The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Welcome to Earth 828, home to four amazing heroes who use their superpowers to save humanity! As if celebrity life wasn't perfect enough for genius Reed Richards, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm, the Fantastic Four will also expand to the Fantastic Five after Sue Storm's unexpected pregnancy. But their happiness is short-lived when Earth is threatened by the planet-devouring Galactus, and after failed negotiations with this space villain, humanity begins to turn against our heroes...

Matt Shakman (WandaVision) flirts heavily with retrofuturism in the film's opening, and it's clear that The Incredibles has been a source of inspiration, which in turn was heavily inspired by the creations of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The opening is bursting with comic book love and ridiculous supervillains like Mole Man, and this time we are spared the obligatory origin scene where all the astronauts get their superpowers. A bit like in the latest Superman film, it's just bang, let's go. The dynamic between the four main characters is well established and balanced, with everyone getting a chance to shine a little, and Michael Giacchino's music sets the mood from the start. In other words, it starts off very promisingly.

Then, however, the film starts to feel a bit too "been there, done that", especially if you already have the terrible Rise of the Silver Surfer in the back of your mind. First Steps is intended to be a new building block for the upcoming Avengers film Doomsday, but as a standalone hero film, it takes baby steps instead of really going all out and daring to play more with its comic book world. The filmmakers introduce a difficult dilemma that should have been the emotional backbone of the film, but it's quickly dismissed in order to safely lull the audience into familiar Marvel territory. It's certainly fun to see the superheroes trying to come up with new solutions to tackle the starving space god, but there's a lack of tension here, some kind of weight, something surprising. Emotionally, it's just pretty dull, quite simply. The playful retro vibes only go so far.

The actors make up for it, though, it must be said. Even if you're tired of seeing Pedro Pascal in, well, everything, he's actually a very good Reed Richards, and Vanessa Kirby is a much better Sue Storm than the miscast Jessica Alba. Ebon Moss-Bachrach is charming as the grumbling The Thing, and even though Joseph Quinn has toned down Johnny Storm's playboy status, he stands out as the brother who wants to contribute more than just attitude to the team. In fact, the characters' cosy family dynamics are what save First Steps from being as charmless as the 2015 film version, for example, and it's what makes First Steps an entertaining superhero film. So it took four films to make a Fantastic Four film worth watching, even if it doesn't quite live up to expectations.

Perhaps we were spoiled by James Gunn's shamelessly entertaining Superman film, but
First Steps isn't quite the "must-see" film I had hoped for. Honestly, it feels more like a box ticked in Marvel's seemingly endless planning phase than an exciting new Marvel film. Check, done! On to X-Men. Thunderbolts was a bolder step in the right direction for Marvel, with First Steps cautiously following suit. But it's charming, well thought out on an audio-visual level, and a fun adventure for all Marvel fans out there. Oh, and don't miss the post-credits scene that links Fantastic Four directly to the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.