FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS

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Although I am as exhausted with superhero films as the next person I've always had a bit of a soft spot for these particular characters (not sure why, I was not into the Fantastic Four comics) so I paid my money and took my chances with it.

Like the recent 'Superman' we skip over the origin story - here at the outset we get a very brief recap in a short montage sequence  -  they go into space, radiation changes their bodies, they come home.  Fine by me, let's get to the action! 

That action takes place on Earth-828 (not ours) so that the backdrop to the story is the kind of retro futuristic world which people in the early part of the twentieth century thought the future would look like.  It's a set design I liked a lot.  Maybe it was my imagination but even the CGI special effects had a nice retro feel to them - I especially liked the look of the Human Torch and the Silver Surfer.  

The casting of the Four is fine: in particular Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby make for one hot couple.  And the always wonderful Natasha Lyonne makes a big impact in a few brief scenes as a potential love interest for Ben.

Julia Garner (Ruth from Ozark) is a fine actress too who manages to inject some pathos into the character of the Silver Surfer.  I thought the film could have made a bit more with her relationship with Galactus (an interesting villain with a great design).  

There's a goofiness to the baby-centric story which I was on board for.  This is a world where there don't seem to be any politicians to get in the way.  When Mister Fantastic says in effect, 'well, we've managed to teleport an egg a few yards so our plan in a few days is to teleport the entire planet to another part of the universe' the world's reaction is 'sounds cool, what could go wrong with that?'.

Thankfully there are less CGI fights than usual, and instead we get a visually stunning and exciting excursion into space.  It includes my favourite birthing scene in any film (admittedly a low bar).

On the downside the attempts at comedy throughout are rather feeble although the Mole Man perks things up briefly towards the end.

Overall then this is a superhero film that will refresh the most jaded palate if you allow it to.

RATING: ✓ Cheers

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