By James Jay Edwardds
For the Sun
Rating: ++
out of ++++
Running Time: 115 minutes
This feature from Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures opens in theaters everywhere Friday, July 25.
Since 1994, studios have been making Fantastic Four movies every 10 years simply to keep the rights to the characters away from Marvel. Well, now that Disney owns both Sony and Marvel, the rights are finally in the same place, and as a result, we’ve got a bona-fide Fantastic Four Marvel movie with The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is set on Earth 828, which is an earth in another universe that is both retro-sixties and post-modern, sort of like a Jetsons kind of world. Four years ago, Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal from The Mandalorian) and a team consisting of his wife Sue Storm (The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby), brother-in-law Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn from Stranger Things), and best friend Ben Grimm (The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach) went on a mission into space and hit a cosmic storm. This mutated their genes and gave them super powers – Reed gained the power of elasticity, Sue can control invisible fields, Johnny can light himself on fire and fly, and Ben became a super strong rock man. Together, they defend the world as The Fantastic Four.
And they are needed, because a mysterious Silver Surfer (Ozark’s Julia Garner) suddenly appears from outer space and tells the Earth that it has been selected for consumption by an evil giant named Galactus (Ralph Ineson from The Witch). The Fantastic Four heads up to space again to try and reason with Galactus, but they are not prepared to give up what he wants. So, they have to devise a new plan to protect the world – and the unborn child that Sue is carrying.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps was directed by Matt Shakman (WandaVision) from a script written by a literal room full of screenwriters. It’s not really an origin story, even though it does flashback to the team’s creation. It jumps right into the story it tells, with very little fat. And that’s kind of the problem – the movie hits on an intellectual level, but not on an emotional one. As ridiculous as the science behind Reed’s harebrained schemes is, the characters commit to it so that it’s almost believable. But, try as it might, the story just doesn’t grab a firm hold of the audience’s heart strings.
And it does try hard. In addition to the inclusion of Reed and Sue’s baby bump, there’s an attempt made at a relationship between Ben and a schoolteacher he meets (played by Poker Face’s Natasha Lyonne), and Johnny even flirts with The Silver Surfer. And remember, Reed and Sue are married, Sue and Johnny are siblings, and Reed and Ben are best friends. But none of these character relationships are developed enough to generate any empathy, so the audience feels nothing. Even though the stakes are literally The World, it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot at risk. Everyone just goes through the motions of saving their planet, but not the people on it.
Now, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a superhero movie, so of course, it’s packed with eye-popping visual effects and seat-rattling sound design. The action sequences are exciting, if a bit overwhelming due to the saturation of computer generated visuals, but that’s to be expected when you’ve got a guy made of fire and a guy made of rock both fighting a kaiju-sized giant in the streets of an alternate universe New York City. Basically, it’s typical superhero stuff.
And speaking of typical superhero stuff, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is perfectly cast. Pedro Pascal’s Mr. Fantastic is a highly effective leader. Vanessa Kirby’s Invisible Woman is a strong-yet-sensitive force. Joseph Quinn’s Human Torch is a ham who also gets things done. And Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s The Thing is a surprisingly effective goon, especially considering his role is 95% motion capture and the actor is forced to rely mainly on his vocal inflections to get his point across.
These characters are charismatic and likeable, existing in a cool meta-universe where they are rock stars, complete with merchandise and cartoons and fanboys. And charisma is key, because these characters will be the cornerstones of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a while.
So, The Fantastic Four: First Steps isn’t as bad as any of the throwaway Fantasy Four movies of the past 30 years. It’s even better than most of the movies in the MCU’s Phase 5. But it doesn’t quite have the impact that movies like Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame have. It does lay a decent groundwork for the MCU’s Phase 6, which may or may not be its ultimate goal. In that regard, only time will tell how successful it is. But as a standalone, it’s just okay.
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