★★½ (2½ out of 4)
Fun is a dirty word in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” the fourth attempt to make the comic-book series created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1961 into a viable screen product. Not so fast. The first three tries fell so hard on their fat ones that “First Steps” wins best in show by default. It also helps having a shiny new toy of a cast, led by the ubiquitous Pedro Pascal as stretchy Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby as his wife Sue Storm (Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn as Sue’s brother Johnny Storm (Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (yes, Chef, it’s Cousin Richie) as a pile of bricks that goes by the name of Ben Grimm (The Thing). Names in parenthesis are how the characters are known after a thingy in space turned them fantastic.
I’m skipping the usual origin story because, in a sweet and welcome surprise, so does the movie, by squeezing that motherlode of exposition into a quickie, catch-up reel about how random cosmic rays turned four regular astronauts into superbeings tasked with protecting our planet or at least the alternate version known as Earth-828. Better yet, Earth-828 looks like things did in the 1960s, which makes for some zippy, retro futuristic visuals that I think you’ll love. I know I did, especially the witty production design by Kasra (“Loki”) Farahani that allows for crackling breakfast cereals, Yoo-Hoo drinks, square TV sets and flying cars with tail fins. For a minute I expected everything to morph into a space family sitcom like “The Jetsons.”
No such luck. Grim, the adjective not the character, sets the tone for a movie that would have to kick it up a notch to qualify as down in the dumps. Major threats come in when the evil Silver Surfer (Julia Garner, not enjoying herself from the looks of it) surfs in, making doomy talk about how a planet-eating god named Galactus (Ralph Ineson) is on his way to wipe Earth off the face of, you guessed it, Earth-828. Everyone feels threatened and confused.
That also goes for director Matt Shakman, a theater guy who’s also plowed the personality-free fields of episodic TV. And he’s working from a script by four writers I won’t mention because they didn’t do that hot a job. Still, one plot point has possibilities. It’s an offer made by Galactus to the pregnant Sue. The god will spare Earth and everyone on it if she and Reed will turn over their unborn child, who the Big G believes will have special powers. Like this malignant, planet-munching narcissist doesn’t have enough power already. Suddenly this PG-13 family lark is pedaling Greek tragedy. Don’t know how the kids will take this, but I liked it fine.
Fantastic? Maybe not. But watchable, yes indeed, and that’s something no previous cinema chunk off this feeble franchise block has achieved.
And the tension sparks the overqualified cast. Playing the stretchable Mister Fantastic isn’t exactly a stretch for the gifted Pascal, though it’s a kick to watch him turn into a human taffy-pull and still retain his dignity as a potential parent. Good sport there, Pedro. Kirby is similarly adept at letting Sue’s smarts and sensitivity shine through. Cheers to Quinn for showing that Johnny understands how his own fire-starting impulsivity can cost more lives than his own.
Still, it’s Moss-Bachrach who takes home the prize for acting beyond the call of sci-fi duty. Not easy when you’re literally playing a brick wall. Through vocal shadings and motion-capture techniques that really do catch his expressive eyes, Moss-Bachrach expertly brings humor, heart and vulnerability to the role of a man who has lost his human form but not the longing for love that we see in his scenes with Natasha Lyonne as a school teacher he knew back when.
The riskiest move made “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” already set for two sequels, is the bet it’s making on audience interest in the humanity of characters usually portrayed as the flattest of cardboard. Don’t get me wrong. The film stumbles more than it soars and feels more brooding than bracing, but this recent vulnerability thing is a keeper. Fantastic? Maybe not. But watchable, yes indeed, and that’s something no previous cinema chunk off this feeble franchise block has achieved. Replace “First Steps” in the title with “Baby Steps” and you’ll hit closer to the mark. I’m calling that progress.