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A solid reintroduction of The Fantastic Four that is carried by the acting of the leads and their chemistry with each other. The plot, as revealed in the trailers, is mostly about the coming of Galactus. This portion of the film is well executed and captures a comic accurate version of the world-eater while giving it all an epic feel that even the comics struggle to capture at time. The story before all of that is somewhat uneventful, carried totally by the family dynamic of the Fantastic Four. All the lead actors do a great job of making these characters feel like they’ve known each other a lifetime, despite only just being introduced to the audience. Outside of them, Galactus is portrayed well enough as the god-like being he is, while the Silver Surfer feels underutilized a bit, especially compared to how much the character was used in his last live-action appearance. The action sequences are okay, but they never really do anything that will leave a lasting impression, even with all the super-powers at play. The retro-future design works to help capture the magic of the first issues of the “Fantastic Four” comic books. Overall, the effects aren’t the best, with the Surfer not quite emoting as much as the story calls for, and The Thing never looking convincingly real, especially his clothing. There is a mid-credit scene that’s a little too vague to know its importance and a post-credit scene that’s just there for fun.

*** out of *****