Walking out of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, two thoughts occurred to me. First, it is easily the best Fantastic Four movie we’ve ever gotten. Second, that bar was low. For some reason, Marvel’s first family seems to have always been its most difficult property to adapt. After three previous failed attempts (four if you want to count an unreleased movie from 1994), all this version had to do was not be awful. Credit where it’s due, it manages that. In fact, it even manages to be good. Not great, but good. At this point, most of us will probably take that.

This iteration of the story is set on earth 828, outside the mainline MCU, and follows an already established Fantastic Four. They’ve been in the superhero business for a while now and have already endeared themselves to the world by not only fighting supervillains but also helping to solve most of their Earth’s political divisions. Things begin to change when Sue (Vanessa Kirby) gets pregnant. While she and Reed (Pedro Pascal) prepare to welcome their child into the world, they also worry that their superpowered genetics may cause the baby to be born different. As they grapple with that fear, they also must deal with the looming peril of Galactus (Ralph Ineson), a world devouring god with his sights set firmly on Earth.

Make no mistake, while Galactus is certainly the big threat of the film, the actual stakes have much more to do with the family dynamics of the group and how they fit into their world. Having the movie be more about the Fantastic Four themselves than about fighting some massive, CGI enemy is a wise choice, and the best parts of the film are the ones that don’t really involve fighting at all. The quiet moments when the team is working together, leaning on each other, and even bickering amongst themselves, are where this movie shines.

Not that there aren’t great action scenes. For instance, there is an excellent sequence involving a chase through space where the team has to navigate their ship away from a black hole. Every character has something to contribute to the effort, and all four actors work amazingly together to create a thrilling, edge of your seat ride. Even that, though, is underpinned by a family drama that adds even higher stakes to an already tense scene.

The family dynamics work so well because the movie is pretty much perfectly cast. Kirby is the unquestionable star as Sue. The character is far more than just Mr. Fantastic’s wife, she’s compassionate, powerful, determined, and brilliant in her own right. Kirby nails every aspect of the role. You couldn’t ask for a better take on the character. Joseph Quinn as Sue’s brother, Johnny, is also a highlight. Previous versions of the character have shown the arrogant and temperamental sides of Johnny, but this is the first time I’ve seen him portrayed as smart and capable as well. This take on the character feels like a whole person and Quinn delivers a great performance.

If there are issues with any of the characters, though, they are with Mr. Fantastic himself, and the Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). Don’t get me wrong, both Pascal and Moss-Bachrach are great actors, and I think both are well cast, but the characters have some problems. Reed is boring and never feels overly important. The crux of the emotional side of the story is carried by Sue, while he just dumps exposition on us and waits for his wife to move the plot forward. He feels one-dimensional and far less interesting than the other three members of the team. By contrast, the Thing, Ben, is a compelling character dealing with his own issues while bringing a real warmth to the group. I really like the portrayal of the character and I’m excited to see where he goes from here. The problem is, he just looks awful a lot of the time. There are several scenes where the visual effects on Ben seem unfinished, and it’s noticeable.

In fact, the visual effects are something of a problem for most of the movie. I love the aesthetic they are going for, a futuristic 1950’s vibe, and I think it adds depth to the world that really helps the movie out. It doesn’t look anything like any of the other films in the MCU, and that lets it just be its own thing. That’s great. That said, there’s entirely too many times where the effects and visuals simply don’t blend well with the backdrop or look overly cartoony. In a movie like this, the last thing you want is to get dragged out of the story by poor CGI, and sadly it happens frequently.

Even so, the core of the film is strong enough to overcome the visual problems. Great casting, a genuinely threatening villain, and a focus on character relationships all serve to help The Fantastic Four: First Steps overcome its flaws. Maybe not enough to make it one of Marvel’s best entries, but certainly enough to make it an enjoyable watch. It’s not actually fantastic, but it gets close, and that’s plenty for now.