Movie review: Confusing tone hinders 'Fantastic Four: First Steps'

UPI

3 days ago

1 of 5 | From left, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Vanessa Kirby, Pedro Pascal and Joseph Quinn are the new "Fantastic Four," in theaters Friday. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios and Marvel
July 22 (UPI) -- The Fantastic Four: First Steps, in theaters Friday, is a confusing reintroduction of the comic book superheroes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Failing to balance its tone, the movie is just no fun.
The movie opens with Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) already four years into being The Fantastic Four. So it is not their "first steps" at all. The title also alludes to Sue and Reed's baby, but it's hardly more relevant to him.
In fact, a TV montage of the team's past adventures features scenes that look like they're from a much more fun movie. It also covers how a space accident rendered the four team members with super powers.
On Earth 828, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) brings word that Galactus (Ralph Ineson) will devour the planet and nothing can be done. So the Fantastic Four try to figure out how to negotiate with and/or stop Galactus.
It appears to be the 1960s on Earth 828, although a date is never given. It could be that the world just features '60s-style architecture and technology, and that those rock n' roll oldies are the current top 40. Most of the Marvel movies take place on Earth 199999.
The idea of a retro-futuristic Fantastic Four sounds fun. Reed has a robot assistant named Herbert, uses reel-to-reel cassettes, and their Times Square has a bunch of fake movie and Broadway billboards, paired with the real Coca-Cola and Pan Am.
It's not really a period piece though, because the setting is not the actual historical '60s. It's just the Marvel aesthetic with some retro veneers.
The plot of First Steps rarely has fun with these concepts. The main story is about, once again, the fate of the entire world and the pressure on the Fantastic Four as the only Earthlings powerful enough to possibly stop Galactus.
Ben and Johnny's occasional good zingers don't balance out the fact that the film strives to be epic, monumental and important. Galactus' plot involves Reed and Sue's baby. Say what one will about Star Wars' Darth Vader, but when he blew up an entire planet he didn't single out any babies.
Of the four iterations of The Fantastic Four on screen, only the 2005 movie and its sequel seemed to realize the franchise is supposed to be fun. They might not have always succeeded, but the intention was correct.
Even the unreleased Roger Corman production can be forgiven for working with what they had. The last two reboots had all the resources of major studios and went for a gravitas that doesn't work in either of those adaptations.
When Galactus reaches New York it's far less impressive than a Godzilla or King Kong movie. He lacks the animalistic personality of those creatures, so he's just generically going through the motions.
The cast commits to what little they've been given. Reed is burdened more with his vast intellect than his stretching abilities. Ben just wants to be friendly despite his girth and power as a rock monster.
Quinn's Johnny is much tamer than Chris Evans' depiction in the 2005 version, which he reprised in a Deadpool & Wolverine cameo. Perhaps Evans pushed the PG-13 too far for Disney's comfort so they held Quinn back. As the Human Torch, there are no consequences for Johnny flaming on indoors.
The Silver Surfer has the most presence, not just because of her alien appearance but due to Garner's body language too. Sue is left mostly to scolding the boys, unfortunately, so Kirby is the most underserved.
This iteration of Fantastic Four will appear in The Avengers: Doomsday, as confirmed by a mid-credits scene set four years later. Maybe these characters will play well with the others, but on their own the clash of tonal elements brings down the vibe.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.