‘Fantastic Four’ review: It’s hip to be square
“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” slots into summer blockbuster season like a square peg in a round popcorn bucket. Former theater director Mark Shakman (“WandaVision”) isn’t inclined to pretzel himself like the flexible Reed Richards to please all four quadrants of the multiplex. His staid superhero movie plays like a classic sci-fi where adults in sweater vests solemnly brainstorm how to resolve a crisis. Watching it, I felt as snug as being nestled in the backseat of my grandparents’ car at the drive-in.
This reboot — the third in two decades — is lightyears closer to 1951’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still” than it is to the frantic, over-cluttered superhero epics that have come to define modern entertainment. Set on Earth 828, an alternate universe that resembles our own atomic age, it doesn’t just look old, it moves old. The tone and pace are as assured as the sight of the globe-gobbling Galactus, this film’s heavy, marching into alt-world Manhattan. Even its tidy running time is from another epoch. Under two hours? Now that’s vintage chic!
SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE VIDEOS AND NEWS
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=losangelestimes
https://www.latimes.com/subscription
LET’S CONNECT:
Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/latimes
Twitter ► https://twitter.com/LATimes
Instagram ► <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/latimes” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>https://www.instagram.com/latimes
