My, it's been quite a while, hasn't it? A year and a half since I posted. Well, it's been a busy year. With my surgery and our full-time baking business, it's been crazy. But I miss posting, and I decided it was time to get back to it. And I'm going to do so by reviewing the first Marvel movie I've seen since Spider-Man: No Way Home.
I've always liked the Fantastic Four; that comic book was foundational to the entire Marvel Universe, with dozens of characters and key concepts debuting within its pages, particularly in the Lee-Kirby era. I stopped reading the book a couple of decades ago, when the entirety of DC and Marvel became a massive hot mess, but I still enjoy reading the older stuff. And the buzz about the movie hinted that the old stuff would be a big part of this endeavour.
Fantastic Four: First Steps was better than I had feared it would be. Marvel has had a string of disappointing movies over the past few years, and early takes on this movie weren't suggesting it would be any better. Thankfully, I saw some online reviews from people whose opinions I trust, and they gave the movie at least a mild recommendation, which was enough to get me back to the theater to check it out.
And boy, am I glad I did. It name-dropped no fewer than six classic FF villains (and no, Doctor Doom was not one of them), half of them in the introductory sequence. I'm going to include a SPOILER WARNING here, so if you don't want to know what happens, skip past the starred section to get to my final thoughts. You have been warned...
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Okay, so the movie is set in what is basically the 1960s. It could be a retro/art-deco version of the 1960s that is actually set in the modern day, but the movie feels like it's set in the time period when the comics were first published. So, bonus points right there.
The intro to the film skips the whole 'origin story' thing, choosing instead to start things off with a retrospective of the team's first four years. It's the classic origin, with the team getting into space in their rocket and being exposed to the cosmic rays. No Doom in the picture, no weird extra-dimensional portals like in the previous iterations of the team's films. More bonus points for this whole sequence, which includes a direct homage to the cover of FF#1. The Mole Man, Mad Thinker, and Red Ghost (and his Super-Apes) are name-dropped in this brief but comprehensive intro to the team. Later on in the movie, the Puppet Master, the Wizard, and Diablo are also mentioned in passing.
We join them with Sue discovering that she's finally pregnant after years of trying. Reed is worried that the kid will have superpowers or effects from the cosmic radiation that affected his parents, because he's Reed Richards and that's what he does.
There are some nice exposition scenes of the team's family life, and the reality of having public identities is addressed. The team are celebrities (and the only heroes on this version of Earth), and their lives as as public as any movie star's, if not moreso. The action picks up when an alert goes off to announce the arrival of the Silver Surfer, who in this version is Shalla Bal rather than Norrin Radd. Meh. I wasn't all that thrilled about the switch, but it worked out because it was more interesting for Johnny to be chasing a 'naked silver chick' rather than a dude on a surfboard. Incidentally, Johnny had quite a bit to do in this movie besides be a snarky thrill-seeker.
The Surfer warns everyone that Galactus is coming, and the team decides to be proactive and go hunt him down. It...doesn't go well. They are no match for this cosmic being, and he demands a high price for not using the Earth as an hors-d'oeuvre: He wants Franklin, and induces Sue into premature labor to get him faster. The team escapes and returns to Earth, refusing to give up their child.
When they return, the press assumes they were triumphant, only to be stunned and shocked to find out that not only did the FF not defeat Galactus, but they refused to give in to his demands, thus putting the entire planet at risk. For myself, it was the obvious answer; no parent is going to give up their child like that. But of course, the majority of Earth doesn't see it that way, and the FF become public enemies overnight. It takes a passionate plea from Sue to get people to understand where the team is coming from.
Reed is desperate to find a solution to stop Galactus, and eventually does come up with one: Teleport the Earth to another solar system. Um...okay? That seemed a little far-fetched, but it was obvious that wasn't going to be the way it went down. Running away isn't the way to defeat the bad guy. Of course, the Surfer wrecks the teleportation tech all around the world, so the team is forced to use Franklin as bait to lure the Big G to the last remaining teleporter so they can send HIM across the universe instead.
The final action sequence is one that would rival any other superhero movie climax with the possible exception of the two Avengers movies that closed out the Infinity Saga. The whole team does their part to bring down Galactus, and Sue makes the ultimate sacrifice, burning herself out to shove Galactus into the teleporter. Yes, Sue is that powerful in the comics as well. It wasn't a 'girlboss' moment so much as it was a 'mama bear' moment. She gave everything for her child, and paid the ultimate price.
Fortunately, Franklin is already endowed with the Power Cosmic and brings his momma back. That was the perfect way to use Franklin (besides bait), hinting at what he will eventually be capable of doing. The movie ends where it began, with a TV interviewer based on Ed Sullivan talking about the team. The mid-credits scene takes place four years later, with Sue reading to Franklin before Doctor Doom makes his first appearance.
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Alright, spoilers are done. Here are my thoughts on the movie in general
All four of the team are well-developed characters, which is no surprise considering there are over sixty years of stories to draw from. Reed (played by Pedro Pascal, who is the least fitting of the cast but managed to make it work) is driven to protect his family as well as the entire world. Sue is the mother-figure, the team's real strength and unquestionably the most powerful member. Johnny is a quick-thinker with a penchant for problem-solving, and Ben is the rock of the team (no pun intended) and one hell of a pilot. All four of them are trained astronauts and work as a well-oiled machine.
The movie wasn't 'woke'. There was no race-swapping, no gay characters, no girlbossing. Sue was portrayed as a world leader and often the voice of the team, but it's clear that Reed is the leader despite his personal flaws. Johnny still likes the ladies, just not as blatantly as Chris Evans' version twenty years ago. And Ben is actually Jewish like he is in the comics, or at least it's hinted that he is near the end of the movie.
Mostly, the movie is about family. Unlike teams like the Justice League or the Avengers, the FF are a true family. Reed and Sue are married, Johnny is the younger brother, and Ben is the best friend. Together their dynamic is strong, and it really binds the whole movie together. Johnny and Ben are as happy as Reed and Sue to find out she's expecting, promising to be the best uncles ever. I really liked this aspect of the film, which wasn't nearly as played up in the previous attempts to make FF movies.
There's also a metric crap-ton of nostalgia here. Anyone who is a fan of the original series, particularly the Lee-Kirby years, is going to be loving this movie's callbacks. Earlier I mentioned several supervillains who are talked about, and one of them gets to play a role in the climax of the movie. I was half expecting Willie Lumpkin to show up at some point.
The other thing I liked was that this movie has no connection to the broader MCU, at least not yet. In fact, this isn't Marvel Earth. This is Earth-828. So there are no Avengers, no Spider-Man, no X-Men...just the FF. So it was easy to watch and not have to worry about knowing a thousand or so hours of prior continuity just to follow along. To me, that was the best part of the whole thing. I know from seeing the Thunderbolts end credits scene that the FF is going to end up in the official MCU Earth at some point, but that's fine. For now, this movie stands on its own, and that's the best part about it.
So, I do recommend this movie. It's the FF done right. The 2005 cast was stronger, but this cast holds their own and gives us the FF we have been waiting on for decades. I give it a strong recommendation.
Incidentally, we watched the 3D version, which worked just fine. Good stuff all around.
