Welcome to the family. No Marvel homework required; a refreshingly standalone movie in an alternate Earth.
Following the mid-story trend of the recently released “Superman." “Fantastic Four: First Steps” forgoes the origin story.
An origin flashback and good-natured montage quickly provide a glimpse into the backstory of four astronauts – married astronauts Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal; “Materialists,” “Wonder Woman 1984” and Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby, “Mission Impossible” series), her brother Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and their friend Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bacharach) – went into space and came back to Earth with their genes altered after having been exposed to cosmic radiation, and how they perform their superhero-saving duties.
Reed/Mister Fantastic has the power of elasticity, with the ability to stretch all his limbs into an extreme range, just like his brilliant mind. Sue/Invisible Woman can make herself invisible, create and manipulate force fields. Johnny/Human Torch can burst into flame and fly, control and absorb fire. Ben/The Thing is rock solid and super strong.
Going into space as dreamers, they return as the Earth's protectors, celebrated for their superpowers, diplomatic capabilities, advanced technology research and scientific explorations.
The quartet faces their biggest challenge when the Shalla-Bal/Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) surfs the Manhattan skies and ominously announces that the Earth will soon be consumed by Galactus (Ralph Inneson), a planet-eating space god and there's absolutely nothing anyone could do about it.
This follows a previously tense action sequence in space where the Fantastic Four tries to meet up with Galactus for the first time and ends up being chased relentlessly by the Silver Surfer. And something happens aboard that spaceship that makes the stake much higher.
Well, it turns out, there is a way. The gigantic Galactus would leave the Earth alone if Sue and Reed would give their newly born baby son, Franklin, to him. While there has been no indication that Franklin may possess any special powers, Galactus seems to believe otherwise.
As one might imagine, this unfair barter is an impossible choice and one that is turning admiring humans against their superheroes. Franklin may be available for a barter, but this is a beloved family member, a living, breathing human baby.
It's not a simple mathematical equation or even a moral obligation to save the world, no matter how much Reed tries to analyze the situation from a scientific perspective. Sue takes a human approach and makes an impassioned plea about family ties and fighting as one, as part of a larger family.
Now they all just need to figure out a plan on how to either keep the Earth safe from Galactus or defeat him. The answer lies in teleportation power-building and highly risky bait and switch. It's an extremely ambitious plan that may or may not work.
It sounds plausible, however, from a storyline point of view and that makes the stakes real and emotional. Everyone does their part in the battle against Galactus, but Sue is heartbreakingly fierce in her fight.
The 60s era reminds me of “X-Men: First Class” (remains first-class and one of the most complex superhero movies to date). The space-age, retro-futuristic cinematography is visually rich and distinctively different. It looks surreal and feels lived in at the same time.
The glass-domes, flying cars zipping through buildings, giant television screens plastered among billboard commercials, cool circular-oval and pointy star-fin designs, a mix of warm wood paneling and bright-muted hues are aesthetically evocative and avant-garde. The elegantly filmed Excelsior rocket launch and liftoff, along with a soaring score, is reminiscent of “Fly Me to the Moon.”
The fourth time is fantastic. One might wonder why we'd need the fourth attempt at “Fantastic Four,” but it turns out to be the right decision by Marvel to move on from the doomed Kang Dynasty debacle and jump start the world-building toward “Avengers: Doomsday."
Stay for the end-credit. For the first time in years, “Fantastic Four: First Steps” feels like the first steps in the right direction for Marvel's next chapter.
