Given that the internet is such a highly customizable space, I can’t say with any certainty that there wasn’t any hype about the latest Marvel movie, but on my screens, there was silence.
I was hoping to watch “Jurassic World: Rebirth” or even the “Superman” movie, because editing Chloé’s raving review of it had piqued my interest, but “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” was the only movie with a time that worked for me.
This is to say that I went into the movie with few expectations of it, other than those that come from being attached to a studio as big and successful as Marvel.
But, if you want a hint about how this review is going to go, its biggest strength is a problem.
The film had great world-building. The sets were beautiful, immersive and interesting. I loved the retro space-age aesthetic—an aesthetic I adore but rarely get to see. The technology was cool and unique, and every time something came on screen, I wanted to know more about it.
The art department overall did an incredible job because they were fully committed to the period, even in the promotional art for the film. The posters are genuinely so well done and stunning that they could be displayed as art.
I could talk for ages about all things related to set design, interior design and decor, but I have been informed that most people don’t share my passion for this topic. So, when the highlight of a movie is something that most people are ambivalent about, you can see where the film can start to get into some trouble.
This isn’t to say that people have never cared about these things; you could argue that the reason for the success of the Harry Potter franchise is the world-building, and that the magic of theme parks comes from how immersed they make guests feel in these worlds, but for most people, good design should go unnoticed.
(Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios)
This next section contains spoilers. Skip to ‘End of Spoilers’ to avoid them
Characterization:
It feels a little unfair to criticize the character development and their relationships when the mid-credit scene of Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) playing with Franklin Richards (Ada Scott) is clearly setting the tone for a sequel. Ultimately, some of them were just odd.
Also, if any movie should be able to stand on its own, it should be the first in the series.
In the movie, it has been four years since they gained their superpowers. We are also shown that Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) are already brother-in-laws and that Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is Reed’s best friend. They have had a long-established relationship during those four years. Presumably, as coworkers and in the case of everyone but Ben, family. They get along well enough to want to live together and to have regular dinners.
Then why do Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) and Johnny have absolutely no sibling dynamic? Why do Ben and Reed have the dullest friendship ever?
We are told that Sue and Johnny lost their mother in a car accident, which, paired with what we already know about the characters. You would expect them to have a closer relationship because they have gone through so much together and choose to stick together. However, the closest scene to a sibling dynamic between them is after Johnny is dismissed by the group. Sue talks to Johnny because she realizes the mistake in ignoring him. One interaction does not make a sibling relationship.
I would have loved to have gotten a narrative similar to Reed’s for Sue. One about how this pregnancy is for her and how it’s difficult for her to be everything that everyone needs her to be. After all, we have been shown the media craze surrounding the pregnancy. This adds stress and attention. While she has not seemed to mind attention directed at her, she has issues with media attention directed at Franklin. They also talk about the toll of not knowing how their altered genetics will affect Franklin. She objectively has a lot on her mind and on her plate because she is growing a mutant, fighting crime, actively in politics, preventing Galactus (Ralph Ineson) from destroying their world and so on.
But I don’t think we were given enough on-screen to justify the lack of rapport between these characters.
Since Johnny has been carrying the sibling dynamic (which is fair because Sue and Reed have to bear the main plot of mutant baby vs. planet eating monster), by being an excited uncle and referring to himself as ‘Uncle Johnny,’ he could have also said something to the extent of, “I’ll be here when you need me,” or “I know you’re going through a lot right now, but you and Reed don’t have to do this alone.” Without an additional interaction between them, their lack of connection doesn’t read as something temporary, brought on by current stressors, but as something permanent.
This would be similar to Reed’s established narrative of being self-absorbed or workaholic (depending on how you look at it).
This would explain the decay in his relationship with Ben, since Reed is more focused on being Mr. Fantastic, a husband, inventor and hero, while Ben and Johnny, who have fewer responsibilities but frequent opportunities to interact, have a closer relationship. However, this is my theory and interpretation of the film, and it’d be stronger if Ben and Reed had any chemistry or interactions in the flashbacks, because we could compare who they were with who they are now.
I will argue that this relationship and narrative are better established than Sue’s because when Ben goes to talk to Reed, we see this absent closeness. We see Ben teasing him about the failed driver’s test, and Reed joking back. It shows us that their relationship isn’t currently great, but it has the potential to heal.
Ben and Johnny, on the other hand, had great chemistry that I enjoyed watching and hope to see more of. Overall, their actors were able to bring complexity to their characters that was surprising, given their smaller roles in the film.
Even though Ben is literally just a rock, we were still able to sense emotions. They snuck in narratives of insecurity, like how he misses his old appearance and doesn’t know if he can find love, as well as nostalgia, of a simple life before fame. We get to see him annoyed by this newfound fame, with a slogan that doesn’t feel true to him, that everyone expects him to live up to. We get to see him embrace this slogan later on and see a shift in his confidence levels.
