Director: Matt Shakman
Writers: Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer
Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Ralph Ineson

Thirty-one years ago, there was a first attempt at a live-action Fantastic Four (this previously unreleased version is apparently now available on YouTube). Twenty years ago, we got another (apparently much improved) version that also got a (questionable) sequel. Ten years ago, we got a darker version that was, in truth, rather a mess. Now, The Fantastic Four: First Steps appears to follow a new trend of heroes being somewhat relatable while also taking them back to comic book basics (see Superman). The Four are a familiar team, however they’ve never quite reached the heights of the likes of the Avengers or X-Men when it comes to Marvel films. Do the Fantastic Four finally get their much-earned time in the sun, or have Marvel got it wrong once again?

In a retro-futuristic setting, the Fantastic Four, consisting of Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards (Pascal), Invisible Woman/Sue Storm (Kirby), The Thing/Ben Grimm (Moss-Bachrach) and Human Torch/Johnny Storm (Quinn), are an established team that have the mantle of protectors of the Earth (Earth-828, to be precise). Soon, their heroic promises are put to the test when they take on Galactus (Ineson), a gigantic planet-devouring humanoid that threatens to swallow the Earth thanks to the scouting skills of his Herald, a Silver Surfer named Shalla-Bal (Garner). While tackling potentially their biggest challenge yet, Reed and Sue have one of their own to contend with: a newborn baby.

The first thing to note about this film in comparison to any predecessors is the cohesion of the four main characters and the chemistry between the actors. They genuinely come across as a caring family that have been through it, but they’ve been through it together, and nothing is breaking that bond. The costumes reinforce this notion, so rather than feeling like an almost forced team-up á la Avengers or X-Men, these guys have roots that run deep, before they got their powers, and they are unashamedly colourful while they’re at it. They’ve got a Jetsons vibe that is comforting and familiar, turning this into more of a family-orientated film than past versions. They have their moments of bickering and Reed and Sue butt heads now and again, but ultimately they trust each other, and everyone knows that without that trust, there’s no way they’d be the (thus far) successful heroes they are.

The overall pacing of the film is very good, with the action coming fairly quickly in the first act, and although the story isn’t exactly new (it was covered in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer), the part of the plot that revolves around the Four paves its own way and introduces Galactus as more of the character he’s supposed to be. Having said that, the antagonistic side of the plot wasn’t quite as tight as it could have been – Shalla-Bal’s justification for helping Galactus could have diverted from Norrin Radd’s (the more well-known Silver Surfer) rather than regurgitating the same motive. To add insult to injury, the events surrounding the birth of the baby were a little too unbelievable (disbelief can only be suspended to an extent), and the action in general took priority over deepening certain characters (namely Johnny and Ben). A lack of the use of Mr. Fantastic’s stretching ability until the last third of the film was a bit disappointing too, and the (mostly) CGI baby no doubt gave many of us Renesmee PTSD (IYKYK).

As controversial to some people as Pascal’s casting was (and as much as many of us wanted to see John Krasinski return), he did a phenomenal job as Reed, bringing a good balance of leadership and empathy to the intelligent scientist, though due to the aforementioned lack of Mr. Fantastic’s ability, he was underutilised. Kirby was an understated Sue Storm, a great emotional challenger to Reed’s logical mind and less a mother-figure than a role model to both Johnny and Ben. Moss-Bachrach provided a good vocal performance as Ben, and although there were glimpses of Ben’s life outside of the Four but not enough was given to his characterisation. The same goes for Quinn’s Johnny, who was a less womanising version but who wasn’t given enough depth to fully round him out, though Quinn’s acting skill could have easily taken on the task. Gardner was an excellent Silver Surfer/Herald/Shalla-Bal, with her performance of the Galactus announcement speech certainly one for the action cinema history books. As for Galactus himself, the design was genuinely quite terrifying, with a particular Godzilla-style scene proving quite terrifying, and Ineson’s cold vocal performance added an extra level of fear. Galactus is certainly a formidable foe, but hopefully this isn’t the peak of enemies for the Four.

In a summer that has apparently culminated in a Superman vs. Fantastic Four box office competition (in spite of being two weeks apart in release), there’s no doubt there is more than enough room for both, especially with them both being strong starts for their respective franchises: Superman for James Gunn’s new DCU, and FF for Phase Six of the MCU. This new group of Fantastic Four are a breath of fresh air in the darkness the MCU has become (part of that is probably the great costumes), and it’s exciting to see how they will fit in with the other events coming up in Phase Six.