Ok so the setup is I have not been watching recent media of the last half decade or so but the dog in superman along with some reviews got me thinking about grabbing it once its available digitally. However I recently found out some of my neighbors are geeky and one is into comics as the main thing and they both recommended FF4 (editing this to say that is supposed to be fantastic four and I don’t know what I was thinking. fantasctic four 4. lol. sorry. boy would have saved me a lot just to write it properly to begin with) and thunderbolts over superman. They felt superman was alright and the dog was sorta the best part but FF4 and thunderbolts blew them away. So for lemmikins and other members of the federation who have seen all three movies. How do you feel about them or rank them or whatever you think it right but you should have watched all three in their entirety.
You must log in or register to comment.
This superman was actually good and the best superman I’ve seen (story wise) also there is a lot going on world building wise as it’s the start for the new DC-U. Meanwhile FF4 is just another Marvel movie imo.
The way I understand it the fantastic four is in a separate universe so they should be both act like one offs from my perspective but I guess if If whatever follows supes is good then it would be a bit of an advantage. Right now I think I have at least tossed thunderbolts out and it will be between supes and F4 but we will be buying whatever when it comes out digitally. Whats funny is, from what I got from this post, is that both sound like they might be better with an extended cut.
So I’m a giant comic book nerd [email protected] says hello! and I’ve seen all three PLUS Captain America: Brave New World.
Here’s what I think:
Superman has a level of optimism that the others lack. Supes is, inherently, a good person who wants to do good. It’s hard not to like him. Yes, Krypto is excellent, but the stand out side-character is Mister Teriffic. I never thought I’d see the day where a movie had a live action Mister Teriffic. (Yes, he was in the CW TV shows, no, I don’t count that.)
Fantastic Four is VERY good. It carries with it this impending sense of DOOM throughout though. It’s also the shortest of the four movies at 1 hour, 55 minutes vs. 2 hours, 10 minutes for Superman, 2 hours, 6 minutes for Thunderbolts* and 1 hour, 58 minutes for Cap.
FF really needed an extra 10-20 minutes to flesh out Ben. Everyone else in the film has a job to do, but Ben is just kind of “there”. There are hints of a larger plot thread for him, but it’s undeveloped and ultimately dropped. :(
Thunderbolts* and Captain America: New World Order - I’m going to talk about both of these at once because they are both related.
Both films are tying up loose ends in the Marvel Universe before Fantastic Four re-sets everything for the next phase.
Prior to these films, you had dangling plot threads from The Incredible Hulk (2008), the Eternals (2021), Black Widow (2021), Wakanda Forever (2022), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2023), and Disney+ shows Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), Hawkeye (2021).
That’s a lot, and while you don’t have to go into them having seen all that, you definitely get more out of them if you HAVE seen all that. Red Guardian is my Spirit Animal.
Supes and FF require no previous knowledge of anything and I think they both benefit from starting something new rather than ending something pre-existing.
Is it SATISFYING watching Cap and Thunderbolts wrap things up? Oh, absolutely! But again, giant nerd and I mainlined all that content as it came out.
I haven’t seen Thunderbolts.
Superman was really good, particularly at setting up emotional stakes. I felt visceral disgust at how awful Lex Luthor was. Lois’s relationship with Superman was complex and they challenged each other’s ideals. The plot also felt topical without being too hamfisted, characters and situations were reminiscent of real people and situations while still feeling like they had their own identity instead of being cheap stand ins.
Fantastic Four was ok, it doesn’t do anything wrong but I didn’t find anything about it particularly memorable or groundbreaking. Acting, direction, effects, and writing were all competent and it’s definitely the best F4 movie ever made but that’s not enough for me to recommend it unless you’re a huge F4 fan.
I have yet to see F4. Reviews have sounded pretty middling. Most people are vaguely positive about it but with some criticisms.
I enjoyed Thunderbolts a lot, but it’s a character story. For as powerful a character as Sentry is, this was a very small movie in a good way. If you enjoy character work, I think it’s the best of the three.
And then there is Superman. Maybe it’s just because I haven’t seen a good Superman movie in over 40 years, but I really loved this movie. It’s got heart. It’s got big characters with great chemistry. It is a little bit camp, but it understands and respects Superman. It’s not afraid to slow down for a couple of character beats, but there is a stopwatch running the whole time and it is a little relentless. Plus the music incorporates John Williams’s theme and I loved every note of it.
Superman was a great time. Very positive vibes though there’s some dark moments. It felt like a successor to the first two Christopher Reeve movies.
Fantastic Four was also a great time. It really felt like they were a family. Saw it twice last weekend.
Thunderbolts was also very good. I enjoyed seeing the characters come together, similar to the first Avengers movie.
All three are worth the time. Doesn’t matter which order you watch them.
If you haven’t seen it, Sinners was also very good. I know it doesn’t fit the superhero/comic book theme, but it was so good.
I don’t know which character you are talking about, but Meteo in FF4 is quite powerful.
