9jabookIronically enough, the Fantastic Four have never had a fantastic movie. The 2005 Fantastic Four was … fine. 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer wasn’t even that. And the less said about the 2015 reboot, mystifyingly styled FANT4STIC, the better. But that losing streak ends with The Fantastic Four: First Steps, proof proper that a movie about Marvel’s First Family can indeed be fantastic.
The latest reboot, directed by Matt Shakman (director of 2021’s WandaVision) from a script by Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer, drops us onto Earth-828 (as compared to the mainline Earth-616), an alternate, retro-futuristic 1960s planet where our heroes are praised (and marketed) the world over. (So much branding, so much merch.) Much like with the new Superman, there’s no real origin story being told here (one quick, well-done montage aside). Rather, these heroes — Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal); Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Reed’s wife; Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), Sue’s brother; and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Reed’s best friend — are known quantities in this world; anything you don’t know, you’ll pick up along the way.
(For those unaware, the group — all astronauts, brilliant in their own way — gained their powers while exposed to cosmic radiation during a space mission.)
First Steps, like the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film Thunderbolts, takes a fairly grounded approach to its storytelling. Yes, the heroes have superpowers, there’s an underground city beneath the streets of New York, and the world is facing total annihilation by Galactus, World-Devourer (Ralph Ineson), but the core of First Steps is family and what you’ll do to protect yours.
That latter part comes into stark relief when Sue becomes pregnant. (The baby-proofing sequence is delightful, thanks in large part to H.E.R.B.I.E., Reed’s goofy little helper robot that steals every scene it’s in.) “Nothing is going to change,” Reed says. But that’s the thing: Everything changes, especially once Galactus’ herald, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), announces to the world that death is coming for them all.
But while the story is as grounded as any comic book adaptation can be, the action is Marvel-sized — to excellent effect. The action sequences pack a nice punch, particularly Johnny’s fire-based abilities and Sue’s force fields. (Ben mostly just breaks things, while Reed more often shows off his genius-level intellect than his ability to stretch his body to ridiculous proportions.)
And there’s a charming appeal to the retro-futuristic aesthetic of First Steps, with old-timey TVs and blackboards living alongside teleportation machines and flying cars. It’s a nice contrast to the powerhouse computer-generated (CG) effects, with highlights including Johnny absorbing the flames from a raging fire and the Silver Surfer’s ability to phase through matter.
But what makes First Steps stand out is how much it leans into the human (and generally very nerdy) side of the Fantastic Four. Yes, they can save the day, but they cook together, banter with each other, and raise each other up. They’re a family first and foremost, and you never forget that, even when lines like “The wormhole is bending the beam!” are being shouted.
Some very minor quibbles aside (wonky CG at times, a couple of sequences that go on just a touch too long), First Steps — the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Six — is the movie this family of heroes deserves. It’s heartfelt, action-packed and just plain fun (and comes with an intriguing mid-credit scene you don’t want to miss). Fantastic indeed.
7.5/10
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