Movie Review: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Two years ago, the movie audience was introuduced to the adventures of the Fantastic Four. That film was moderately entertaining, though it had serious flaws which prevented it from coming anywhere near the quality of the X-Men or Spider-Man franchises. However, while it made story, character, and casting missteps, it was not nearly as bad as the critics would have had you believe. In any case, it did well enough at the box office, and on DVD, to warrant a second film be made. The teaser trailer promised to payoff on what we had hoped that first film seemed to want to do. The final product, alas, does not live up to that first trailer, yet was still head and shoulders above the original, and a much more satisfying superhero romp than the exciting spectacle/lousy story mash that was the much hyped and anticipated Spider-Man 3.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer seems to pick up the team in a real time span between the first film and now. The team has been doing the hero thing for awhile, they are heroes, but they have also become celebrities and media darlings. Much like in the comics, they do not conceal their identities and do not have the same PR issues that someone like Spider-Man has. It appears that, at the moment, the biggest issue is trying to get Reed (Ioan Gruffudd) and Sue's (Jessica Alba) wedding to go down without a hitch. As for their celebrity, the four are dealing in a variety of ways. Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) loves the publicity and uses it to his hotheaded advantage, while Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) takes it in stride. Meanwhile, Reed keeps his head buried in his experiments, while his wife-to-be tries to get him to work on the wedding.

As the four are doing the super-powered family thing, strange things are happening around the globe, while there have been sightings of a silver streak preceding each one. It isn't long before the army is knocking on Reed's door, looking for help in finding, and stopping, the cause of these strange occurrences. Enter the Silver Surfer, a strange silvery being that is at the root of the problems. The rest of the film has our four heroes track down the interloper, and with the begrudgingly accepted help from Dr. Doom, they succeed in capturing the Surfer. But that only sets off a new series of issues, as we know Doom has ulterior motives, not to mention the coming of the destroyer for which the surfer serves as herald.

This sequel is infinitely superior to the original, nowhere near perfect, but a highly satisfying tale. The movie is free of an delusions of grandeur or aspirations for greatness, it targets an entertaining story and hits its marks. It has the advantage of not having heaps of hype laid on it, nor the overbearing box-office expecations of a tent-pole film, nor the promise laid out by an incredible predecessor. It also does not set its heights so high, rather it is content to target a slightly younger audience, and deliver a nice blend of comedy, action, and adventure in an inoffensive mixture that is enough to satisfy the kids as well as the adults in the audience.

The look and tone of the film is just right, brightly colored, yet tempered with a bit of darkness. There is family-like squabbling among the four, an end of the world scenario, and a cool new character, all working together in a balance to deliver a fun summer adventure. Still, while it all works on the whole, this is far from a perfect scenario.

The acting is a mixed bag. Ioan Gruffudd seems to be considerably more comfortable in Mr. Fantastic's shoes, although he still isn't written quite "brainy" enough. His partner in crime, Jessica Alba is not so lucky as Invisble Woman. She is just horribly miscast, selected more for her "it girl" factor than for being anywhere near being right for the role. Each successive film seems to expose her mediocre at best acting ability, on top of her being seriously creepy looking with the blue eyes and blonde hair. Also, is it me, or does she keep getting skinnier everytime I see her? Seriously though, the weight dropping is a little alarming in this age of eating disorders among celebrities. Michael Chiklis and Chris Evans remain the rock solid team that seems to be perfectly cast. Chiklis does a fine job as Ben Grimm, the gruff muscle of the group, while Evans as the sarcastic hot headed ladies man couldn't be more right. The interactions between those two are spot on. Finally, Julian McMahon who, as Dr. Doom, never seems to be on his game, his line delivery is blase, and his attempts to portray a stone-faced menace fall flat. I think he is decent for the role, but is let down by screenplay and direction.

Newcomer Doug Jones brings a beautiful otherworldness to his performance as the Silver Surfer. I am sure that much of what you see is the creation of a computer, but it is Jones who was onset providing the guide to the character. He has been carving out a nice niche playing these types of roles, previously appearing in Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth. He brings a grace and serenity to the being forced to assist in the destruction of planet after planet. It is a wonderful character, and I hope they lock him up to be in the proposed Silver Surfer film.

I still do not feel that Tim Story is the right director for this franchise, but there is no denying that this is a step in the right direction. There is a better balance between the crisis and the family dynamic among the four. I just think that there is room for improvement if another director took the reigns to push this to the next level.

In the end, there is no denying that this movie was a lot of fun, and better than I had hoped, even with my lowered expectations. One of the bigger things to have bugged me is the ease with which they believed in alien life, from the talk of planets being left barren and lifeless to the automatic assumption that the surfer was an alien, as opposed to another super powered human. It was almost as if there was a movie in between which introduced alien life as true within this universe. I know, it is a minor nit in the face of the Alba issues, but it bugged me anyway. But then, there is also the issue of the Dodge branded Fantasticar.....

Bottomline. I liked this movie, it was not great, but I found it to be very entertaining with a tone that seemed to be more in line with the comics. It was a significant improvement over the first entry, and provided me with 90 minutes of fun.

Recommended.