“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” stumbles.

The reboot, pun intended, of the Marvel Comics superhero quartet has a great retro look, terrific casting and impressive special effects.

What is lacking are scenes of character development. This may have been intentional since fans will already be familiar with the characters.

Even so, the fascinating personalities and abilities of the Fantastic Four would have provided plenty of opportunity for dialogue, character interplay and plot points to entertain stalwart fans and typical movie-goers alike.

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It’s yet another regurgitation of “The Fantastic Four,” including “Fantastic Four” (2005) and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” (2007).

The Fantastic Four are astronauts Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm who become super humans when exposed to cosmic rays.

In the movie, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic, is played by Pedro Pascal, who is, excellent in the role.

Pascal (“Materialists,” 2025; “Eddington,” 2025; “Gladiator II,” 2024; four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee, including “The Last of Us,” 2025, 2023) displays the grit, determination and sensitivity required for the role.

I particularly identified with Mister Fantastic’s ability to stretch his body, one of the characteristics of the birth defect, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (known in the vernacular as The India Rubber Man), that I have.

Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman, is played by Vanessa Kirby, who is wonderful in the role. Kirby (Oscar nominee, actress, “Pieces of Woman, 2021; TV’s “The Crown,” 2016-2022) creates a luminous presence of strength, compassion and intelligence.

Kirby and Pascal, who play husband and wife in the film, have good chemistry in the few scenes that they have together.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach is Ben Grimm, aka The Thing. Since the character is encased in rock, it’s difficult to evaluate the actor’s performance. You can better see Ebon Moss-Bachrach manage his acting abilities on TV’s “The Bear” (2022- present).

Joseph Quinn is Johnny Storm, aka Human Torch. As written, the character played by Quinn (“Gladiator II,” 2024) is pretty much of a non-entity.

Other characters include Shalla-Bal, aka Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), Glactus (Ralph Ineson) and H.E.R.B.I.E. (Humanoid Experimental Robot B-Type Integrated Electronics), voiced by Matthew Wood.

In “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” The Silver Surfer announces that Earth will be destroyed by Galactus. This sets up a storyline whereby “The Fantastic Four” attempt to fight Galactus on his home turf. The film slogs along until the final, admittedly, terrific final scenes back on Earth.

The “First Steps” subtitle might well refer to Reed and Sue’s baby, Franklin, who Galactus wants them to sacrifice in exchange for Galactus not destroying the Earth.

The plot device is Biblical, right out the Old Testament and Moses being rescued from the bulrushes and the New Testament and Herod’s decree to destroy all male newborns, including the baby Jesus.

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is directed by Matt Shakman (three Primetime Emmy Award nominations, “WandaVision,”’ 2021; director TV’s “The Great,” 2020, and director, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” 2007-2017) in his feature movie directorial debut. Not unlike many directors of superhero films, instead of saying to the screenwriters, “Get me rewrite,” he mostly says, “Get me special effects.”

As fantastic as the Computer Generated Imagery is, and it is fantastic in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” the movie suffers from a surfeit of special effects. Give credit where credit is due and this film does with an end-credits scroll of special effects film animation firms (Industrial Light & Magic, Framestore, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Digital Domain, Rise FX, and Wētā FX) and a seemingly never-ending list of special-effects artists.

The biggest battle scene in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” might have occurred off-screen when the Writers Guild of America apparently intervened to give screenplay credits to Josh Friedman (screenwriter, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” 2024; “War of the Worlds,” 2005), Eric Pearson (screenwriter, “Thunderbolts,” 2025; “Godzilla vs. Kong,” 2021; “Thor: Ragnarok,” 2017), and Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer (writers, “The Last of the Great Romantics,” 2014; “Bert and Arnie’s Guide To Friendship,” 2013) from a story by Pearson, Kaplan, Springer and Kat Wood (screenwriter, “Arthur & Merlin,” 2015) based on the Marvel Comics and Fantastic Four characters created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.

