For a team with such rich history, the Fantastic Four have always had a problematic history in the big screen. The past four attempts on these characters left too much to be desired. So while it is definitely a low bar, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is, for all intents and purposes, easily the best and most successful take on Marvel’s First Family. In a similar vein as Superman, which released earlier this month, one of the most clever thing this new film does is injecting a brighter and more vibrant look to instantly distinguish itself from the previous movies. And yet, the film’s jovial visual direction is muddied by its script, mainly because the team is not allowed to have some fun.
Directed by Matt Shakman, First Steps drops the foursome in a fresh 1960’s-inspired, retro-futuristic universe called Earth-828. Skipping past the origin stories, the movie begins with the Fantastic Four as an already established superhero team. Four years since their encounter with a cosmic radiation storm that gave them superpowers, the family are basically deemed as the “protectors” of the world, keeping New York safe from supervillains and other threats. Reed Richards, a.k.a. Mr. Fantastic (Pedro Pascal) is the smartest man alive and can stretch like rubber. His wife Susan Storm, a.k.a. the Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby) has the power to create force fields that render things (and herself) invisible. Her brother Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) is the Human Torch, who can burst into flames and fly. Lastly, Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is a human transformed into an orange rocky behemoth known as the Thing.
In this universe, the Fantastic Four are treated as easygoing celebrities and dearly adored by everyone, including kids, police, construction workers and even politicians. Whatever the Fantastic Four says, the world listens. Shakman gets us all up to speed with all of these through a neat ’60s-style variety show recap, which also showcases short clips of the team fighting a bunch of their classic rogues gallery. But in his effort to get all the necessary lore out of the way as quickly as possible, we lose out on so many delightful adventures that were sadly relegated to news clips. Instead, First Steps introduces another serious, world-ending threat very early on that our heroes must thwart.
Soon after learning that Susan is pregnant, the family’s celebrations is cut short when the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), a shiny extraterrestrial being on a surfboard, glides into Times Square and announces that Earth’s doom is imminent. She proclaims that our planet is marked for consumption by a gigantic planet-eating cosmic deity Galactus (Ralph Ineson). His near arrival has the world looking to our beloved super team to defeat this otherworldly entity, and so the Fantastic Four fly into space to investigate further.
It’s a serious matter that has our heroes scrambling for a solution for the rest of the film. As a result, First Steps features long stretches of talking and planning without any big action, and some members (Mr. Fantastic in particular) don’t really get a chance to show off their powers. Thankfully, the film’s action sequences are technically well-made when they do come. One major set piece happens about halfway into the movie, where the Fantastic Four embark on an Interstellar-style space mission in an attempt negotiate with Galactus for the survival of Earth. It’s a genuinely thrilling sequence and probably the most memorable one in the film. There’s another one near the end, but that’s pretty much it.
Fantastic Four stories have always put a heavy focus on family, and what makes them so special is seeing their family dynamic. Unfortunately, I find their portrayals and relationships somewhat subdued because the script barely allows these characters’ personalities to shine through. Still, the solid cast proved to have some good chemistry despite what they’re given to work with. Pascal expresses Reed’s constant internal conflict so well. Kirby brings an air of assured determination to Susan. Quinn feels particularly tame for Johnny, a character known for being brazen and carefree. One that gets shafted and underutilized the most is the Thing, wonderfully played by Moss-Bachrach, where it’s quite obvious that a lot of his personal scenes were cut for time. Even Johnny and Ben’s bickering doesn’t come off as playful as the source material (or previous adaptations).
I still found The Fantastic Four: First Steps to be a fine watch for the most part, even though it’s overall less than the sum of its parts. It seems like comic book movies are moving towards embracing their source material instead of being embarrassed by it, largely evident by Superman and First Steps feeling like a comic book come to life. The costumes and production design are, well, fantastic (Galactus finally looks like his comic counterpart). I just wish we got to see more fun superheroics to further showcase the dynamics Marvel’s First Family. Maybe next time.
Rating:
The Talking Screen 