You can’t fault the sincerity of this year’s superhero films. Out with the cynical cameos, the nihilistic antiheroes, and whatever Madame Web was meant to be – it’s time now for hope with a capital “H”. It’s time for “saving a cat stuck up a tree”-type heroism, dreams of peace and solidarity, and, in the case of Thunderbolts*, maybe just a really big hug.
Marvel could never go all that wrong, then, with its First Family, the Fantastic Four (if you discount the time it really did go wrong with the unnecessarily dour 2015 film). Nor could it veer that far off track with its sleek, stylish retrofuturistic aesthetics and a cast as deliriously charming as Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn. In fact, all the ingredients are perfectly lined up here, and, in the right combinations, and with the pure wonderment of Michael Giacchino’s score, The Fantastic Four: First Steps does shimmer with a kind of wide-eyed idealism. And that’s lovely.
