by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
Every time a new Fantastic Four movie is announced, I get excited.
The original Fantastic Four films from the 2000s are probably not good, but I was young when they came out, and they were fun enough for what they were (at least in my memory, which is where I’m content to let them stay).
The Josh Trank reboot looked promising, before the absolutely atrocious reviews kept me away like the plague. Now, Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe is taking a stab at the bringing comics’ most famous family to the big screen.
For this iteration, we join Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) four years post-space trip that grants them their powers. Right as Reed and Sue are expecting their first child, and looking to expand their family, that future is threatened by the imminent arrival of Galactus (Ralph Ineson), as heralded by the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner).
On paper, the cast for our titular heroes looks perfect, and I think they’re all solid, but perhaps disappointingly, that’s all. They all work well enough together, and there are certainly moments of banter and emotional depth that show the bond they all share, but they never quite fully hooked me. The pressure cooker of a world-ending threat coming for the family Sue and Reed are finally having works well, especially with how they tie it all into Reed not being able to shut off his analytical brain. Johnny and Ben have a fun dynamic, and Johnny gets some interesting depth through exploration of his connection with Garner’s Silver Surfer. If anyone gets a bit short shrift in this first outing, it’s Moss-Bachrach as the Thing, we really only get hints at a potential future relationship with Natasha Lyonne’s Rachel.
The issue with the performances were two-fold. It took me a while to get into the story and the family connection. I liked it more once we started getting into the action. That also helped to boost the familial stakes that were seeded in the first act once I had gotten into the story more. The second issue I found was, while there wasn’t anything wrong with the performances of our team, it’s nowhere near where I know they can go with their performances because I’ve seen them all do better. It never hit me as hard as other projects like The Last of Us, The Bear, or Stranger Things. I know they can all pull on my heartstrings very successfully, and (particularly at the climax) I found myself realizing the movie wasn’t quite hitting that high.
When it comes to our villains, they’re aided by solid performances. Obviously with Galactus, it’s mostly a vocal performance, and Ineson predictably gives the character the needed gravitas, aided by how he’s brought to life visually. Garner, for her part, does well in both her role as the herald of Galactus, while also hitting the more nuanced moments that give the character some complexity. When it comes to the climactic showdown, while I get why it plays out that way for narrative and thematic reasons, I’m not sure I fully bought it.
The film is the first feature for director Matt Shakman, and while he handles it well, I found I felt a similar way to his first feature as I did WandaVision (which he directed). I know the show is beloved, but while I appreciated the swing of the decade-hopping, it took me a while to get situated in it. I felt the same with Fantastic Four‘s ‘50s aesthetic. It’s an interesting choice, but I felt like I was keeping the movie at arm’s length for some reason. Also, when the running joke is that the only good Fantastic Four movie ever made is The Incredibles, setting your movie within a similar time aesthetic and introducing a burrowing-based enemy (honestly, I waffled between loving Paul Walter Hauser as Mole Man and wondering if it was really working), you’re just asking me to compare you to a much superior movie. I also couldn’t help but wonder if the era the film was set in hampered the performances — particularly when it came to Pascal and his delivery.
The introduction of the Fantastic Four is obviously huge for the MCU, especially given their recently uneven track record, and the fact that even a recently well-liked entry disappointed at the box office, and I leave First Steps more excited about what the future could bring for these characters than I am about the film itself. I honestly feel like once they hook up with the rest of the MCU at large within the multiverse story, it might be a better fit for the characters. Though the tone of the MCU has become a bit of a punchline in recent years, I’m looking forward to what the actors might be able to bring to it.
So while it may be more a small step than the giant leap the studio will have been hoping for, for the first of the major new teams Marvel is looking to integrate into their mega franchise, at least it didn’t come crashing down to earth.
Rating: Liked It
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is currently playing in theaters
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