Ihadn’t paid attention to the Fantastic Four in nearly two decades, since Chris Evans and Jessica Alba graced the screen in the original containment suits. But I’ll be honest: if Pedro Pascal’s name is in the credits lately, I’ll show up, even if I end up leaving underwhelmed ( Eddington and didn’t necessarily live up to their hype, but his charm still makes them worth a watch). That same appeal pulled me into The Fantastic Four: First Steps . And while it looked and sounded polished, beneath all the shimmer and 1960s vignette, it doesn’t really offer much that’s new.

The movie is visually beautiful. New York City windows glimmer under alien shadows, and the space-travel sequences alongside the Baxter Building headquarters have a kind of retro-cosmic charm. The villains (Galactus, a

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