in a row on screenlike that.
That was pretty damn good. And I think yeah, Mr. Fantastic,
there were a couple scenes here,visible woman.
(11:36):
There's a couple CGI moments that were just you kind of saw
it from the trailer. It looked even worse on the big
screen a few times. But yeah, Johnny was very good
in this movie. And I think some I I don't think
like he was joking a lot. I don't think he was very funny,
but you're right where like his arc and his storyline did work.
The underestimated 1 discountinghim being like the 4th man in
(11:59):
the group when it comes to thinking of a plan and whatnot.
Sure, as some things are unbelievable at times and we can
get to that in our deep dive next episode.
But like overall, you're you're you.
You could, you could. It is kind of like underdogs or
you're bought into this as an. Audience.
Member, Right? And by the time it comes at the
end and whatnot, you're like, wow, that was very effective.
(12:20):
I think even Moss Bacharach's thing is a little bit
underserved in this movie. It's I guess it makes sense
because it it's the thing, it's the guy.
It's harder to connect to. They try and do the thing almost
similar to Michael Chiklis character, but I don't it it
wasn't strong in my opinion. I do want to say Vanessa Kirby.
(12:40):
I see why they cast her in this role.
You know, pieces of a woman and strong feminine figure.
This is a huge theme of motherhood throughout the story.
It's a little heavy-handed at times, but I see why you get
some of the best dramatic. You have one of the best
dramatic actresses to play Sue Storm for this movie because I
think she has a lot of the capital a acting scenes that you
(13:02):
don't literally see in most Marvel movies.
I think it was good. I think they really wanted to
hammer home, and this kind of bothered me.
They, like you, knew she was pregnant with Franklin Richards
and they didn't want to sidelineher, so it felt like they
overexposed her in this movie. Does that make sense?
I thought it was a little heavy-handed, a little forced at
(13:23):
times. Like a lot.
Some of the comedy from Johnny was forced.
I think a lot of the motherhood exactly what you're saying with
Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm, little bit forced here.
And this is this movie is an hour 55.
It felt even shorter than that actually, with all the 38
minutes of of freaking trailers,including the Avatar one,
(13:44):
insane. And that was the longest we've
ever sat for trailers before a movie.
So this movie felt a little short and it felt like wow, like
we're we're seeing a lot of thisstoryline.
A lot of it. Where it's like, we're not
really seeing Galactus. We're not really seeing the
thing. We're not really seeing Reed
Richards trying to figure this out.
(14:05):
You know, he's just saying I hadnothing.
I don't know. It's like I want to see you try
to figure it out, you know. So I do think it was a little
heavy-handed. It was a little much, but it
wasn't like it wasn't bad, you know, It was good.
Yeah, they, Reid was flustered for a decent amount of this
movie, but eventually, you know,Reid Richards always kind of
figures it out. I, I think a huge thing about
(14:27):
this movie, something I strugglewith is the pacing.
It seems like they really tried to introduce you to the 1960s
world. They get the standing of the
Fantastic Four, how they are therock stars of this planet.
And then you have the introduction of Galactus and
Shia Labal, and I think that waselectric.
And then a meeting them and thenfighting them.
(14:47):
And then the second act of the movie, there is a bit of a law
and it becomes very sciency, youknow?
And I know that they're flexing that hey, we're dealing with the
smartest man on the planet. I have a hard time.
We'll get into spoilers on Monday.
But believing that everyone willbe on board with this new plan
that they have. I think there is really not
(15:07):
enough scenes with Galactus himself.
I But in this also brings me to something else.
We're going to talk about the villains.
But was Galactus a little bit maybe almost too Opie for this
movie? You know, I, I, he is a dominant
force. Maybe they needed to have a
strong villain for the first Fantastic Four movie.
(15:28):
You can't use Doctor Doom again.What is the next biggest thing
you could do is probably Galactus, But at times I felt
like maybe he's even too powerful for this movie that
literally can't show him becausehe's so much of of a force.
I'll push back a little bit and say Galactus literally is the
one being in Marvel Comics that doesn't really have weaknesses.
(15:49):
His weaknesses that he has to eat, you know, he literally
could do anything. That's why he's never in the
movies. Why the only movie he he was in,
he was a BLOB. He was a clown.
Because he can't actually show how powerful he is from the
comics because it's impossible to do.
So. I do think they did the best
they could here. I was very like satisfied with
the Galactus ending, I guess, because I guess I'm more
(16:15):
understanding of like, yeah, this guy is Opie.
They did a pretty good job showing that how powerful this
guy is. How are you going to stop him?
And I think that's why the last episode in the preview, I was
like, are they going to use a nullifier?
Are they going to do this or that?
And without spoilers, I will saylike, I was like, you know what?
That's like probably the best that they could.
Probably pretty good getting to comic nullify, you know, crap.
(16:38):
What did you just say before? I wanted to.
Comment on something. Yes, Oh my God.
So I mentioned off the top, I think my favorite thing was the
first act and just getting into this world different than Earth
6168, just learning about 828, learning about this group non
origin story. And we had that montage.
There's a montage of the Ted Gilbert show on the Ted Gilbert
(16:59):
show kind of saying, hey, this is what happened.
So it's like a 5 minute origin story.
But then we get into the movie and you get into the family
dynamics to get into the the celebrity stardom.
And then you get into Galactus at the end of the first act.
It's like, wow, that was a great40 minutes, you know, And then
without spoilers, it's like how are they going to defeat
(17:19):
Galactus? And it was so unbelievable even
for like a superhero thing. And also is stuff with Johnny.
