A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” (2025, 3*, 12A).
I couldn’t believe the excitement of some Marvel fans (including one of the managers at my local Everyman) for “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”. “Galactus is coming, Galactus is coming” he gushed to me in the street! Now it’s released and, as for DC’s recent “Superman” reboot, this new Marvel seems to be provoking a lot of “Marmite” reactions.
After the excellent “Thunderbolts*” closed out Marvel’s “Phase 5” releases, I was really hoping for a continued resurgence from Marvel with this, its first “Phase 6” release. But, to be honest, although it looks great, I was left somewhat underwhelmed.
Plot:
Beloved by the citizens of Earth-828 (that’s Earth within the Multiverse #828, if you are not onboard), the Fantastic Four – Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) – announce a surprise new arrival… Sue is pregnant. But the child’s life may be short-lived as a Silver-Surfing herald (Julia Garner) announced the arrival of the Vogon Constructor Fleet…. no, sorry, wrong show… the planet-gobbling entity called Galactus (Ralph Ineson).
Certification:
UK: 12A; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC web site: “Moderate threat, violence”. As a guide to parents, I’d say this is very much at the mild end of the 12A/PG-13 range.)
Talent:
Starring: Vanessa Kirby, Pedro Pascal, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Ralph Ineson, Paul Walter Hauser, Natasha Lyonne, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss.
Directed by: Matt Shakman.
Written by: Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer. (From a story by Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer & Kat Wood and based on characters created by Jack Kirby & Stan Lee.)
Running Time: 1h 55m.
Summary:
Positives:
- The retro 60’s-cum-Jetsons look is great.
- Vanessa Kirby makes a stunning debut in the Marvel universe.
- Ralph Ineson’s Galactus is suitably imposing.
- Michael Giacchino’s score is terrific.
Negatives:
- The general mood of banter reminded me of an unfunny 60’s sitcom.
- The plot stretches your belief (unlike Mister Fantastic) to breaking point at times.
Full Review:
Wan-da-Vision!
This is the feature debut for director Matt Shakman, and it’s no coincidence that he directed all nine episodes of the excellent “WandaVision” series. For here we are again pitched into a version of Earth that seems to have adopted many of the styles of the 1960’s but with Jetson-style flying cars and spacecraft. In this regard, the film brims with colour and style in its production design: surely a shoe-in for an Academy Award nomination in that category. The kitsch extends to a talking robot – H.E.R.B.I.E. – complete with reel-to-reel tapes for a face and the recording of radio messages onto vinyl LPs. It’s all very odd but at the same time, entertaining.
The values of the 1960’s are also reflected in that the family is expected to gather around the dinner table on time for Sunday roast and there ain’t no swearing or cussing to be heard anywhere (well, apart from the odd “bullshit”). (Thankfully, some of the other values of the 1960’s – that blacks should “bloody well know their place” – are not reflected on Earth-828, and Lynne Nichols (fresh out of “F1“) plays the F4 Chief of Staff.)
Tiresome banter.
Sticking with the 60’s sitcom though, I found the script reminded me of one of those 60’s sitcoms (or indeed , the first couple of wonderfully random episodes of “WandaVision“) where the characters are trotting out tiresome banter and the studio audience (or more likely, a canned studio audience) are in pant-wetting paroxysms of helpless laughter. I get it that they were trying to establish the mood of the family-unit, ahead of the momentous news of the new arrival (and then the other new arrival), but it didn’t wash well with me.
Can a planet-crushing entity not swat 4 flies?
Regular readers will know that where I tune out on these Marvel and DC efforts is where the hero vs. foe action gets ludicrously unrealistic. Case in point, here (slight spoilers) the Fab 4 blast off in their rocket ship, dock with their light-speed craft (was anyone else getting very sexual vibes from this docking sequence? No? Just me then!) and zoom off along the trail of the Silver Surfer to meet up with Galactus. (Fair dues here to Ralph “The Green Knight” Ineson for imbuing the huge God-like creature with real presence and menace.)
But when you are in the Hall of the Mountain King – a king that can destroy whole planets before you can say “Alderaan” – then is he really incapable of being unable to swat away four irritating little insects?
How or why Galactus is interested in the thing he is interested in isn’t explained in any way, although it’s almost a McGuffin part of the plot: perhaps he just wanted another being to add to the spokes of his galactic bicycle? Who knows?
Absurdity on absurdity.
The script has more ridiculous elements to it (more real spoilers in here, so skip this section if you’ve not seen the film yet):
- Are we really supposed to swallow that, after Reed Richards transports an egg three feet across a lab, that he says to the world “oh, having done that, now I can transport the earth and all its inhabitants across the universe”. And the world says “oh, OK, great”! It reminded me of the Tardis pulling earth across the Galaxy in “Doctor Who”!
- When the UK parliament can’t build the HS2 rail link within 20 years, are we really to expect that humanity around the world can come together and build a few hundred massive technical structures in a few days? (or weeks?)
- And, hang on, this massive planet-munching destructive alien can be defeated by the ‘power of a mother’s love’ pushing him, single-handedly, into the high-tech equivalent of a fairy-circle! Oh, p-p-please!
I know this is supposed to be fantasy stuff, but really – keep it sane guys.
Vanessa Kirby is the standout.
All of the cast are good but Vanessa Kirby in her first outing into Marvel-dom is the one who impresses the most. She delivers a first rate performance here.
As I mentioned in my review of “Materialists“, Pedro Pascal is in serious danger of over-exposure… he just seems to be everywhere, with “Eddington” still to be released in the UK (mid-next month). He’s perfectly adequate here as the stretchy-geeky-brainbox Reed Richards, but the character itself I find a bit of a nerdy bore.
Michael Giacchino’s bombast goes into overdrive.
A final nod to Michael Giacchino’s ridiculously bombastic score, which really takes the film to 11 at times with full-on choral pieces.
Monkeys?
It’s a Marvel film… of course there are monkeys! The mid-credit one is the most impressive: a leap four years into the future and the first glimpse of a character set to define the forthcoming Marvel films. The post credits scene is OK, but less impactful… they should have probably reversed the order of them.
Summary Thoughts:
As a summer popcorn blockbuster to take the kids to, it’s all fine and I think any kids, 8 and up, will probably enjoy this one. Marvel nerds will enjoy the nods to the F4 creator Jack Kirby (the film ends with a quote from him and the fact that Earth-828 is named in tribute to his birthday… the 28th August). For me, it adequately passed 2 hours in the cinema, but overall I found it a bit underwhelming. I view it as not a patch on “Thunderbolts*“. And, in terms of 2025 summer park-your-brain-at-the-door blockbusters, I enjoyed “Superman” a hell of a lot more.
Where to watch?
Trailer for “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18QQWa5MEcs.
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