In the past year, for the first time, I checked out some Fantastic Four comic books. They seemed like the biggest gap in my superhero education. I didn't even know at first about their influence on the Incredibles, let alone later Marvel properties. Alas, they've had a hard time getting popular screen outings, so this reputedly middling one would have to suffice.
Four years after the four astronauts gained powers from radiation exposure, Reed "Mr. Fantastic" Richards (Pedro Pascal) and Sue "The Invisible Woman" Storm (Vanessa Kirby) are expecting their first child, Franklin. Johnny "The Human Torch" Storm (Joseph Quinn) looks forward to being an uncle, and even Ben "The Thing" Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) sees Franklin as family. Then the alien Silver Surfer (a woman for once, Julia Garner) announces that she has selected Earth for the next meal of giant Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and recommends making the most of the time people have left. The Fantastic Four travel to meet Galactus, who offers to spare Earth if he can have the secretly powerful Franklin absorb his curse of insatiable appetite. Since Galactus, like Dormammu, is too mighty to consider fighting head on, the four struggle to come up with a third option....
It's nice to have an entire team of fairly smart people, in contrast to early comics where Sue was a ditz. Even rash Johnny impresses us, albeit with implausible language skills. Unfortunately, while Reed is the most scientifically brilliant, he lacks the political tact not to tell the world about the bargain they reject. The same people who adored even rocky-skinned Ben grow hostile when they think their heroes would sacrifice the world for one baby. Nonetheless, they change their minds awfully fast -- and uniformly. Maybe it's not so hard to be among the smartest people in their world.
No, there do not appear to be any other superheroes around. This is "Earth 828," on a different timeline from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's also a technologically enhanced 1964, in keeping with the style of the original comics. Hope you like retro-tacky. Speaking of which, Ben insists that the catchphrase "It's clobberin' time" belongs only in the cartoon show that exists in their world.
Funny? Well, it's no James Gunn work, but it manages a few moments. Exciting? A little. At least the four know a bit about teamwork. But it doesn't have the most consistent pacing for 114 minutes, and the plot is awfully simple.
The mid-credits scene hints that a sequel will focus on Dr. Doom. I hope they do right by him; he's supposed to have the most enduring appeal of anything related to the Fantastic Four. Galactus may be almost a force of nature, but he's no mastermind, he doesn't look nearly large enough to eat a planet, and his fashion sense stinks.
I'm glad I didn't bother to watch TFF:FS in a theater. Still, it's not exactly a bad movie for the genre. It might just pave the way for something worthier.
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