MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Marvel has already tried several times to introduce movie audiences to the comic book superheroes known as The Fantastic Four. None of the earlier films clicked. This new one has. It's from the director of "WandaVision," and critic Bob Mondello says it's retro, futurist fun.
BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: If you see the film in IMAX, it begins with that widescreen format's familiar opening countdown, but recreated 1960s style. Think "Mad Men" - mid-century modern graphics, kitschy effects, suggesting you can just watch a movie or be part of one as if IMAX had existed when Fantastic Four debuted in Marvel Comics. That was 1961. This looks like 1961 but is now on Earth-828. Got it?
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...
MONDELLO: Cue their origin story on television.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Well, folks, we all know the story - four brave astronauts head up into space and come back forever changed.
MONDELLO: Reed turned into a seriously elastic brainiac named...
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Mr. Fantastic.
MONDELLO: His wife Sue is reliable and also sometimes...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Invisible Woman.
MONDELLO: Her little brother Johnny is hot, as in literally.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Human Torch.
MONDELLO: And you could call Reed's buddy Ben a rock...
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) And The Thing.
MONDELLO: ...Or maybe a boulder. The TV tribute lays in how they grew into their superpowers and became planetary problem-solvers.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) When the Mad Thinker tried to sabotage New York City...
MONDELLO: So we don't have to watch them do all that. Marvel's clearly learned from its recent misfires. And instead, we can just get to know them over a family dinner where Johnny's pestering his big sister and her hubby.
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JOSEPH QUINN: (As Johnny "Human Torch" Storm) Why are you being weird?
PEDRO PASCAL: (As Reed "Mr. Fantastic" Richards) We're not being weird.
VANESSA KIRBY: (As Sue "Invisible Woman" Storm) We're not being weird.
QUINN: (As Johnny "Human Torch" Storm) Well, you're doing that weird thing with your face.
MONDELLO: And Ben is cocking one rocky eyebrow quizzically.
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EBON MOSS-BACHRACH: (As Ben "The Thing" Grimm) Are you pregnant?
KIRBY: (As Sue "Invisible Woman" Storm) Yeah, I'm pregnant.
MOSS-BACHRACH: (As Ben "The Thing" Grimm) Yes.
QUINN: (As Johnny "Human Torch" Storm) What? You are going to be the best mom. Oh, my God. And you are going to be the best dad. Just kidding. You are out of your depth. But we are going to be the best uncles ever.
MONDELLO: Their celebratory mood is spoiled somewhat by the arrival of a threatening glow in the heavens and a Silver Surfer, who looks like a very classy hood ornament, bearing a message.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS")
JULIA GARNER: (As Shalla-Bal/Silver Surfer) Your planet is now marked for death. Your world will be consumed by the devourer. I herald Galactus.
MONDELLO: Always something, yes? It occurs to the four that maybe they should go talk to this Galactus fellow before he starts his devouring, and soon they're sitting atop a rocket.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) T-minus five...
MONDELLO: A rocket that I noted, with more joy than I expected, director Matt Shakman and his team have made look the way I thought rockets would look back before I saw real rockets - sleek, slender, elegant, with fins - a comic book rocket, in other words. And got to say, as it was transporting them, I was feeling a little transported myself to a time that I remember as simpler, much like the sentiments this gang expresses, whether they're heading out to tackle a global threat...
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KIRBY: (As Sue "Invisible Woman" Storm) We'll face it together as a family.
MONDELLO: Or giving Johnny a hard time about his encounter with that hood ornament I mentioned.
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QUINN: (As Johnny "Human Torch" Storm) She spoke to me, and it was kind of...
KIRBY: (As Sue "Invisible Woman" Storm) Warm?
MOSS-BACHRACH: (As Ben "The Thing" Grimm) Kind.
QUINN: (As Johnny "Human Torch" Storm) No, I get it. Johnny loves space. Johnny loves women. Now there's a literal naked spacewoman. And Johnny thinks they had a moment.
MONDELLO: Along the way to the usual cosmic showdowns, there are lots of in-jokes, including having The Thing, who's played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, a star of Hulu's restaurant series "The Bear," weigh in on their robot's cooking.
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MOSS-BACHRACH: (As Ben "The Thing" Grimm) I want to add a couple cloves of garlic. Not because it's not delicious - I just want to add a little bit of zip.
MONDELLO: All of it's sincere and earnest - this year's superhero mode - and it works just as well here as it does for "Superman" and the D.C. Universe, which is a good thing because "Fantastic Four: First Steps" is the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase 6. I know, I know. But that means there's a lot riding on whether audiences like it. It's setting up years of storylines. Happily, unlike most recent superhero movies, you don't have to know any backstories to understand it. You can take your first steps with the team. I'm Bob Mondello.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS MAIN THEME")
UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR: (Singing) Fantastic Four. (Vocalizing). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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