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In 1968<\/span>\u2019s \u200b\u2018<\/span>Fantastic Four Annual #6<\/span>\u2019, Reed Richards and Sue Storm await the birth of their first child, Franklin, but the issue takes Reed away from the hospital on a\u00a0desperate trip across dimensions to rescue his wife and child from a\u00a0complicated birth. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby lay out an exciting and visually dazzling adventure outside of space and time with the most human stakes possible: a\u00a0man moving heaven and earth for the love of his family.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Fantastic Four: First Steps<\/span><\/i> similarly foregrounds approaching parenthood against a\u00a0background of cosmic wonder, and runs with it in a\u00a0loose adaptation of Lee &<\/span>\u00a0Kirby\u2019s Galactus Trilogy \u2013 first touched on Tim Story\u2019s (awful) 2007<\/span> sequel <\/span>Rise of the Silver Surfer<\/span><\/i>. Shakman\u2019s effort compresses the Four\u2019s origin story into a\u00a0TV<\/span> documentary, recapping the story of four brave astronauts who were forever changed by cosmic rays, then became celebrities and ambassadors as well as scientists and superheroes. A\u00a0quick and snappy montage through battles with classic foes brushes aside the Saturday Morning Cartoon villains for one more insurmountable: Galactus, a\u00a0gigantic being who has to feed on planets to satisfy his insatiable hunger. To its credit, even amidst this cosmic scale, family is at the forefront of <\/span>The Fantastic Four: First Steps<\/span><\/i>, from its understated opening to the film\u2019s MacGuffin being the arrival of Reed and Sue\u2019s firstborn.<\/span><\/p>\n Not to mention this it\u2019s the first Marvel film in a\u00a0while that seems to actually strive for an individual visual identity. Particularly at home in the Baxter Building, the retrofuturistic production design is an easy highlight. It\u2019s perhaps more Jetsons than Jack Kirby, full of beautiful analogue gizmos set amidst bold mid-century d\u00e9cor; the robot housekeeper H.E.R.B.I.E. with his tape deck face is one example of space age imagination.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Even the costume designs feel like a\u00a0refreshing alternative to what\u2019s become the norm: instead of leathery militaristic getup, the Four dress in what looks like the inner layer of an astronaut suit\u2009\u2014\u2009a\u00a0visual reminder that these are explorers and even ambassadors, not super cops. Just as the production design begins to lift<\/span> First Steps<\/span><\/i> out of Marvel Studios anonymity, Michael Giacchino\u2019s score also feels full of character \u2013 appropriately grandiose in its choral refrain, lifting the action up with\u00a0it.<\/span><\/p>\n But as pretty as this design looks and as good as the score sounds, Shakman\u2019s direction at times seems like it\u2019s shying away from the pulpy sci-fi style which it apparently wants to embody. It\u2019s hard not to think about\u00a0<\/span>Down With Love<\/i> director Peyton Reed, who had suggested a\u00a0retro take in a\u00a0now decades-old pitch for a\u00a0Fantastic Four adaptation. (His <\/span>Ant-Man<\/span><\/i> films felt like a\u00a0layup for an eventual crack at this, too).\u00a0<\/span>Down With Love<\/i> crackled with life in every aspect, an emulation of Rock Hudson flicks which both fully embraced the tone of its inspirations, leaning into whimsical visual tricks and playful banter characteristic of the time.\u00a0<\/span>First Steps\u00a0<\/i>by comparison feels like it\u2019s missing that extra step: while the world The Fantastic Four inhabit is bright and tactile, the camerawork which captures it is decidedly less adventurous, the performances within are\u00a0muted.<\/span><\/p>\n Classically weird and colourful characters like Mole Man are rendered with disappointing normalcy (he\u2019s just a\u00a0guy in a\u00a0suit and tie!), even if Paul Walter Hauser breathes cartoonish life into the minor role. The big bad Galactus\u2019s design work fits in a\u00a0little too neatly with the presentation of Marvel\u2019s cosmic side as seen so far, better than the anonymous cloud of other adaptations but still not popping off the screen like he does on the page (that said, Ineson\u2019s growling voice performance does well to carry the apocalyptic dread). Even Ebon Moss-Bachrach\u2019s performance as The Thing feels a\u00a0bit too reigned in, even if it conceptually makes sense that Shakman wishes to present his characters as a\u00a0completely regular family.<\/span><\/p>\n Even in the best moments of\u00a0<\/span>First Steps,\u00a0<\/i>it\u2019s hard to feel hopeful or even positive about the Marvel movies when even their creative successes herald the arrival of more creatively bankrupt money-making exercises: we\u2019re duly reminded that \u200b\u201c<\/span>The Fantastic Four will return in <\/span>Avengers: Doomsday<\/span><\/i>\u201d. You could almost extrapolate Galactus as a\u00a0stand in for the encroachments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe \u2013 aware of what it\u2019s doing and yet constantly caving to its hunger, a\u00a0force which can only be delayed rather than destroyed. In this case, it\u2019s at least put off until the post credits, the story here standing on its own until it\u2019s time to be called up for Avengers duty.<\/span><\/p>\n In isolation,\u00a0<\/span>First Steps<\/i> is a\u00a0pretty good time, even if it feels as though it could push its aesthetic into more daring territory. This makes that inevitable interference all the more frustrating: when Marvel even shows a\u00a0glimpse of any kind of visual ambition, we\u2019re told not to expect that from these characters again. Two steps forward, one step\u00a0back.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nGet more Little White\u00a0Lies<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n