How to spice up the superhero formula in a world that long ago reached saturation point? By taking place in a Sixties-style retro-futuristic alternative universe called Earth-828, Matt Shakman’s Fantastic Four reboot feels quite fresh, albeit in a totally recycled way. Full of split screens, vintage newsreels and flying cars with chrome bumpers, it’s suspiciously reminiscent of The Incredibles, which was of course inspired by The Fantastic Four. If there are also hints of the early episodes of WandaVision, that may be because Shakman also directed that Marvel series.
Still, it feels moderately different, at least until the dispiriting last act, and Shakman’s decision to cast actors who are better known for TV proves to be a canny one. The stretchy Reed Richards is played by Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones and The Last of Us), his force field-wielding wife Sue Storm by Vanessa Kirby (Margaret in The Crown), her fire-spouting brother Johnny by Joseph Quinn (Eddie in Stranger Things) and the stone-skinned Ben Grimm by Ebon Moss-Bachrach (cousin Richie in The Bear).
Pascal is as charismatic as ever, even if he feels a bit redundant in the action scenes, and Kirby pulls off the seldom seen role of a pregnant superhero, conducting her own prenatal scan by making her tummy invisible. Quinn, soon to be seen as George Harrison in Sam Mendes’s Beatles films, gives us a Johnny Storm who’s playful but more level-headed than the traditional hothead, while Moss-Bachrach imbues Grimm, aka the Thing, with a disarming sensitivity that’s helped by some expressive CGI.
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It’s Ben who guesses that Sue is pregnant and, after Reed talks about hunting supervillains before the birth, tells him, “You baby-proofed the world.” Up to a point. On the far reaches of the galaxy a planet-eating space giant called Galactus — played via motion capture by Ralph Ineson, for ever known as Finchy in The Office — is famished. His shiny herald, the Silver Surfer, has earmarked Earth-828 as his next meal.
In a move that will rile the more reactionary Marvel purists (hoorah), the Surfer is played by a woman and another TV star: Julia Garner from Ozark. Like Moss-Bachrach she is slathered in CGI but manages to radiate a few hints of the necessary airy ambivalence. Why has the Surfer picked Earth-828 for a cosmic munching rather than an uninhabited rock within easier reach? Do all the people and trees make it more nutritious? There is another reason, but that would be telling.
Setting the film in an alternative universe is a convenient way to avoid the presence of other superheroes, which means that the Fantastic Four are undisputed national heroes. With the masses utterly dependent on them for safety and bookies taking bets on the sex of Sue’s baby, they’re like the United Nations and the royal family rolled into one. The scene in which they prepare to blast off in their rocket to vanquish Galactus is full of Right Stuff-style derring-do. “The unknown will be known,” Reed tells his public, channelling JFK — or maybe Donald Rumsfeld.
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It’s when they return to Earth-828 that the film reverts to type: enervating action, platitudinous script, predictable ending. Which is a shame because the build-up had been promising. Still, Shakman crams in a final gag about baby seats and a mid-credits nod to the forthcoming Avengers: Doomsday — and the Sixties polonecks are fabulous.
★★★☆☆
12A, 114min
In cinemas
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