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The Fantastic Four are back with one foot firmly planted on the ground, yet with one foot stuck in space.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps directed by Matt Shakman delivers a family drama within a retro futuristic setting. The tone and atmosphere is brimming with initial wonder and excitement, but that slowly dissipates in a film that loses sight of making a well-rounded story depicting theses iconic characters. I do like the setting and how it tries to differentiate itself from modern day New York- this adds to the flavour in how you have this superhuman family advancing civilisation, being regarded as Earth’s main protector.

The casting choices are wonderful going from the socially inept and highly intelligent scientist Reed Richards played by Pedro Pascal to the charming and diplomatic Sue Storm played by Vanessa Kirby, serving as head of the dysfunctional family. I really like the play-boy and charismatic nature of Johnny Storm played by Joseph Quinn and the gentle and direct approach of Benn Grimm played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach.

All that aside, I just did not feel entirely invested within the story or characters at large. There is that itch in the back of my mind, where I could not help but ponder that Disney were really trying to speed-run and establish the Fantastic Four with brute-force efficiency, than allow the characters to really be fleshed out and be realised for who they are. The lack of nuance and subtlety at really getting to grips with who these characters are and how they function is a major disappointment and serves as a detriment to my enjoyment of this film. To be blunt, I have no inclination to watch this film again and remains rather forgettable.

You can already tell that the ‘Fantastic Four’ are part of the over-arching plans of Disney and Marvel, which aim to feature them in the upcoming movie Avengers: Doomsday. That is not inherently a bad thing, it becomes a concern where the film that is establishing the ‘Fantastic Four’ becomes rather stale and safe in how it decides to tell its story.

The third act of this film is rather rushed and the villain of Galactus becomes nothing more than a ‘Space God’ lacking any real depth and nuance. It is a real shame as I can get behind impeding world ending catastrophe that the ‘Fantastic Four’ are trying to avoid, but again there is a lack of care and attention that is given for how these characters decide to act and push forward. The consequences are inconsequential and I mean that from a character point of development. All the big battles become fodder and uninteresting as you keep watching onwards.

The film really tries to harken to its central theme of family and unity, but what you get is something very wishy washy and not really containing deep emotional resonance. The Fantastic Four do not have this seismic shift in how they view the world or their ‘family’ with all the events leading up to the final act, becoming rather flat when under full inspection. The jokes become mere dressing to obfuscate boredom and tedium almost like trying to meet its daily quota.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a film that is more like a spring board for ‘greater things’. It is sad because with all the talent and great casting choices that Disney have at full disposal, the essence of crafting and honing in on making a good story has been forgotten.