Overview

• Director Matt Shakman channels Kubrick-era sci-fi in a midcentury modern Baxter Building filled with retrofuture gadgets like golden record platters and the Fantasticar
• Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn deliver the affectionate family dynamic that anchors the film’s emotional core
• Having bypassed a traditional origin story, the movie thrusts an established Fantastic Four team into the cosmic threat of Galactus and the Silver Surfer
• Reviewers highlight a weak, predictable plot and uneven dialogue, with Sue Storm’s oversanitized zero-gravity childbirth scene drawing particular criticism
• The film holds a solid B rating from Ars Technica and is posting robust box-office returns as an entertaining, if imperfect, start to MCU Phase Six