Animation
The Bad Guys 2 (12A)
Review: It’s good to be bad in a computer-animated sequel to the anthropomorphic 2022 comedy, which welcomes Pierre Perifel back to the director’s chair. Master pickpocket Mr Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell) and his crew comprising Mr Snake (Marc Maron), Ms Tarantula (Awkwafina), Mr Shark (Craig Robinson) and Mr Piranha (Anthony Ramos) are struggling to be accepted as good guys after a lifetime of skulduggery. An all-female group of criminals led by vengeful snow leopard Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks) targets the audacious theft of a wrestling belt from a packed arena and Mr Wolf and co are in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Unfairly blamed for the crime, the former Bad Guys reluctantly agree to one final job to protect the secret history of Governor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz). The quick-witted quintet come out of retirement to prove they still have what it takes to steal, scam and deceive with aplomb on the wrong side of the law. However, fiery-tempered police chief Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein) and her officers stand in their path.
Reviews of The Bad Guys 2 are embargoed until Friday morning. Check back later in the week for our full review.
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Action
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (12A)
Review: Often the quickest solution to remedying a problem with expensive malfunctioning technology is to switch off the power, wait a few minutes and reboot the system. The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits the reset button on the glitchy Marvel Cinematic Universe and confidently kick-starts phase six with a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic flourish that sets Matt Shakman’s rip-roaring romp apart from many supposedly superpowered predecessors. By turns funny, thrilling and heartbreaking, this opening foray for Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and The Thing is one giant leap forward for cinemakind from the 2005 and 2015 origin stories that failed to capture the spirit of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s beloved comics.
Four scriptwriters strike an appealing balance between humour, action and romance, gift-wrapped with splendid digital effects that serve a simple yet effective plot, which asks us to consider how much we would be willing to sacrifice to guarantee the survival of family, friends and neighbours. Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby are handsomely paired as leaders of the eponymous dream team and their molten screen chemistry doesn’t require any additional heat from Joseph Quinn’s incendiary heartthrob. Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s shy, image-conscious man of rock with a big heart stubbornly refuses to bellow his catchphrase – “It’s clobberin’ time!” – until a worthy adversary requires impromptu tenderising with his fists.
In the Earth-828 timeline, scientist Reed Richards aka Mister Fantastic (Pascal), his wife Sue Storm aka Invisible Woman (Kirby), her cocksure brother Johnny Storm aka Human Torch (Quinn) and Reed’s best friend Ben Grimm aka The Thing (Moss-Bachrach) become humanity’s protectors after they return from a space mission with cosmically enhanced DNA. Based in the Baxter Building in New York, the plucky quartet defeat Mole Man (Paul Walter Hauser) then successfully broker a treaty to allow his subterranean kind to live in peace beneath the city.
A few months after Sue confirms her pregnancy, enigmatic herald Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) breaches Earth-828’s atmosphere to announce the arrival of her merciless master: a celestial force as essential as the stars. “I herald his beginning. I herald your end. I herald… Galactus!” she proclaims, referring to a ravenous space god, who has devoured several planets in the universe and intends to do the same to the third rock from the sun. The combined powers of The Fantastic Four seem puny against such a formidable adversary and his shimmering messenger. Reed’s calculations produce only one “mathematical, ethical and available” solution and it is a heartbreaking sacrifice none of the team dares to entertain.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps twists and shouts through two hours of interstellar exploration and pseudo-science with consummate ease. Four screenwriters neatly distil characters’ back stories as archive footage from The Ted Gilbert Show (Mark Gatiss) to cut straight to the chase as mighty Galactus begins his fateful approach to the planet. Action sequences marshal just enough dazzling digital trickery to quicken the pulse without losing sight of the family-oriented emotional drama that underpins each rallying cry. Fantastic in name and execution.
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