The Fantastic Four: First Steps Review: An Instant MCU Classic
The Fantastic Four hasn’t been able to catch a break. They were the first Marvel superhero team created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, and with a comic legacy this “fantastic,” you’d think it would be easy to create a good movie about them, especially during the 21st-century boom of superhero cinema. For decades, filmmakers have tried to make a great movie about Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Thing, but whether it’s 1994, 2005, 2007, or 2015, it seems like critics will always ridicule these movies…until now, with The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Matt Shakman, who previously stepped into the MCU to direct WandaVision, brings us back to the Baxter Building for a charming reimagining of this family of superheroes. Since the Fantastic Four movies we’ve gotten up until now haven’t been hits with critics or audiences, it’s about time that we get an FF movie that’s really good. First Steps manages to be a stunning reboot of the Fantastic Four series, set in an alternate universe named Earth-828 and nestled perfectly into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A new set of actors step into the shoes and spandex of this stupendous superhero team in a movie that manages to be an instant Marvel classic.
After an old-timey Marvel Studios logo, we meet Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards and Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm. Sue has just discovered she is pregnant, and we watch this married couple react to this news. Pascal and Kirby have a natural chemistry that you instantly buy into. We’re also introduced to Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm. Much like this year’s Superman film, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is not an origin story. We enter this world at a point where the characters have already gone to outer space and received their superpowers, and they’ve been Earth-828’s mightiest heroes for four years.
It’s a wise choice to start with our heroes at this stage. We get an expository recap of how they got their powers, what their first few years as heroes look like, and we move into our main story. It’s a lot quicker, and since we’ve seen their origins before, it’s best to dive right in. The Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) arrives and heralds the arrival of the planet-devouring cosmic being, Galactus (Ralph Ineson). The Fantastic Four must protect Earth from his wrath, but Galactus drives quite a hard bargain.
Firstly, this is a wonderful cast. When Pascal was cast, some had their reservations about him. People felt like he was miscast, and others were simply tired of seeing him. In the past three months, he’s appeared in Freaky Tales, The Last of Us, Materialists, and Eddington, which was released merely a week before The Fantastic Four: First Steps. But he’s a booked and busy actor for a reason; he’s really good. He’s a perfect Reed Richards. Every bit of his performance demonstrates Reed’s intelligence and his constant stress, getting pulled in endless directions both figuratively and literally.
Kirby has been around action franchises for years, with her work in Mission: Impossible and Fast & Furious. She brings an exceptional amount of humanity to Sue Storm, playing her with a lot more depth than previous film adaptations allowed her. She’s a new mother who cares so deeply for her child, and she also happens to be incredibly powerful. Quinn has been making his mark on Hollywood lately with his roles in A Quiet Place: Day One, Gladiator II, and Warfare. He brings the right amount of humor and swagger to Johnny. Moss-Bachrach, who audiences will recognize from The Bear, Girls, and Andor, won me over right away with a scene in which he lifts up a car to entertain some schoolchildren.
I also want to talk about the production design because it’s genuinely phenomenal. We first got a hint of what a Marvel movie set in an alternate universe would look like in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But that movie only pushes it as far as, “you go when the traffic light is red.” The Fantastic Four: First Steps builds a retro-futuristic world that you want to stay in. It perfectly combines mind-blowing sci-fi inventions with analog tech. It’s like stepping into the world of The Jetsons with a Marvel-ous twist.
Something I want to give Marvel praise for is that they’re not afraid to shake things up. This year, we’ve gotten a political thriller in Captain America: Brave New World and a ragtag team of misfits in Thunderbolts. This movie also feels wholly unique. It’s not as action-driven as many other superhero films. While there are a few fun action sequences (the final act is a standout), this movie is mainly driven by the characters. Our villain, Galactus, isn’t on screen for most of the film, but the main conflict comes from the choices the characters need to make, and their goal to get the entire world to unite and fight for their survival.
While The Fantastic Four: First Steps does a good job with its characters, I think they could have pushed the character conflicts a bit further. There’s one scene where Reed and Sue are standing outside with their baby, and a tough choice awaits them both. It’s snowing, and the scene is visually beautiful. They share a tender moment, and it would have been the best scene in the entire film if it had lasted a bit longer. The dialogue always gets the job done, but like many MCU movies, they don’t always leave the strongest impact.
It’s always great to see these four heroes teaming up to fight a villain. This movie takes on a similar conflict as the 2007 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which also featured the Silver Surfer and Galactus as antagonists. This movie does a much better job, particularly with Galactus. Ineson’s performance is magnificent, and this villain truly feels massive. You can’t miss this movie in IMAX, particularly for his scenes. You feel the scale of this villain, unlike many other superhero villains. He’s so much larger than our heroes that you have to wonder how the hell they’re going to survive taking him on.
With Jess Hall’s stunning cinematography and a pitch-perfect musical score from Michael Giacchino, Marvel has a hit on their hands. This is a grand, marvelous movie that feels wholly unique. It’s uncharted territory for the studio, and even if it is another superhero movie with some of the classic humor and action you expect, it feels like a new flavor of MCU that we haven’t tried yet. If I were to judge this movie like a character in the 2015 Fantastic Four movie, I’d say The Fantastic Four: First Steps is…fantastic. Say that again? It’s fantastic.
SCORE: 8/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 8 equates to “Great.” While there are a few minor issues, this score means that the art succeeds at its goal and leaves a memorable impact.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our The Fantastic Four: First Steps review.
Source: Comingsoon.net