The Fantastic Four: First Steps is just a few days away from releasing, and first reactions have appeared online from critics who got to see the film early.
The film stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn as a super-powered team who try and defend the Earth from the incoming threat of a planet-eating all-powerful being called Galactus.
But is the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe a return to form for the superhero franchise?
Full reviews will be released in the coming days, but for now, Disney has allowed critics who attended a screening in the US to post some initial thoughts to social media.
Here's what some of them have said.
Related: UK film release dates
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"I can't remember the last time I adored two Marvel heroes like Ebon's Ben and Vanessa's Sue. They hold the family together and ground the others when no one else can," DiscussingFilm's Andrew J Salazar said, who also noted: "The plot itself is a bit too nonsensical and scenes feel cut out for the sake of time. Galactus looks awesome. Not perfect, but the cast saves it."
"Michael Giacchino's lively score is instantly memorable, and the '60s retro-futuristic production design & dynamic visual effects are a delightful treat," stated Next Best Picture's Matt Neglia, who also praised the cast as "easily the best depiction of this quartet on-screen to date", while noting that the film's themes are "a bit overdone at this point in the MCU".
Related:Here's why The Fantastic Four: First Steps has cut a major star from the movie
"Fantastic Four is visually stunning, stylish, self-contained, and easy to jump into. I had such a good time with this one," wrote ScreenRant's Ash Crossan, while The Movie Podcast's Shahbaz Siddiqui called the film "bold, fresh, and unlike anything Marvel's done before. This is their next MASTERPIECE!"
More restrained reactions came from The Hollywood Reporter's Brian Davids, who said: "I'm happy to report that Fantastic Four is good," and Phase Hero's Brandon Davis, who stated: "Story didn’t hook me as I'd hoped but family beats land well. Action scenes are great. I wanted to love it, I liked it!"
The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be released in UK cinemas on 24 July and US cinemas on 25 July.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
