A lot of people have had really high hopes for The Fantastic Four: First Steps in the build-up to its release. I have been feeling more cautious – even as someone who rates Avengers: Endgame as one of the few movies I'd give five stars to – but in principle it definitely looked set to deliver what I'd want from it. Charismatic cast, cool retro-futurist production design, a very giant man – that kind of thing.
Sadly, when the credits rolled, the first words I used to describe it were "aggressively fine". Somehow, despite succeeding in giving me everything I mentioned above, I found it bland and formless.
