It can’t be said that the Fantastic Four have had a decent run at the movies. We never got to (legally) see the Roger Corman version that was made in the 90s, and the mid 2000s gave us the laughable but also so-bad-they’re-good releases that still hold a place in my heart as guilty pleasures. The less said about the 2015 “attempt” the better, so let’s just leave it at that. But now, with the rights returned fully home to Marvel Studios, they have a chance to right the wrongs of the past and properly introduce these beloved characters into the MCU. The great thing is that they largely get it right, but a few missteps and the lessons unlearned from recent films keep it from being truly great.
Jumping straight in with little preamble, we find the Fantastic Four – Reed Richards (Pablo Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) – fully embodied as heroes of the retro-futuristic Earth-828. Things couldn’t be better until Sue learns that she is pregnant which delights her and Reed as they had thought becoming parents was something that wouldn’t be possible for them. Their happiness is short-lived by the arrival of Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) who informs the citizens of the planet that they have been marked for destruction by the great World Devourer Galactus. Unable to beat his unimaginable power, the Fantastic Four must unite the citizens of the world to stop him, and if that fails, offer a sacrifice that will scar them forever.
Much how Superman was for the DC Universe, The Fantastic Four: First Steps had to be successful upon release. While the stakes weren’t as high for the latter as the former, Marvel still had to launch Phase Six with a bang and make up for the mistakes that have been constantly made since Endgame. And they had their work cut out for them. Comic nerds aside, most of the general public have little to no knowledge of these characters. Add that to the conundrum that without someone like James Gunn coming in and giving them the punch-up like he did with Guardians, the question that hung in the air was, “would anyone care?” And the answer is, “yes.”
While none of them are nearly as well-known as say, Spider-Man, we are immediately presented with likable people who truly feel like the family they are meant to be. They’re funny, quirky, smart, and have some amazing powers that almost make them feel like we are catching up with old friends instead of meeting them for the first time. That in and of itself is an achievement, and a testament to (some of) the writing in this movie. The chemistry between the four leads is a huge part of this, so you would think that those two together create the perfect catalyst to lead us to some of the best that MCU has had to offer.
It kind of does.
Having heroes we can fully root for is a big part of any superhero film, but it’s not all of it. The place where First Steps falters is when it strides away from the family dynamics and tries to be the stereotypical comic book movie. It’s not that the action and manufactured drama aren’t necessary, it’s that the same care and love that was put into character development was left behind for the rest of it. Yes, we need a big-bad to fight against, and of course the stakes are going to be astronomical, but it all feels tacked on like it was an afterthought instead of something that should have been an organic part of it. It’s not really distracting in any way, but the sense of wonder begins to get stripped away halfway through and isn’t really there anymore by the time we reach the unsurprising climax.
It’s also tiring to see yet another portrayal of a female character reduced to a mother whose powers are necessary to save her son. True, the bond between parents and their children are strong, but relegating Sue Storm mainly to the role of having to only protect her son is cliché, boring, and overused. She deserved better.
There is a lot to like here, and I will enjoy seeing it again once it releases for home viewing, but I’m not going to run out to theaters for a second viewing – something I wanted to do with Thunderbolts* which is close to the best the MCU has ever done. It’s also a film that First Steps should have taken some notes from. Granted Thunderbolts* is much more introspective, but the emotional weight it carried could easily have been applied here, but since they didn’t, it’s lesser for it.
That said, I do recommend checking this out, and if you want summer spectacle with a great cast, then you’ll walk out extremely satisfied. If you’re looking for the next best thing in a comic book movie though, you won’t exactly be disappointed, but you’ll leave wanting more.