While I’m sure part of his complexity comes from the script, I credit a lot of it to the actor for being able to convey so much emotion, again, in a rock. They were able to create such a kind, thoughtful, and (ignore the pun) multi-faceted character. These types of characters are difficult to write because they often have no personality, other than being welcome mats; they get treated poorly and never do anything but smile about it. But when I think of Ben, I keep replaying the scene in my mind when he realizes (before Johnny) that Sue is pregnant, and I remember how he bickered with Johnny. He also stands up for himself throughout the movie, even though he chooses his battles. He is a masterclass in writing a character who is considerate of others but isn’t at their mercy.
Although I’ve criticized Johnny’s relationship with Sue, and I will criticize Johnny’s relationship with Reed, I want it to be clear that I am not criticizing them because the group treats him negatively.
While I would like them to treat him nicely, relationships aren’t always positive, especially when complicated.
In this case, their frequent dismissal of him motivates him to learn Shalla-Bal’s (Julia Garner) language, which is critical in defeating Galactus. This dynamic is necessary to the story, but it’s never made clear why it exists.
Johnny is shown as the one who knows how to shoot the guns on the ship while Sue and Ben pilot it. In the flashback, we aren’t given their qualifications for being on the ship, but Reed insists that they are qualified. So, as far as we know, Johnny is just as intelligent and qualified as Ben and Sue. After he cracks the code, they joke about him being stupid, saying something along the lines of “I didn’t even know he knew English.” But if they genuinely thought that, why would they bring him to space with them or put their lives in his hands? This line is more likely meant to humble him, rather than an accurate reflection of how they feel about him.
Johnny is briefly mentioned to be a bit of a womanizer, and we see him in an ad with his buttcheeks out. Do they dismiss him because they think he doesn’t take this work seriously?
I don’t think so because he’s been begging Reed to return to space and sets up appointments to nag him about it. He is also almost always, if not always, the first to run towards danger. Reed is the one who procrastinates on going to space. Johnny was even ready to die to save everyone. Johnny has repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to the team throughout the film.
Essentially, they keep dismissing Johnny, and we are not given a real reason why. However, it is convenient for the story and writers because it allows them to delay elements of the plot. I think this character and his relationships suffer because the writers are using him as a plot device, rather than treating him as a person.
While Johnny is easily my favorite character from the film, I think this dynamic benefits the plot, so it doesn’t need to be cut; it just needs to be beefed up. They’ve become a family. They regularly go through events that would be traumatic for the average person. They have the world watching them. There are moments of high tension and stress. It simply is not realistic for everything to be going perfectly for them all the time. Thus, as much as I like Johnny and would like for them to treat him better, this narrative is good for the overall story.
Plot
When I saw this movie, I genuinely had no idea where the movie would go. After all, what do you do when an alien arrives on your planet, tells you that it will be destroyed and that there is nothing you can do about it?
I remember thinking in the movie theater when the characters announced their voyage to space.
“I’m glad they know what to do, because I sure as hell don’t.”
I won’t argue that this unpredictability is bad; after all, it is realistic, but I wish the characters had more information to go off of, because their decision to journey into the infinite cosmos seemed a bit arbitrary. Their confidence in themselves is unwarranted.
Like in any story, a willing suspension of disbelief is required, but there was too much to let slide: characters magically knowing just the right thing to do, Franklin conveniently providing them with the answer to all their problems and the limits of characters’ powers changing to keep the story going.
Acting
The movie begins with a scene that requires a great deal of skill in portraying: Sue learning of her pregnancy and telling Reed.
Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm) and Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards) by no means did a bad job; however, I did not think their performance was strong enough in this scene for it to be a good start to the movie. Had it been later in the film, I do think it would have gone unnoticed.
Lastly, when Sue is lying dead after overexerting herself to push Galactus into the portal — this is before Franklin brings her back to life — Kirby twitches. Just to be clear, Reed had already said she was no longer breathing and had already done CPR. At this moment, she was dead; she should not have been moving. I’m sorry if this is nitpicky; maybe it won’t be noticeable to viewers at home watching on their TVs and laptops, but at the movie theater, it broke my immersion in the film and reminded me I was watching a movie.
I don’t mean to dog on her in particular because she genuinely did not do a bad job, especially when you take into account that she and Quinn had to do American accents, but given the reputation that Marvel has, I would have expected them to do another take.
End of Spoilers
Conclusion
While this was by no means a bad movie, with movie tickets for adults ranging from $12-20 for one ticket alone, and the cost of a month-long subscription to a streaming service hovering around $10.99, I can wholeheartedly recommend waiting for this movie to hit streaming services.
I won’t lie, these characters were pretty refreshing, after all it’d been almost two decades since a Fantastic Four movie had hit theaters (I of course am not counting the 2015 box office bomb. It was also the year that “50 Shades of Grey” came out, so I think we’re allowed to scrub it from cinema history altogether). It was nice to see new faces in the MCU, and retro surreal worlds are ones that Marvel builds well, see “WandaVision” and “Loki.” But despite all this, and the charm and novelty of it all, it just couldn’t make up for the script.
As a result of all the googling I had to do for this article, I started to get clips related to the film on my for you page. After seeing videos of the actors doing promotional interviews together and seeing the amazing chemistry that they had, I am much more confident in blaming the script. Their interactions brought a smile to my face that watching the movie couldn’t.
