Since there were already 2 or 3 attempts to bring the comic book quartet “The Fantastic Four” to the big screen, in this latest reboot – the first time the quartet is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (unless you count Reed Richards played by John Krasinski in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”) – they tried to make everything different. They made it so different that it doesn’t resemble most of the other Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.
The biggest way they made it different is by having them on an alternate Earth: Earth 828. That Earth is both behind us and ahead of us. It’s behind us because everything looks like the atomic age of the 50s or 60s. There doesn’t seem to be anything digital on this Earth. Data is recorded on magnetic tape, audio is recorded on record albums. There are some “computers”, but they look like the computers used in the 60s when they sent men into space – which is one of the things the computers in this movie do. They’re ahead of us because they can transport things from one place to another, they have robots (that run on magnetic tape), and they can fly at light speed.
The story written by a bunch of people (based on the comics created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, story by 4 people, and screenplay by 4 people – 3 of the 4 wrote the story and the screenplay) plays almost like watching a video on videotape. There are scenes that are shown in sort of fast forward (montages) and then it slows down for the main story plot points. The first montage starts the movie describing how Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) became the stretching Mr. Fantastic, Sus Storm (Vanessa Kirby) became the Invisible Woman, Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach seen briefly in flashbacks) became The Thing, and Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) becomes the Human Torch. The story slows down as the 4 of them are sitting for dinner when they get interrupted by the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner – seen briefly in flashback as Shalla-Bal) who warns the people of Earth that they will soon be destroyed by the planet killer Galactus (voice by Ralph Ineson). Another way they changed this movie is by making the Silver Surfer – seen in a previous movie as a man – female.
Cue second montage as the four prepare their spaceship to go to where Galactus currently is. The story slows down again as they start their journey. The find Galactus destroying another planet. He gives them a choice. If the Invisible Woman gives him her unborn child, he will spare the Earth. They barely manage to escape and get back to Earth. Sue Storm has her baby while they’re returning. The scene will probably never be topped as the wildest giving birth scene ever.
When they get back to Earth, they (of course) decide that they’re not giving up the child, but they need to figure out how to stop Galactus. Something the entire world eventually needs to help them with. Third montage as they’re preparing their defense.
One of the problems I had with the movie is that it just mentions a couple subplots during the montage scenes. The only time the montage slows down is when the main storyline is happening. That’s probably why the movie is somewhat short (a little under 2 hours) compared to other Marvel movies.
The main storyline falters in places – such as when they tell the world that they won’t be giving up their child to save the Earth – but most of it kept my attention. It isn’t just fight scene after fight scene like other Marvel movies (“Thunderbolts*”, “Captain America: Brave New World”, Deadpool and Wolverine”, etc.). In fact, there’s hardly any people who get injured or killed in this movie (other than the unseen millions killed when the other planets are destroyed). If it wasn’t for some adult situations, adult language, and some intense scenes, this movie could have possibly been rated PG.
However, all of that will soon change. There’s an end credit that says, “The Fantastic Four will return in “Avengers Doomsday” (which you know if you saw an end credit scene in “Thunderbolts*”) which I’m guessing will be filled with fight scenes.
Overall: 7 out of 10
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 