After sleeping on it, yeah, I believe this movie is top tier Marvel.
SPOILERS(?)
Before the movie started, Joseph and I walked with another moviegoer who saw my ‘4’ logo hoodie and said, “looks like you’re going to the movie I’m going to!” and we chatted about this movie franchise, favorite characters, and what we were expecting from this movie.
Later, Joseph had a weird interaction with a guy asking him to take his picture in front of the next door auditorium, no movie poster, just… the guy?
Anywho, the film had many moments from the start that conveyed the idea that this team has been around for a while and were Earth’s protectors. The montage of ‘missions’ they had done, along with the how the actors played their character’s parts, felt like picking up a comic off the racks, much like Superman had done, with knowing enough to hit the ground running without an origin story.
Okay, they did lean into the origin story during the montage, but it’s not like the ENTIRE movie was an origin story.
To that point, it was nice to see Reed and Sue as a married couple, Ben wasn’t as haunted about what has happened to him (it was still there, but he seemed more comfortable than in previous films), and Johnny was a much more developed version of the Human Torch from the comics.
Speaking of which, Johnny Storm is my all-time favorite of the FF (F4?), with Ben Grimm a close second, and thinking about that one line he had during the third act now chokes me up, as an uncle myself.
Silver Surfer and Galactus have always been favorite comics characters of mine, and they were amazing in this film. The effects with both characters looked so damn good, especially during the chase scene, which was one of my favorite parts of the movie.
Franklin Richards (Storm?) is going to be a huge part of the MCU, I guarantee it.
The mid-credits scene (which I still won’t spoil) made me more excited for the future of the MCU than I had been previously. And all I can say about how this film ties into the post-credits of Thunderbolts*: MISDIRECTION.
Overall about this movie, as I said before, this felt like a comic book movie, more than many other except for, duh, Superman.
As we left the auditorium, both Joseph and I noticed how freaking SLOW people were walking out of this one.
3 out of 4 stars, rating wise.