The film’s slick and bright look production by Production Designer Kasra Farahani (Primetime Emmy Award nominee, production design, “Loki,” 2022) is one of the movie’s pluses with its retro-futuristic 1960s’ setting, complete with the Fantastic Four’s Fantasticar. The cinematography by Cinematographer Jess Hall (“WandaVision”) uses lots of great close-ups of the actors in the too few dialogue scenes they have.

Michael Giacchino (Oscar recipient, score, “Up,” 2010; Oscar nominee, score, “Ratatouille,” 2008) has written a thrilling score that includes the fun “The Fantastic Four Power Hour” theme song.

The critical and commercial success of the movie, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022) and the MCU films “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (2022), with its Earth-838 alternate universe, and “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” (2023) are among the movies that have screenwriters’ heads spinning with alternate universe plotlines in superhero live-action and animated films.

A portal leading the protagonist (and hence, the movie-goer or reader) is a longtime literary device. In Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (1865), the girl Alice follows the White Rabbit down a rabbit hole. What is that if not a portal?

I want to see more of The Fantastic Four characters, not special effects, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I look forward to where the next steps of “The Fantastic Four” take us: hopefully to a universe of originality.

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” MPAA Rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned: Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13) for action-violence and some language; Genre: Science Fiction, Action, Adventure; Run time: 1 hour, 54 minutes. Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Credit Readers Anonymous: “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” was filmed July through November 2024 in Pinewood Studios, England, and on location in England and Spain.

The end credits include a “four years later” scene of Sue and her son in their home. A hooded figure Victor von Doom, aka Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) confronts the boy. Downey is in “Avengers: Doomsday,” set for 2026 release in which, an end-credits title promises, “The Fantastic Four will return.” At the very end of the credits is an animated re-creation of the Hanna Barbera TV series, “The Fantastic Four” (1967-1968).

At The Movies: “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” was seen in the Dolby Cinema at AMC, AMC Center Valley 16. There’s no need to see the film in IMAX, IMAX 3D or 3D. The movie is fine to see in the standard digital format.

Theatrical Movies Domestic Weekend Box Office, Aug. 8-10: “Weapons,” starring Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Amy Madigan and Benedict Wong in the Horror film, opened with $42.5 million in 3,202 theaters outgunning “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” dropping two places from its two-week No. 1 run to No. 3 with $15.5 million in 3,600 theaters, $230.4 million, three weeks, as “Freakier Friday,” starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in the sequel, opened at No. 2 with $29 million in 3,975 theaters.

4. “The Bad Guys 2” dropped two places, with $10.4 million in 3,860 theaters, $43.4 million, two weeks. 5.

“The Naked Gun” dropped two places, $8.3 million in 3,363 theaters, $33 million, two weeks. 6. “Superman” dropped two places, $7.8 million in 2,920 theaters, $331.2 million, five weeks. 7. “Jurassic World: Rebirth” dropped two places, $4.7 million in 2,691 theaters, $326.8 million, six weeks. 8. “F1: The Movie” dropped one place, $2.8 million in 1,351 theaters, $178.5 million, seven weeks. 9. “Together” dropped three places, $2.6 million in 2,225 theaters, $17.2 million, two weeks. 10. “Sketch,” in which a girl’s drawings come to life, $2.5 million in 2,157 theaters, $5 million since opening Aug. 6.

Movie box office information from Box Office Mojo as of Aug. 10 is subject to change

Unreel, Aug. 15:

“Nobody 2,“ R: Timo Tjahjanto directs Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, Sharon Stone, Colin Hanks and RZA in the Comedy Crime Thriller. Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) is pulled back into his violent past as he thwarts a home invasion.

“Americana,” R: Tony Tost directs Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser, Halsey, Eric Dane in the Comedy, Crime Drama Western. A Lakota Ghost shirt on the black market results in violence.

“Highest 2 Lowest,” R: Spike Lee directs Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, ASAP Rocky, Ice Spice and Ilfenesh Hadera in the Crime Drama Thriller. A music mogul is targeted in a ransom plot.

Movie opening information from Internet Movie Database as of Aug. 10 is subject to change

Three Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes