Third reboot’s a charmer

Facing some heroic competition from DC’s Superman this summer, the Marvel Cinematic Universe — which has been suffering from franchise bloat and slumping box-office numbers – seems to be trying for a reset with this new crack at Marvel’s First Family.

There’s a modesty to the movie’s subtitle, perhaps a slightly abashed admission that the last attempts to bring the Fantastic Four to the big screen — a 2005 flick and a 2007 sequel, and then a 2015 reboot — have all been stinkers. This time round, the MCU is trying, with care and focus and a self-contained storyline, to get these characters back on their feet.

Bright, peppy and fun, this fresh take on the Fantastic Four — helmed by WandaVision director Matt Shakman — mostly succeeds. Things falter in the third act when the massive mega-villain arrives, but when F4 concentrates on its core characters, played by a tight and talented ensemble cast, it really zings.

And the movie looks, well, fantastic. Set in a super-stylish retro-futuristic version of the 1960s on Earth 828, it’s packed with tulip chairs, sunken living rooms and great lighting fixtures. The crew’s blue outfits look like they’re made out of Orlon.

There are a few notable differences in this version of the ’60s. For instance, you can get at-home pregnancy tests, something that becomes integral to the plot in the very first scene.

Our superheroes are married astronauts — genius scientist Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal from The Last of Us), decent but a bit distracted, and Sue Storm (The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby), grounded and good at getting things done. They live in the ultracool Baxter Building in an alt-New York City with Reed’s good friend Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach of The Bear) and Sue’s kid brother Johnny Storm (Stranger Things fan favourite Joseph Quinn).

The story starts with a quick television flashback, summing up how the four were exposed to cosmic radiation in space and came back to Earth with superpowers, becoming celebrities, diplomats, researchers and protectors.

As the TV roll tells us, the four are often kept busy dealing with Mole Man or defeating Red Ghost and his Super-Apes, but right now the most pressing issue for the gang involves getting ready for Sue and Reed’s baby.

“Nothing is going to change,” Sue insists, something expectant parents often say (delusionally, of course). Babies always change things, and that goes double when the entire world is threatened.

Soon the Four are battling sleep deprivation while taking on the enigmatic Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) and the world-devouring Galactus (voiced by Ralph Ineson).

At its best, the movie is a nifty blend of the domestic and the cosmic. There’s a comic scene with three guys arguing about how to install an infant seat in a Jetsons-style flying car that’s quite relatable. There are few moments that look like clips from a sci-fi version of Baby’s Day Out.

The scriptwriting team (maybe coincidentally, there are four of them — Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer) don’t just inject the word “family” into the dialogue, which is practically obligatory in action movies these days. They actually create the recognizable dynamics of a bickering-but-close clan.

The strong writing is supported by the cast. Kirby and Pascal have great married-people chemistry. Moss-Bachrach knows a bit about bickering families from his work on The Bear, and he brings a palooka-type sweetness to his role. Johnny, who has been absolutely obnoxious in previous F4 iterations, is maybe a bit impetuous and eager to prove himself, but Quinn brings out his underlying charm.

On the larger scale, though, F4 ends up falling into that common Marvel problem: as a villain, Galactus is a bit of a void. He may be huge — he looks down on the Statue of Liberty — but he’s not particularly scary. The story’s final showdown feels anticlimactic.

Overall, though, when it comes to Fantastic Four reboots, this third time finally makes good. First Steps isn’t completely fantastic, but it’s pretty swell, and it sets up a promising franchise future. (Oh, and stick around for the end-credits sequence if you want to see who the next Big Bad will be.)

fparts@freepress.mb.ca