It was one weekend into the theatrical run and there came an opportunity to see this well-reviewed film at an industry screening. And now it’s apparent that there are no legs for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Box office plunged 66% from its opening weekend.
It was easy to see why. The film started off strong enough with Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby playing a married couple in their super swanky ultramodern abode when she finds out she’s pregnant. Then the backstory kicks in, that they were part of a group of four astronauts that came back to earth with superpowers.
Full disclosure: I’m not necessarily a fan of the MCU and a lot of the films I’ve seen go in one side and out the other – completely unmemorable. But I have a number of questions, like why is everything apparently set in the early 1960s? Why is only one of the four some weird mud-caked monster man while the others looked completely human?
Oh, that was Ebon Moss-Bachrach from The Bear? (Wow, that show has spawned a lot of stars. Hi, Jeremy and Ayo.) Could have been any other actor doing some of– what was that–stomping time?
And then there’s the flying fireball, portrayed by Joseph Quinn. The few times the audience laughed during this screening were at lines directed at him, like “Who dressed you?” or a few he muttered himself.
He apparently has a crush on Silver Surfer Girl, and she was a visually interesting character, although pretty laughable as the story went as she did the dirty deeds of Galactus, a monster who liked to blow up planets from the inside out. Earth was next on his list and SSG tried to warn everybody, including the FF.
Until, maybe, love struck, or she reflected back on how she came into service for the evil monster.
Folks, I’m tired of seeing New York City destroyed on the big screen. (Especially unwelcome on the heels of the Park Ave. office building shooting that left four dead.) Him tromping through the city was old hat, as was the storyline that became all about saving the baby—as if we haven’t seen that a million times before.
Oh, Franklin, you’re such a cute infant but that does not a movie make. But wait, super healing powers? Like bringing your mom back to life after she neutralizes Galactus. Sure, I can see the sequel coming, but will probably skip it.
