'Fantastic Four' review: 'First Steps' makes Marvel groovy again
After two mediocre 2000s film featuring Marvel's legendary superhero family, and an atrocious third outing in 2015, the foursome makes its Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in a combo sci-fi/disaster flick full of retrofuturistic 1960s flavor. Directed by Matt Shakman ('WandaVision') and featuring a top-notch cast, 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' (★★★ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters July 25) falls victim to the genre's pitfalls but gets a boost from highly accessible world building and magnetic characters.
Another point in its favor: It's the most welcoming Marvel movie in ages, with no previous history or homework required. And like DC's 'Superman,' a spiritual cinematic sibling in a number of ways, 'First Steps' focuses on telling a compelling tale rather than just another origin story.
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It's been four years since a quartet of astronauts went to space, were bombarded with cosmic rays and came back with superpowers, and now they're New York City celebrities. But the Fantastic Four are more interesting than their powers.
Big brain Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) is Mr. Fantastic when it comes to inventing technology and extending his limbs but is kind of a mess otherwise, stretching himself thin with the important stuff in life. His wife, Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), can turn herself invisible, yet she's the one people look to for sage guidance and leadership.
Her little brother Johnny (Joseph Quinn) can become a human torch, though the hotheaded heartthrob is underestimated. And Reed's best friend Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is a rock monster who walks the streets of his old Yancy Street neighborhood, holding some nostalgia for the days before he became known as the Thing. (Just don't ask him to spout his cartoon catchphrase, 'It's clobberin' time!')
A healthy amount of screen time at the beginning focuses on fleshing out the Four in their groovy alternate '60s landscape, with odes to the real-life space race and mass media of the time. There's enough of a narrative here that you don't really miss the inevitable existential threat bound to come in every Marvel movie. Instead, let's watch more of the Thing cooking with the Fantastic Four's faithful robot H.E.R.B.I.E.!
Who plays the Silver Surfer in new 'Fantastic Four' movie?
Almost as soon as Sue hits them with the good news that she's pregnant, a mysterious chrome figure on a sweet surfboard shows up in Times Square. This Silver Surfer, Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner), announces to the Fantastic Four that Earth is 'marked for death' and will soon be visited by her boss Galactus (Ralph Ineson), an ancient cosmic being who devours entire planets.
Reed and Co. go to space – where Sue gives birth to baby Franklin in a rather wild zero-gravity sequence – and attempt to negotiate with Galactus. The big guy with the 'eternal hunger' will spare Earth if he can have the child. Reed and Sue, of course, refuse, so the Fantastic Four try to rally humanity and get ready for Galactus to stomp around Manhattan, Godzilla style.
While the ubiquitous Marvel computer-generated imagery throwdown finale has a few wonky spots, the movie does wonders bringing certain characters to stunning life using visual effects. The Silver Surfer has long been one of the coolest characters in comic books, and Garner's Shalla-Bal doesn't disappoint – equally ace at surfing lava or neutron stars, she's one of the most jaw-dropping figures Marvel has ever put on screen.
The movie also does well crafting the awesome Galactus, especially on that grand of a scale, and the Thing is a big-hearted delight. The same depth of personality Moss-Bachrach brings to his fan-favorite role in 'The Bear' is evident here, belying the Thing's rocky exterior. But all four main players nicely inhabit these superheroes that have been around in comics since 1961 – Kirby especially shines in grounding a fantastical narrative in heartfelt emotion.
It's a 'Fantastic Four' movie that finally gets its heroes right, after so many tries. So much so that the biggest gripe about 'First Steps' is it doesn't spend enough time with them and their immersive world before space villains pop up to dole out impossible choices and major property damage.
Then again, that's what a sequel's for – with extra clobberin', too, please.
When does 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' come out? How to watch
Marvel's "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," starring Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby, is in theaters July 25. It's rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association "for action/violence and some language."
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