Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer Movie Review

Director: Tim Story
Writers (screenplay): Don Payne and Mark Frost
Writers (story): John Turman and Mark Frost
Writers (characters): Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Content Guide: Violence, mild language, and some sexual innuendo.

Intro

This is the second entry into the Fantastic Four franchise. The first film did quite well in spite of being panned by the critics and this film is not the exception. This film has also been hailed by critics as being simplistic, dull, and just plain lousy. With opening sales of 57 million, however, the fans seem to be saying otherwise.

Storyline

The Rise of the Silver Surfer. This enigmatic being is the herald of a planet’s destruction. When the Silver Surfer arrives on earth, the planet is thrown into chaos. Snow storms arrive in the desert, blackouts in the city, and giant craters begin to form around the world. What ties them together is an alien creature, covered in shining silver.

Rise starts where the last film leaves off. Reed and Sue are soon to be married, after many failed attempts and postponements. The team is still together and going strong, with Johnny seeking ways to earn more money and Ben Grimm happy in a relationship with Alecia Masters.

The trouble starts for the Fantastic Four when an army general whom is an old foe of Reed, approaches and asks Reed to help them track down the source of the strange weather occurrences. At first Reed refuses, since his wedding is very close, but his scientific curiosity gets the better of him and he works in secret, finding a way to track down the source of the disturbances, which seems to be related to the very cosmic energy that gave them their powers.

When it is discovered that it is a whom, not a what that is behind the phenomena, the Fantastic Four swings into action to stop the Silver Surfer. Their attempts fail miserably, and it is soon revealed that the fate of the world is in jeopardy if they fail again. The army, in light of this, brings in an the Fantastic Four’s most hated enemy to help them. Now they must work together to save the planet from absolute destruction, and the extinction of the human race.

Review

I enjoyed this movie more than I did the last but I think some of that has come with me muffling the little voice deep down inside that wails about comic continuity and massive changes to characters, of which there are always many. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is no exception to that, especially with one of the most loved and hated villains of the Marvel Universe.

There were many positives for this film, with the Silver Surfer being on the top of the list. The Surfer looked slick, powerful, and very alien, with Doug Jones providing excellent physical acting (have you seen him in Pan’s Labyrinth?) and Laurence Fishburne doing a fine voice over job as well. It seems they have done a great job of setting up the character for other roles as it is rumored that a Silver Surfer film is in the works.

The special effects of the film were very well done and were one of the highlights of this movie. The effects with the Fantastic Four were great and better than the last, especially with Mr. Fantastic. The Thing was also very well done from an effects level, but there were some believability factors that went out the window, like with the Thing flying on a plane and having to sit in the middle seat in coach. I just felt that his size was rather small. When I think of the Thing, I see a huge rocky behemoth, not a smaller guy in a suit.

The story was also better than the previous entry, with this film having a more complex story, worldwide locations, and intense action. That being said, the story is no deep thing either. This is basically a retelling of the classic Fantastic Four #48-50, with some additions and subtractions. Some of the changes were good, and some of them, not so good.

For comic continuity fans, I’m sure you will have issues with the film. The rumors about the look of Galactus, are unfortunately true. I can understand them not wanting to make a giant purple man be the source of world destruction, and I must admit that what they came up with looks cool, but just wish they would have thrown us a bone! They should have given us something to relate this new being with the classic Kirby design. There is a slight mention, but not enough for my tastes.

The other main issue I had with this film was the complete change of the Dr. Doom character. The first movie set things up with the change of origin of Doom as well as his powers and I felt that this movie drove things home. The movie version of Dr. Doom is a pretty pale comparison of the comic book, with this one more of a sneaky character hiding in the shadows and using subterfuge as his weapon of choice. I’m pretty sure that a battle between the comic and movie Dooms would show the comic version victorious very quickly.

Conclusion

If you are going to this film with the classic Kirby concepts and stories entrenched in your mind, I have no doubt you will be disappointed. To enjoy this movie, you have to suspend an overall belief in the comics and just enjoy it for what it is, a fun movie with some nice special effects and overall decent story. This movie will be great for kids and families and that was actually part of the point. They found the first film to be hugely successful with a younger market than they hoped for. Some of the things in this film were changed for that market, including bringing down the brutality of Dr. Doom, which in my opinion is a mistake. Well, maybe not a financial mistake, but a story one at any rate.

If you go to this movie and just try to enjoy the new incarnation of these Marvel characters, I think you will enjoy it a lot more. Check your fanboy at the door and just enjoy the tale as it unfolds.