“THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS” – MINI-REVIEW

Veteran TV director Matt Shakman, best known for IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA and, more pertinently, for Marvel’s innovative and moving WANDAVISION, makes the leap to blockbuster feature filmmaking with this 4th and most fantastic teaming of Marvel’s First Family (and incidentally, this summer’s 3rd Pedro Pascal movie).

So, is the 4th time a charm? Is Marvel Studios’ latest film fantastic? Well, a lot of it is! While it’s never as sharp, smooth or fun as its cheeky 1960s-space-age aesthetics, and the first half moves at such a clip that you wish emotional moments and jokes would land a little more, it features a cool storyline, and a fantastic second half and finale, making the most of capturing its scale and scope in “FantastiVision” (IMAX).

To me, Marvel movies are the new Woody Allen movies, in that they are cranked out with such a frequency that every other one will have you saying “Marvel is back!” And the opposite ones will have you saying “Marvel has lost its touch!” To me it was right down the middle, and maybe a little past that, but the parts I liked I really liked. Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman and Julia Garner as The Silver Surfer were the standouts, and it’s always a treat to see Natasha Lyonne and Paul Walter Hauser (also in next week’s THE NAKED GUN), and I just want Ralph Ineson’s (THE GREEN KNIGHT) resonant rumble to read me a bedtime story (although, I may never sleep again).

Bottom line: after several middling, disappointing, and unofficial (see Roger Corman’s version) attempts, this is one quartet with which you may have yourself a fantastic time.

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS opens everywhere tonight in theaters, Dolby Cinema, Real D 3D and IMAX.

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Zach is a proud member of the Minnesota Film Critics Association (MNFCA). For more info about Zach, the organization, or to read other great reviews from other great Minnesota-based film critics, click here: https://mnfilmcriticalliance.wordpress.com/