The Fantastic Four: First Steps Review

A Promising Start Explores New Territory for Marvel, but Things Eventually Return to the Same Tired Formula

By: Marc Kozak

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

A Promising Start Explores New Territory for Marvel, but Things Eventually Return to the Same Tired Formula

By: Marc Kozak

The opening scenes of Matt Shakman’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” quickly introduce our heroes to one of the most formidable challenges imaginable: the terrifying unknown of raising a child. It’s a smart framework for a story featuring Marvel Comics’ most famous family, and a refreshingly human spin for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has long since fallen into an infinitely repeating formula of computer-generated battles between godlike figures. For at least an hour, this grounded approach combined with a likeable cast and a crisp retro-futuristic style threatens to truly breathe fresh air into the genre, before eventually taking a hard swerve back into the MCU’s comfort zone. The result is a mostly enjoyable experience that feels like a missed opportunity and serves as further evidence that the studio behind the scenes still isn’t willing to take any serious creative risks in its most profitable product.

In this world, which is quickly revealed to be a different one than where the rest of the MCU lives, the Fantastic Four are introduced as much-loved heroes from the start, having saved the world time and again for years. A quick talk show montage breezes through the basics: Reed Richards, his wife Susan, his brother-in-law Johnny and best friend Ben were astronauts and explorers that gained superhuman powers as a result of accidental exposure to cosmic rays in space. Thanks to Reed’s tremendous intelligence and the group’s overall strength, there’s no problem too tough to solve, as evidenced by a humorous montage of the group taking down villains with increasingly ridiculous names. When Susan tells Reed that she is pregnant after years of trying, it presents a problem that even a super genius can’t solve: how can the family safely raise a child within the chaotic lives they lead?

Reed is played as a quiet thinker by the seemingly-everywhere Pedro Pascal, who can’t help but give a warmness to the character that is largely absent from his comic book counterpart, often portrayed as a cold, logical man of science. There are arguments in the movie between Reed and Susan (Vanessa Kirby) where the writers attempt to show Reed’s colder, calculating side, but it often comes off as false solely due to the warm features and genuine concern on Pascal’s face. It makes you wonder if Pascal (who I like quite a bit) was the right choice for the character, or if this was an attempt at a kinder, softer Reed than some might have been expecting.

" The result is a mostly enjoyable experience that feels like a missed opportunity and serves as further evidence that the studio behind the scenes still isn’t willing to take any serious creative risks. "

The stakes are raised with almost comic bad timing when the planet gets a visit from the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), a shiny naked woman on a surfboard who serves as the herald of Galactus, a world-eating force of nature who has existed since before the birth of this universe. The Silver Surfer tells the Fantastic Four that the planet’s death is imminent, and they should try to enjoy what little time they have left with their loved ones. Obviously, this won’t do, so Reed and the family tell the world that they are off to space to deal with this threat. Once they come face to face with the gigantic Galactus (Ralph Ineson), they learn that he would be willing to spare Earth if they give him their newborn son, who is destined to have immense power and could one day serve as Galactus’ replacement.

The overpowered Fantastic Four retreat to Earth, and the movie begins to fall apart from here. The public starts to turn on our heroes once they realize the Fantastic Four could just give up their child and they would all be safe. Reed even states (with little conviction) that sacrificing their child is the logical thing to do. Susan, played with appropriate fire by Kirby (who isn’t otherwise given much to do other than “protective mom”), refuses to entertain the idea. It’s a compelling conundrum that we’re barely given time to sit with, but Susan gives an angry mob a pretty speech about standing together, and suddenly the world is back in logic-defying harmony doing everything it can to prepare the planet to fight the incoming Galactus. All of the interesting human issues are tossed aside to set the table for the typical CGI slugfest conclusion, which ends in a predictably unsatisfying manner before throwing to the classic mid-credit scene to tease the next Marvel installment. It’s a bummer third act that undoes all of the good work that came before it, as if they either couldn’t think of a better way to solve the problems they created, or if the slugfest was always the endpoint. Both options are depressing.

As in the comics, Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) have a brother-y, banter-heavy relationship that gives the Fantastic Four household a bit of charm and levity. Maybe a little too much comic relief is dependent on the beeping and booping of the family’s robot assistant H.E.R.B.I.E., channeling a cutesy Star Wars energy that quickly wears out its welcome. Johnny’s womanizing ways from the comics are thankfully kept to a dull roar, as he spends his time trying to translate the Silver Surfer’s language, leading to a pretty effective and heroic moment for the character. Ben gets significantly less to do, essentially pining after a neighborhood teacher he meets for all of a minute (Natasha Lyonne) in a subplot that is woefully underdeveloped.

Shakman also underutilizes the Fantastic Four’s powerset, failing to show them being used in fun or creative ways. Susan makes her body transparent to show Reed that their baby is doing fine, which is a great moment, but for the rest of movie Susan is mostly straining and groaning underneath force fields. Reed stretches maybe two or three times in the movie, and Johnny’s fire form isn’t really used other than to…well, throw fire at things. Ben Grimm as The Thing looks great, but his biggest visual moment may be the beard that he ends up growing.

Fighting for your family and being stronger together were always going to be themes of a Fantastic Four movie, but it’s a message that gets trickier in the context that the story is clever enough to present, left sadly unexplored in favor of saving the day by punching a giant bad guy. “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” will feel just different enough to likely please fans of the MCU, but it still falls prey to the same traps that have kept superhero movies stagnant for years.