It’s official! Fantastic Four: First Steps is the best FF film to date! But the bar for that accomplishment is abysmally low. So, the question is: is Fantastic Four: First Steps. a good film. Well, your mileage may vary in that regard.
We join the team on the fourth anniversary of the space flight that gave the quartet their powers. The entire world is celebrating this anniversary, as the FF are the biggest stars this world (which we quickly find out is not the mainstream Marvel Cinematic Universe). Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) has his own Mr. Wizard-like educational series. Susan Storm (Vanessa Kirby) speaks often in front of the U.N.. Many a young lady has a poster of Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) on their wall. And Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) can’t revisit his old neighborhood without children asking him to lift up a car or adults asking him to say “It’s Clobbering Time!”
Their time as the world’s greatest heroes might be coming to an end, as the arrival of the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) heralds the arrival of Galactus (Ralph Ineson), and his arrival spells doom for Earth. Because FF finally found a foe they cannot protect the world from because the team is unwilling to pay the price Galactus is asking to call off the destruction–he wants Reed & Sue’s newborn child Franklin so he can groom him as a replacement.
Fantastic Four: First Steps is one weird movie. As you may have guessed, the “First Steps” of the title does not refer to the team itself. We join the FF well into their heroing career. We still get a rehash of their origin through the brilliant conceit of an ABC anniversary special (ABC is the only American network to cover the team in the movies, which probably has nothing to do with the network being owned, like Marvel Studios is, by Disney.)
After this introduction, the film starts establishing the new status quo and the forthcoming threat at a breakneck speed. You get the feeling that director Matt Shakman had a clipboard with all the plot points he needed every scene to make, and once he checked off the complete list, he would move on to the next scene. There isn’t a lot of time for depth of characterization or driving home the plot. You need to pay attention and have a knowledge 9f the characters beforehand to fully enjoy the first part of the films.
However, when the action starts, the fast pace works in the film’s favor. When the fit hits the shan around the midpoint of the film, and the team has to deal with numerous crises all at once, you’ll be on the edge of your seat. This feeling carries all the way through the climax.
If you are a comic book fan, then this film will be a gigantic love letter to you. Easter eggs abound. I have seen things in this film that I never thought I’d see in a Marvel film before, and I squealed in delight more than once in this film. I’m sure you will too. You need to pay attention, but if you do, you will be rewarded.
The cast is almost all good. Strangely enough, the weakest link is Pedro Pascal. Typically, he is one of my favorite actors working in Hollywood, but here he seems out of his depth. Yes, we are dropped into the world in media res, and none of the actors are developed as well as they should be, but Pascal’s Reed seems to be floundering. It could be the writing, or it could be the directing, but Reed seems to less a leader of the team than an absent-minded professor trying not to get the entire team killed.
At the other end of the spectrum, we have Vanessa Kirby. Granted, the Sue Storm we get in this film is the strongest portrayal of the character out of all the adaptations, but Kirby does well in the role. Yes, I know she is an Oscar nominated actress. But she does well in portraying Sue as the rock of the team. Sue in this film is a caring and empathetic character, someone who can touch the hearts of even her most hardened enemy, but she also is a powerful force that should not be crossed. I’m sure the Anti-woke he-man women haters on the internet are going to have a field day complaining about how strong Sue is, but let them complain. This is the best Sue we have got so far, and Kirby makes you believe that she is every inch of the badass the film wants her to be.
Another great aspect of the film is the production design. I’ve seen a lot of people describing the film as being set in the 1960s. It’s not. It’s set on an Earth where our 1960s didn’t begin until their 2020s. It might seem like it, but it that is a big difference. We are in a world where we have flying cars and electronic pregnancy tests that is also a world where Reed has to invent an ultrasound machine and every man wouldn’t be caught dead going out in public without a suit and tie. It’s a hard balance to maintain, but the production design manages to do it.
Another part I liked was that the film leans heavily to the sci-fi aspects of the concept. There are times that I felt like I was watching a very special episode of Star Trek, and I mean that as a complement. I also like the fact that they gave Johnny more to do. He sometimes seems like a tagalong, even in the comics. The film lets us know that there was a reason why Johnny was included on the flight, and that he deserved to be there.
A part that I didn’t like, well, I don’t suppose this is a spoiler as it appears in the ads for the film, but they gave Ben a beard. Yes, a beard. A rocky beard right there on his chin. It is monumentally stupid. Forget the fact that he doesn’t have stoney hair formations on any other part of his body, the beard seems to be there for a reason having nothing to do with the plot. Like, the beard was there to make the CGI animation of the character less expensive to do. It was so bad that I got infuriated every time I saw it.
All in all, I found the film enjoyable. Is it perfect, no. But it is a fun ride if you can get past the early pacing issues. However, I am a fan of comics and the characters. Your enjoyment may vary based on your love and knowledge of the FF. But I still feel it’s worth a look at the very least.
