Watching – Fantastic Four: First Steps

TlDR – Overall, enjoyed it but I can’t call it a great movie. It’s Vanilla, tasty and satisfying but really doesn’t surprise or whelm.

** Avoiding as many spoiilers as I can **

First off, I’d say it’s more a family drama that features some action and special effects so if you are looking for a light, banter filled, punch ’em up and energy beams, go back and watch The Incredibles again – IMHO still the best take on the FF. I’m okay with comic book movies being more than just action / adventure and it wouldn’t be a Fantastic Four story without family being one of the threads. For example, the Ultimate Universe stories of the FF never felt right and it just got worse as time goes on.

Superhero movies are learning that they don’t need to spend the first 45 minutes establishing the origin story, as we get a bunch of quick cuts of some FF adventures (several classic FF foes get name checked at the beginning and during the final end credit scene) before returning to more human drama. Then cue the hook of the Silver Surfer heralding Galactus (you’ve seen the trailer, it’s not a spoiler) and the inciting incident that leads to the most impressive set piece of the movie (the finale feels … underdeveloped compared to this bit). Where Act 3 is full of action and effects, Act 4 is the series of down beats to prepare MacGuffins for the Act 5 Big Ending, That final fifth act felt like it was missing something, like not all the stops got pulled or if nothing else five minutes of action sequences got left on the cutting floor. There’s some serious plot holes, questionable science, and the timeline of events is inconsistent but try not to think too much about it and you’ll do fine. My favourite sequence had to be the Big Space Action (the Silver Surfer in particular).

The overall look and feel is very optimistic, like what the 50s thought the World of Tomorrow was going to be, with only a handful of scenes in darkness. The colours were bright and the tech looking like it came from the cover of Amazing Stories and Galactus could be seen as having some inspiration from Kirby’s art. I don’t know if the costuming would get an Oscar nod, but it felt right for a period piece in an alternate time line.

Not a Kirby Krackle to be seen in the movie not the chonky devices but some things work better in comics than in other media …

The banter between Johnny and Ben was a good level of best friends with some teasing but not nearly as heavy as the original source material (and the FF 2005 that bordered on bullying). HERBIE didn’t get over used, and I was pleased to see Sue shown as the diplomat and public face of the team. Reed had an appropriate amount of guilt for things without being consumed by it, but I still haven;t figured out if the mustache works to make him look more fatherly or if it makes him look more like Howard Stark. Ben wasn’t wrestling with being a Man or Monster and in fact seemed pretty comfortable in his rocky skin (maybe we missed that drama in the skipped 4 years). There remains the constant question of what does Johnny contribute to the team besides enthusiasm and fire power, but at least in this adaptation he does bring a few things to the table here and isn’t the over the top hot headed girl crazy teen he normally gets played as. Finally, I’ve got no problem with the Silver Surfer and there are reasons I’d say that it worked better than if they had stuck with Norin Radd. *Minor Spoiler – without Alicia Masters and with Sue being otherwise focused, Johnny gets to step up for this particular role …

Fun Fact – HERBIE was created for the 1978 animated series to replace the Human Torch, not because of fears that children would set themselves on fire in imitation but because the character rights were tied up in a movie and unavailable at the time.

I also enjoyed the music score, being a fan of Michael Giacchino (Speed Racer, Jurrasic Worlds, recent Planet of the Apes, lots of the recent Marvel movies, the Incredibles, an many many more). It fits well but I’d have to say not his most memorable. It was one of the elements that greatly reminded me of of Speed Racer on a number of fronts for visuals and sounds. *I won’t defend Speed Racer as a good movie but I will return to it repeatedly as something to play in the background as I work on other things as it still entertains me to this day.

There were a few Easter Eggs I spotted, including one line near the end that hit me pretty hard because of a very specific plot point in the comics but I’m going to go hunting for a few more that I’m pretty sure I blinked and missed. There is certainly enough fodder and foreshadowing for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.

If you know, you know …

So, glad I watched it and saw it on the big screen and it’s nice to see something less grimdark, but it ain’t no Black Panther or Winter Soldier and thankfully not a Madame Web. At least there’s always The Incredibles!