20th Century Fox Starring: Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis
Directed By: Tim Story
Rated: PG
20th Century Fox
I totally hated the first Fantastic Four movie, and I've taken some grief for it from one of my closest friends. He says I just don't get the Fantastic Four--that I'm not a fan. I counter with the fact that I did read the FF comics when I was a teenager, and that I am a fan. The problem as I see it was that the first movie sucked wind from a writing, directing, and acting standpoint. And I stand by that.
Even so, I was drawn to see Rise of the Silver Surfer. I'm ashamed to say that it was for the same reason: the trailers looked cool. Of course this time, I was well-prepared as to what to expect. Put simply, I expected it to suck. Again. But it didn't. At least, not on the same suckage level as the first one. On the contrary, Rise of the Silver Surfer actually had some redeeming qualities.
Here's the setup: Reed Richards (Gruffudd) and Sue Storm (Alba) are planning their wedding amidst the media circus that is the life of the Fantastic Four. This is an artifact from the first film--they are apparently celebrity superheroes, something I don't recall from the comics. Anyway, a strange disturbance from space interrupts their wedding and forces the super team into action. The disturbance turns out to be the titular Silver Surfer (voiced by Laurence Fishburne). He's been sent by his master, Galactus (played by a huge computer-generated cloud of smoke) to prepare Earth for consumption. See, Galactus eats planets. It's his thing. The rest of the Marvel universe heroes seem to be on vacation or something, so its up to the Fantastic Four to save the planet.
It's a pretty simple plot, and the character depth and dialog are just as simple--but what works this time around is that there seems to be a lot more action and a lot less (insipid) talking. Instead of a single battle at the very end as in the first film, there are super heroics throughout the film. This makes it a lot easier to stomach. Oh, there's still insipid talking--the script, while better than the first film's, is still not exactly Oscar-worthy. But at least its kept to a minimum.
One odd choice (I thought) was the inclusion of Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon) in the story. It would seem that Galactus and the Surfer would be sufficient--but for some reason, Doom is involved in the story, put in a position where the heroes are forced to trust him, and then put in a position where he inevitably betrays them. In other words, Doom's character is even more of a waste here than he was in the first film, where he wasn't exactly exploited to his potential, but at least acted as the primary nemesis.
The portrayal of Galactus was odd as well. Whether or not you like his purple horned helmet, Galactus is one of the most recognized villains in comics. Turning him into a gaseous space cloud was as bold as it was silly. But, I guess it's better than giving the giant purple guy a try and coming up with a CG monstrosity that would just make the audience laugh.
So, there you have it. I certainly didn't walk out thinking this was the best superhero movie of the year. (That honor goes to Ghost Rider, which I missed in the theater but just saw on DVD--I found it to be surprisingly excellent and, yes--better than Spider-Man 3.) But at least I didn't feel like hurting somebody for wasting an hour and forty-five minutes of my life.
Bottom line: Didn't suck nearly as much as the first one.