It was just like, there is some huge problems and leaps in the
script. And I was flabbergasted that
they kind of took those steps. No, no, no plan intended.
I I was shocked in the second act.
(17:40):
And then by the third act, you're like, OK, like this is
starting to make sense again. And storylines are coming
together. Character storylines are arcs, I
should say. But it's like, am I satisfied
with how everything kind of cameto be?
Like, I'm fine with the ending, but like, how we got here?
Yeah, maybe not. Maybe not.
And I think they could have figured out something else.
(18:01):
I think they could have figured out something else for sure.
We'll get into it with spoils. Can't you have?
No other superheroes on this planet.
There's nothing else. You literally could have done
anything. It's a different Earth than 616
is completely different. You had so many like your limit,
like unlimited, endless possibilities, and you decided
to do like what they did. I was just a little upset by
(18:23):
that. Yeah, so pacing script, not the
best. I did want to talk a bit, a
little bit shallow ball. Jennifer Garner.
I think she would. Is it Jennifer Garner?
Did I get that right? Julia?
Julia Jennifer's Electra. Yes.
Julia Garner I love the Silver Surfer.
I love the Silver Surfer. I think my favorite scene in the
(18:43):
movie, there is an amazing cosmic like chase scene and to
see the look of the Silver Surfer, like a lot of the budget
went to Johnny Storm, but I alsothink a lot went to Shia La ball
and to see her on the board, thechases against Johnny at chasing
the Fantastic Four that even like I love the 60s and I love
(19:05):
that earth that we were on. But when we were that was a
fright train that felt like, wow, I'm watching an
exhilarating space chase that does not come around often.
You know, the way she was kind of creating her own, you know,
trail she the way she was creating her own atmosphere
around her. And they even had a back story
build and for the character a little bit like, OK, we're
(19:27):
throwing you all this at one time.
You don't type of thing that eventually is going to pay off
in the end. But I like the performance.
I like the look of the character.
I like the action scenes with shallow ball.
That is another character I'm just excited about, You know,
whether we see her again, who knows?
But I really liked her in this movie too as like a secondary
villain that you needed because of the minimal, like the the
(19:51):
minimal screen time of an OP villain like Galactus and also
comes with the Galactus territory I think was a
necessary component of this movie that was really good.
Yeah, and I think again, her character arc that was very good
in this movie, very. It worked to a tee, I would say.
And especially when maybe Galactus was probably the one
(20:11):
character that didn't really getan arc, didn't as the main
villain didn't really get one. They kind of gave more shine to
the Silver Surfer here and Galactus was more just like,
Hey, let me show you this character that's never been on
the big screen and he looked very good that he's just more
there for show less less about substance.
And that's that was a little disappointing because he has a
(20:32):
really interesting story arc too.
And it's just like, again, back to the preview.
Probably did just maybe it was just too much to tackle, you
know, because his character again, the guy was freaking
around in The Big Bang like this.
There is so much to to kind of get over with his or talk about
with his character. They kind of just said, you know
what, let's just go the Silver Surfer route again, but we'll
(20:53):
actually include Galactus, show off his powers.
And again by the end. Hopefully it works out, and I
think it did. He he he looked great as well.
Good detail with the suit. Great voice from Ralph Anderson.
I see the castings for this movie.
All makes sense now, right That's like Ralph innocent.
You need someone with that powerful voice.
(21:14):
That was the key, right And if you watch the movie, you'll
obviously see why it's not recognizably Ralph innocent, but
it's unmistakably his voice and there's a reason why Vanessa
Kirby gets this specific Sue Storm role that fit this movie
in this situation right. I, I like Pedro Pascal getting
able to like flex his acting chops a little bit and being a
(21:35):
true leading man. I and I, I, I just felt like a
lot of the casting decisions that people second guessed.
I think a lot of people prove these at this cast proved
everybody wrong. The look for the most part, I
like CGI wasn't a huge issue, although it was kind of faulty
at times. Teasing of the world, not only
of the future for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole,
(21:55):
but the teasing of the world throughout the movie of Earth
828 I thought was excellent. I can't wait to see this group
again. It'll be interesting to see
Pedro Pascal potentially leadingDoomsday or as like maybe the
leader of The Avengers in Doomsday alongside maybe an
Anthony Mackie going against Doctor Doom.
You know, I think that's where we leave at Ricky Flex.
(22:18):
Do you have any final comments before we close up today's short
porn pod? I'm I'm debating and it's the
first film in phase 6, but I'm looking back and phase phases
4:00 and 5:00 and we'll do this on some on next review.
But just to think about like immediate reactions, top three
movie of the past couple phases.It's right around there.
(22:42):
I'm not willing to say anything higher, but I'm thinking like
guardians three. I'm thinking Deadpool,
Wolverine. I'm thinking it's better than No
way home. That's what it's like kind of
competing with for like best movie since End Game.
Yes, I think it's in that tier where it lies.
We will talk about it on Monday.So make sure if you're watching
(23:02):
on YouTube, make sure you subscribe, make sure you check
out if you haven't seen the movie, look at our bold
predictions in preview that is on our channel.
And then also stick around for Monday.
We're going to have it also on YouTube spoilers with Jax
evaluating our bold predictions and we'll talk about prospects
(23:22):
for Marvel when we might see these characters.
Actually, we know they're going to be a doomsday, but yeah, so
and if you're listening, I'm going to be put putting this,
you're listening maybe on Apple or Spotify, make sure that you
guys are following. Make sure you raise five stars
and leave a review. So that's going to do it for the
Fantastic Four spoiler free review.
(23:43):
Until next time, we will.
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