Fantastic Four: First Steps Review
“It’s clobberin’ time” – Ben Grimm (“The Thing”)
It most certainly IS clobberin’ time. So much so, that (and I’ve waited a long, long time to write this), Marvel Studios are FINALLY BACK.
That’s right.
After a long dry spell that has lasted since Spider-Man: No Way Home, with a couple patches of optimism here and there, (Deadpool and Wolverine, Thunderbolts*) they’ve finally pulled out of their cinematic kamikaze dive, presenting a movie that delivers spectacle, awe and Marvel magic in a way unseen since 2021. I attended the first screening on opening day, and when it was over, I felt a happy optimism I hadn’t felt really since what I’ve come to consider as Marvel’s glory days. I’m finally, enthusiastically stoked about Marvel’s future plans again. And it feels good.
As for my years of bitching about the Marvel Movie Universe having lost direction, it seems I was justified (as if there was any doubt). Marvel Studios head Kevin Fiege revealed in an interview I read this past week that following Avengers: Endgame, Marvel had NO particular plan in mind regarding a direction for the future. It was all about the $$$, and it cost them. Fantastic Four: First Steps is basically their first steps in a new direction, with a firm plan in mind – and it shows. This is the first film in Phase VI, it was referenced in the sting of Thunderbolts* earlier this year, and will lead to the Four returning in Avengers: Doomsday in December 2026.
So, the film takes from the source material of Fantastic Four issues #48, 49 & 50, published in 1966 and was previously adapted to film 18 years ago in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007). That was the second of Tim Storey’s Fantastic Four films, which I feel have been unjustly maligned by critics. As a long-time reader of the comic book, I can’t really see that much wrong with them, and truthfully, I’m pretty fond of them. As for Josh Trank’s Fantastic 4 reboot of 2015, please feel free to go medieval on that piece of celluloid trash. It’s what I use to judge bad movies by.
But those movies were made when Marvel Studios didn’t have the rights to Fantastic Four. Now, they do and we’ve been waiting for them to actually join the established Marvel Movie Universe. But they’re not quite there yet. Let me explain…
The movie is set in 1964, an awesome time for the comic books the film’s based on. My favourite, actually. But although set in New York, it’s not the New York we know. It’s a multiverse New York. Specifically, Earth 828. It’s New York as if was designed by creator Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, so there’s really no wonder the Four have a rocket launch pad right next to their headquarters in the heart of the city and nobody seems to mind. (The rocket, incidentally is named Excelsior.) This then, is an Earth that never saw the likes of Captain America. We’re on a fresh page.
Refreshingly, there’s no needless yet another retelling of the origin of the Four taking up the first half of First Steps. They’ve already been in business for four years, and have already defeated many of their early comic book foes, like Mole Man, Red Ghost, Diabolo etc as we see in a brief recap, which tells their origin in around 30 seconds. (It also recreates the cover of FF#1) Like Superman, we’re straight to business.
And the business at hand is the appearance of The Silver Surfer, heralding the imminent arrival of Galactus, the eater of worlds. Our time is up it seems.
As I want to keep this spoiler free, I’m not going to delve any further into the plot. But having read that brief synopsis, you might be wondering why you should pay your hard-earned money to see a film that sounds like a remake of a movie you paid to see fifteen years ago. Silver Surfer, Galactus, huge battles, property damage… yep, you can tick all those boxes. The main difference is Marvel. This is done the Marvel Movie Universe way. And it is as much a turning point in their fictional universe as I’m certain it will be in their critical and financial real-world universe. This will put those all-important asses on cinema seats. (Honestly, if you choose to watch this or any movie on an illegal pirate box, you’ll get the quality you deserve and if you’re caught, you deal with the expensive consequences.)
I had my doubts about the casting. Twenty years ago, I thought they’d cast perfectly with Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic, Jessica Alba as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm/Human Torch and Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm/The Thing. Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards won me over within the first few minutes of the film starting. Vanessa Kirby took me about half the film to accept as Sue Storm - her performance seemed to take a while to warm up in my opinion. The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) was the best realised version of the character I’ve seen to date. But somehow, I found Joseph Quinn as the Torch a bit hard to take to – but then he was following Chris Evans, who was ideal in the role before he became Captain America.
A super hero movie depends on a great super villain, and Galactus is one of the biggest, baddest and best in all of comic book history. He eats planets for crying out loud. In Rise of the Silver Surfer, Galactus wasn’t actually realised. We saw a cloudy formation briefly with the distinctive side plates of his helmet, but we never actually saw HIM. It was said that director Storey decided that a giant stomping around New York would be ridiculous, and concentrated more on the Surfer instead.
Yeah, he was wrong on all counts. The Surfer is only the opening act in the story. Galactus (Ralph Ineson) is the main attraction and we see him here in all his comic book accurate costumed glory, looking like he could beat Godzilla with a flick of his finger on ‘Zilla’s snout. He’s the Armageddon level threat in the movie that he was in the comics.
Oh, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner)? Much has been said about the Surfer being female this time, rather than the male we’re used to. (Sigh) I grew up with a male Silver Surfer. I have a few t-shirts depicting a male Surfer in my wardrobe. I’ll go on record right here and state I have no objection to the Surfer being female. She does all the things that as a fan, I’d expect to see the Surfer do. (You GO, girl!)
And that’s the whole point, isn’t it? I’ve seen everything in this film that I’d want to see in a Fantastic Four movie, on a huge, grand scale. Not only that – but I’ve seen the huge, overblown, eye widening action on a grandiose scale that I used to love the Marvel Studios for. Scenes that literally looked like the fevered, unfettered imaginings of Marvel artists like Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby had suddenly come to life.
Of course, we all miss Stan Lee’s cameos, BUT…
Fantastic Four was Marvel’s first published title back in 1960. Previous to that, the company was named Timely Comics. As Galactus is wreaking havoc in Manhattan, we see a blink and you’ll miss it reaction shot of two guys in an office, with Kirby’s drawings around. One guy is tall and thin; the other is shorter – dead ringers for Lee and Kirby. In the credits, they’re listed as “Timely employees” – that made my heart happy.
July has been an absolutely epic month for blockbusters. In fact, I believe it’s been the best blockbuster season for several years. And once again (and I’m going to regret this when I come to my end of year “best of” list) I can’t help but hand out another maxed-out Rob Rating.
Rob Rating = 10
