The [Fantastic] Fourth Time in 20 Years
And they had the gall to call it "First Steps"
Okay, I just got out of this one, and here’s the skinny:
Disney/Marvel did a good job, and gave us the best F4 movie so far. And that’s even if this one didn’t have a low bar to clear. Don’t let my snarky title fool you, this was a great film.
I don’t want to give a ton away about the plot or those details, so I’m going to break this thing down into its component parts and tell you what’s going on here.
Who:
These characters are well-known at this point. Maybe when they did the first big-screen version in 2005 they needed an origin, or when they did a lateral gritty reboot in 2015, but we’re way past that now. I watched that ‘05 movie on the plane home from my mission 20 years ago, it’s well into the zeitgeist.
They speed-run the origin in the beginning of the movie and go from there. Reed’s a nerd, Sue’s a diplomat, Johnny’s a hotshot, Ben’s calm and steady. What I mainly want to cover here is the cast.
From the get-go I wasn’t sold on Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, and not because I’m particularly anti-Pascal. I just thought he didn’t fit the character, but he brought his own sensibilities to it and he worked really well in the end. The script also gave him a lot to work with. He was smart, not just in the Star Trek way where he spouted techno-babble and made stuff happen. His first encounter with the Silver Surfer was straight-up brains.
Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm was inspired casting, she not only brought beauty and maturity to the role, she also brought a strong maternal presence. That was necessary because the whole movie is really about her and Reed having a kid.
Joseph Quinn. He blew up a few years ago on Stranger Things which I still haven’t seen and probably won’t. He gave us a really good version of Johnny Storm, and even got to use his own brains to contribute to the story and fight the Silver Surfer.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach spent most of the time in a suit or CGI as Ben Grimm, but you can tell from how he acted and spoke that he still made the character come to life.
All of these guys played a different flavor of the F4 roster compared to the versions we’ve seen before. ‘05/’07 gave us cheerful/colorful/campy characters, while ‘15 gave us gritty/angsty characters. This one was earnest, grounded, and convincing. The cast did a lot of the work there.
Rounding it out, I’ll say Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal (Silver Surfer) was a very good choice. Everyone likes Noren Radd and everyone hates variants, but this is what she got and she leaned hard into the role. Her little mannerisms and her dialogue delivery really animated an otherwise throwaway character.
What:
Galactus is out there eating planets and his sights are set on Earth. He’s willing to bargain with the F4 though: Sue and Reed are expecting a baby, and that baby is so insanely powerful that if Galactus eats him, he’ll never need to eat another planet.
The choice presented, then, is infanticide to save billions; losing billions; or fighting/defeating Galactus (somehow) and saving everyone.
If you have kids, this is not a hard choice. If you don’t have kids, you’re in the mob screaming for Sue to sacrifice her child.
The core of this movie is inherently pro-marriage, pro-family, and pro-life. We went from the last 5 years of Disney/Marvel to this at an incredible rate of speed. It was very refreshing to see.
Where:
The setting is a matter of multiverse shenanigans. The main Marvel stuff happens on “Earth 616” and this happens in a different universe, although at one part Reed is explaining how there are other universes. Apparently the end-credits scene of Thunderbolts teased the F4 arriving in 616, so we’ll have to see how that happens.
When:
While the aesthetic is very 1960s, I can’t remember seeing anything that pinned down a specific year, or whether this is just a world where people wear throwbacks and drive classics. Whatever the time, it looks beautiful, and very classy.
The same can be said of the CGI. I know there are more CGI shots than I probably realized, but that’s a good thing, because it isn’t so obvious. There are a few sequences at the end where the CGI baby is REALLY obvious, only because it’s almost impossible to make a baby act.
Why:
Ever since Disney/Marvel put together the first major crossover film in 2012, they’ve been trying to make that happen over and over again, and the MCU has collapsed under its own weight. Then along comes this movie, and rather than force you to watch 4 prequels and 3 streaming shows, you can just…watch it, on its own, enjoy it, and not worry about what comes next. Yeah there are teasers at the end, but that’s the point: they’re at the end.
This movie exists to be its own thing for now.
How:
I don’t know how to answer this question. I felt obligated.
Conclusion:
Anyway, if you’re burned out on Marvel (like me) but you thought this trailer at least looked good (like me) but you’re weary because you’ve been burned by this studio for the last several years (like me), roll the dice on this one (like me) and you’ll probably have a really good time at it (like me.) Just don’t eat a truckload of popcorn (like me.)